Two players, one ball. Partners alternate every shot until the hole is finished. The original team format in golf and one of the four classic Ryder Cup formats.
You and your partner share a single ball and alternate every stroke — one of you tees off on the odds, the other on the evens. Your bad shot becomes their problem, which is the entire appeal and the entire risk.
Alternating Shot — also called Foursomes — is a 2-person team format where the partners share a single ball and alternate hitting it on every shot. One tee shot, one approach, one putt: each comes from a different player. It's the most demanding partnership format in golf because every player must trust both their own swing and their partner's. Available in stroke and match-play variants.
Tee-shot rotation. The standard convention is one partner takes odd-numbered tees, the other takes even. Whoever tees off doesn't change — the alternation only applies to subsequent shots within the same hole. This is why alternating shot is sometimes called "foursomes": four players in a single threesome plus one team's group, sharing two balls.
Penalty strokes preserve the rotation. If a shot results in a penalty, the next shot in the rotation still belongs to the player whose turn it would normally be — not the player who hit the penalty. The rotation is by stroke count, not by who last touched the ball.
One ball, one score. Unlike Best Ball or Scramble, there's no "best of" or selection happening. Whatever happens to the ball is what the team has to play.
Front 9, Back 9, Overall. Duck Hook Golf tracks team totals for the front nine, back nine, and overall round — same segment structure as a stroke-play tournament.
Alternating Shot Match (the match-play variant). Same rotation rules, but team scores are compared hole-by-hole between two teams. Lower team-score wins the hole; ties are halved. This is the format used in Ryder Cup foursomes sessions. Select "Alternating Shot Match" instead of "Alternating Shot" when creating the game. The match is scored on gross team scores — the partners share one ball, so no individual handicap strokes apply to it.
Scored gross. Alternating Shot is a one-ball format, so the team's shared ball is scored gross in both the stroke and match variants — no individual handicap strokes apply to it. Groups that want a leveler can pair players so each team's combined ability is similar.
Variant: Pinehurst / Modified Alternate Shot. Both partners hit tee shots, the team picks the best one, then they alternate from there. Reduces the pressure of the tee box. Not currently a separate Duck Hook game type — play it as a normal alternating shot if your group has agreed to the modified tee rule.
Presses and side bets. Play it as a match and the trailing side can press: a new bet on the remaining holes, or a 2x on what’s left. The app scores both. It also tracks side bets like closest to the pin and long drive on top, and settles them with the rest of the round.
Set up a alternating shot game in about thirty seconds, hand out the code, and let everybody watch it play out.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf