The scramble's competitive cousin: share the best drive, then play your own ball into the hole. Everyone contributes off the tee, everyone's golf game still matters.
Tee off, pick the best drive, then each player drops within a clublength and plays out on their own. You get the confidence of always being in the fairway plus actual individual scores. Usually the team counts the best one or two balls.
A shamble (some regions say bramble) is a hybrid of the scramble and best ball. Every player tees off, the team picks the single best drive, and then — unlike a scramble — each player plays their own ball from that spot until it's holed. The team records its best one or two balls on each hole. You get the scramble's fun of always playing from a good drive, plus the satisfaction of posting your own number. It's a favorite for member-guests, outings, and any event that wants team camaraderie without hiding everyone's golf.
Worked example. Two-best-balls-net shamble. Off Alex's 280-yard drive, the team plays in: Dana makes net birdie 3, Alex net par 4, the others net 5s. Team score: 3 + 4 = 7. The pair of net 5s never touches the card — but their drives might matter on the next hole.
There's no single official allowance, so the event's rule sheet governs. The usual pattern: each player takes a percentage of course handicap (commonly 75–90%), strokes fall by hole per the stroke index, and net scores feed the team total. The more balls that count, the lower the percentage tends to be — counting two net balls at full handicap turns high-handicap teams into juggernauts. If you're running the event, publish the allowance before anyone tees off.
In the app. The app scores a two-person shamble: pair up, and choose whether the team counts its best ball or both balls on each hole, gross or net with the handicap allowance you set. Four-person teams aren’t in the app yet. Neither are drive minimums (the app never sees whose drive you used, so keep that tally yourselves), extra balls on par 3s, or the Stableford version.
Set up a Shamble in about thirty seconds, pair the teams, and let everybody watch it play out.
In a scramble, the team picks the best shot after every stroke, all the way into the hole. In a shamble, only the drive is shared — after the team picks the best tee shot, every player plays their own ball into the hole. A shamble is more of a real golf test; a scramble is more forgiving.
Nothing, in most usage — bramble is simply another name for the same scramble-drive-then-own-ball format. Some regions also call it a Texas scramble, though that name is used for other variants too. Confirm the exact rules with the event.
The event decides: one best ball of four is most common for charity events, two best balls for competitive events. Some formats count all four on designated holes or use one gross plus one net.
There is no single standard, but most events play net with a percentage of course handicap — commonly in the 75–90% range when one or two balls count. The bigger the team contribution, the lower the percentage. Follow the event's published allowance.
Since there's no drive to share, everyone simply plays their own ball tee to cup — a par 3 in a shamble is straight best ball. Some events count more balls on par 3s for that reason.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf