In an eighteen-hole match, a player three up after the fifteenth has reached that position. If the sixteenth is tied, the lead stays at three with only two holes remaining. The match is over, recorded as a three-and-two win, often written 3 & 2.2
The trailing player must win every remaining scheduled hole to draw level. Losing even one of them ends the match; tying one also ends it while that equal lead remains. Dormie describes the situation before the result is settled.2
A dormie lead does not guarantee that a player cannot eventually lose. If the opponent wins all three remaining holes in the example, the match is tied after eighteen. Under Rule 3.2a it continues one hole at a time until there is a winner, unless the competition allows the match to end in a tie.2
Dormie was removed from the official Rules of Golf in the 2019 revision, as part of a move toward more familiar language. The USGA expressly allowed traditional match-play terminology to continue in conversation. The word remains useful for reading older accounts without changing how the current result is decided.1
At a glance
- Form of play
- Match play1
- Meaning
- As many holes ahead as remain in the scheduled match1
- Example
- Three up after fifteen holes of an eighteen-hole match2
- Next hole tied
- Three-and-two win in the example2
- Official terminology
- Removed from the Rules in 20191
- Tied after the final hole
- Extra holes unless the competition permits a tied match2