Golf Games: Ladder

The term “climbing the corporate ladder” is a good analogy for the ladder game in golf. Ladder is a fun and challenging format which takes time and works best in situations where there are many players. Ladder Basics In Ladder a field of golfers is established, similar to a field for a tournament or a match play event. For the sake of argument, we will say the field is 16 players. Each player is ranked 1-16 in this case. The rankings can be based on standing in the club, handicap, or perhaps even based on a play-in tournament. Players who have a lower ranking “challenge” players with a higher ranking. The higher ranking player must accept the challenge. The match/challenge format can be stroke play gross or net, or even gross or net match play. If the challenger wins the challenge, he/she moves up to the ranking in which the defeated opponent occupied. So if a 10 seed challenged a five seed and won the match, the 10 would move up to the five seed and the five back down to the 10. The last player standing, without a loss, is the winner. The final standings can be used to formulate a payout structure. This process can take several weeks or months to complete depending on field size. It is good to implement Ladder as a “season long” event, on the same schedule a league may do a match play tournament.