Breaking Ties
The hpGA follows the USGA's recommendations when breaking ties in its tournaments. At hpGA events it is usually not possible to conduct a playoff, so scorecards are matched. The procedure is described below.
The general procedure is to determine who has the lower score on the last nine holes. If the golfers are still tied then determine who has the lowest score on the last six holes. If still tied, who has the lower score on the last three holes. If still tied, who has the lowest score on the 18th hole. If still tied, either declare a tie or flip a coin.
Since most of our events involve net scoring based on handicaps, some additional work must be done. In all cases you would use whole strokes, i.e., round to the nearest whole stroke, rounding half strokes up to the next highest.
 | For the nine-hole net score you subtract one-half of the player's handicap from his gross score for those nine holes. |
| For the six-hole net score you subtract one-third of the player's handicap from her gross score for those six holes. |
| For the three-hole net score you subtract one-sixth of the player's handicap from his gross score for those three holes. |
| For the 18th hole net score you subtract one-eighteenth of the player's handicap from his gross score for that hole. |
Some examples.
Tom and Jerry are tied after 18 holes at net 67. Tom's handicap for 18 holes is 12, Jerry's is 15. Tom shot 40 on the back nine, Jerry shot 42, so they would still be tied. (One-half of 12 is six, one-half of 15 is 7.5 rounded to eight; 40-6 is 34 as is 42-8.) Tom shot 30 on the last six holes, Jerry 32, so Tom wins. (One-third of 12 is four, one-third of 15 is five; 30-4 is 26, 32-5 is 27.)
| 18 Holes | Back Nine | Last Six | |
| Tom | 79 - 12 = 67 | 40 - 6 = 34 | 30 - 4 = 26 |
| Jerry | 82 - 15 = 67 | 42 - 8 = 34 | 32 - 5 = 27 |
Gale and Gail are tied at 68. Gale's handicap is 7, Gail's is 6. Their scores are shown below. (7 / 3 is 2-1/3 rounded to 2.) Gale wins based on the scores for the last three holes.
| 18 Holes | Back Nine | Last Six | Last Three | |
| Gale | 75 - 7 = 68 | 38 - 4 = 34 | 25 - 2 = 23 | 12 - 1 = 11 |
| Gail | 74 - 6 = 68 | 37 - 3 = 34 | 25 - 2 = 23 | 13 - 1 = 12 |
