Those who only play one form of golf week after week deny themselves the change of pace and strategy offered by other forms of competition. Each game produces excitement and a whole new range of challenges.

Probably the game most played around British and Irish courses at the weekend is a fourball better ball. Usually arranged between groups of friends, this is one of the most enjoyable forms of matchplay. It often produces quality golf because your partner is usually there to help out should you find trouble. This relieves pressure and encourages you to play more attacking golf.

Foursomes is the closest golf comes to being a team game. Partners share the same golf ball and play alternate shots. There’s a certain camaraderie in foursomes, because the end result depends as much on your partners performance as yours.

Greensomes is closely related to foursomes. This form of golf is very popular on society days and club invitation events – both of which usually involve 36 holes. Having had a refreshing lunch it’s a light-hearted and enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. The more serious competition usually takes place in the morning.

Texas Scramble is similar to an advanced form of greensomes. Partnerships can be made up of two groups of two, three or four players. Each player in the group tees off on every hole and they choose the best drive. From that spot each person hits a second shot. The partnerships then decide on the best position from which to play their third shots and so on until one player holes out.

With each golfer having a go at every shot the handicap allowance is far from generous – one eighth of the combined handicaps being the number of strokes received.

Texas Scramble is played in a strokeplay format. It gives club golfers an opportunity to record the sort of scores they often see on television, but only dream about achieving themselves.

The Stableford system was invented in 1931 and is one of the more recent introductions to the selection of golf games. You record points according to your score on each hole – one point for a bogey, two for a par, three for a birdie and so on. You receive seven-eighths of your full handicap in a stableford competition. For example if you play off 16, the course gives you a shot on each of the holes with a stroke index of 14 or less – shoot par on one of these holes and you notch up three points for a net birdie.

A high handicap golfer may receive more than one stroke on some of the harder holes on the course. If you are a low handicapper and this makes you feel a little hard done by, think again – golfers with handicaps better than scratch find themselves in the unenviable situation of giving strokes to the course. To them a birdie may be worth only two points.

The beauty of stableford format is that you can have a complete disaster on one hole and still not ruin your chances of winning. If you drop two shots on a hole or comfortably run into double figures, the result is the same – zero points for that hole.

Singles matchplay is competitive head to head stuff. As with all matchplay games you may or may not have to hole out every time – short putts can be conceded. However, don’t be too quick to give your opponent a short putt early in the round – on the first green they are easily missed.