The Fifty-Four-mat
A 2-Day, 54-Hole, 8-Man Scramble Tournament
OVerview
Players: 8
Format: Random rotating 2-man scramble + seeded championship rounds
Courses:
Day 1: Ravenwood (18 holes)
Day 2: Greystone (18 holes, morning) + Deerfield (18 holes, afternoon)
Seeding Rounds
First 36 Holes
Format
Four 9-hole rounds
Each round is a 2-man scramble
No repeat partners — each player plays with 4 different randomly selected teammates
Scoring Per 9 Holes
1st place: 3 points, per player
2nd place: 2 points
3rd place: 1 point
4th place: 0 points
Team Ties – Point Splits
If teams tie, points for the tied positions are combined and evenly split
Example: Two-way tie for 1st → (3 + 2) = 5 points → 2.5 each
Three-way tie for 2nd → (2 + 1 + 0) = 3 points → 1 each
Final Seeding
After four rounds, players are ranked Seed 1 through Seed 8 based on total points
Seeding Tiebreaker
If players are tied in points, tiebreaker goes to the individual with the least total strokes
If players are tied in total strokes, a closest-to-the-pin chip-off determines seeding
Championship RounDs
Final 18 Holes
Semifinals
Front 9 - DeerField
( Scramble Stroke Play Matches )
Match 1:
Seed 1 + 2 vs. Seed 7 + 8
Match 2:
Seed 3 + 4 vs. Seed 5 + 6
Tie-Breaker (Semi-Finals):
If a semi-final match ends in a tie, the advancing player/team will be determined by the original tournament seeding, with the higher seed moving on to the championship.
Winning teams advance to the Championship Match. Losing teams play in a 3rd Place Match
Finals
Back 9 - DeerField
( Scramble Stroke Play Matches )
Championship Match:
Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner
* Team rebalancing may apply *
3rd Place Match:
Match 1 Loser vs. Match 2 Loser
Finals Tie-Breaker Rule:
If the finals ends in a tie, the winner will be decided by a knockout-style “Closest to the Pin” chip-off. All four players (two from each team) will chip from a location chosen by the highest seed in the tie. The player whose ball finishes farthest from the hole is eliminated. For each new round, the right to choose the chipping location alternates between teams. The process continues until all players from one team have been eliminated, and the team with the last remaining player(s) will be crowned champion.
* Finals Match – Rebalancing Rules *
Performance Gap Rule
If the 1 & 2 Seed team wins their semifinal match and finishes 3 or more strokes better than the winning team from Match 2, the Championship Match teams will be rebalanced
Anti-Sandbagging Rule
The 1 & 2 Seed team must shoot a score in the semifinal that is equal to or better (lower) than their combined average strokes per 9 holes from the Seeding Rounds
If their semifinal score is worse (higher) than their average, they are automatically split for the Championship Match
How to calculate:
Add up the total strokes from all four seeding rounds for both players (8 nine-hole scores)
Divide by 8 to get their combined average
In the semifinal, their team score must be equal to or lower than that number to remain paired
Rebalancing Method:
Higher seed from the Seed 1 & 2 team is paired with the higher seed from the other winning team
Lower seeds pair together
These newly formed teams face off in the final
Winterhalter Rule:
If by some miracle Jake Winterhalter makes the Championship Match, he is automatically paired with the #1 seed.
This rule overrides all rebalancing methods.