Some habits prove hard to break. I refereed an international contest – England U16 girls against Switzerland – and part of my duties involved radioing scores and the status of matches after the completion of each hole.
It went something like this: ‘Game 2, hole 5, England win, match all square’.
Can you see the error I made? If you watch any big match play event on the TV now, and particularly the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup, it will leap off the page.
Yes, it’s the all square vs match tied debate. Why did this need to be changed?
All square golf debate: Where do you stand?
It happened with the publication of the new Rules of Golf in 2019. All square, along with a couple of other cool match play terms – who ever tires of saying ‘dormie’? – disappeared from golf’s official lexicon.
So a match that was all square is now ‘tied’, though a tied hole can still be known as “halved”.
The logic behind the change appeared to be about employing more commonly used language. Would it make the game easier to understand for a casual audience?
Ah, yes. Growing the game. I’m not sure what was particularly difficult about all square as a term of reference. Surely no one has ever sat at home scratching their heads and frantically googling to end their confusion.
But now TV graphics and commentators trot out ‘tied’.
Except I can’t, and I won’t. Some things just live on and this is one of them. Do you think they’re saying ‘tied’ in the club knockout? No, they are saying all square.
This is not a one-person protest. I’m not going to be gluing myself to the club driveway, or spraying paint all over a golf course.
Golf’s glorious terminology, though, is worth preserving. It’s part of its history. It’s what makes the game great.
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And so I’m not fussed it’s no longer in the rule book. I don’t care if everyone else’s hands are ‘tied’. I’m never going to stop calling it all square.
Now have your say
What do you think of this all square golf debate? Does it really matter, or are you with Steve and refuse to bark out ‘tied’? Let him know with a comment on X.