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stroke play

American

noun

Golf.

medal play.

stroke play British

noun

Sometimes shortened to: medal play. golf Compare match play Stableford
1. scoring by counting the number of strokes taken
2. ( as modifier )
  
  a strokeplay tournament

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of stroke play

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

stroke play

Mark Fine, who has co-written a book about bunkers, says the increased use of rakes after World War I was the result of a shift from match play to stroke play.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

With stroke play, he says, “one bad break like that would ruin your chances for the entire event.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

Batting demands relentless stroke play, where even a dot ball is unacceptable.

From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2024

The first three rounds are stroke play to determine the seedings for match play, which is played over the weekend.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 5, 2024

“In stroke play, you have to manage that and figure out when is the right time to take a chance.”

From Washington Times ● May 24, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023