Most amateurs walk to the first tee for a match play game still thinking about their own scorecard. Personal score. The number at the end.
Match play doesn't care about any of that. You're not playing the course. You're playing one person, and the shot they hit changes how you should play yours.
How to play
Match play is scored by holes won, not strokes taken.
Lowest score on a hole wins it. Same score halves it. The match runs until one player is more holes ahead than there are holes left. Win 3 holes with only 2 to play and you're "3 and 2."
Common terms:
1-up, 2-up: how many holes you're ahead.
All square (AS): match is tied.
Dormie: you're ahead by the exact number of holes remaining. Worst case, your opponent ties the match.
Halve: both players score the same on a hole, no one gains.
Net match play uses handicap differences. The higher handicapper gets shots on the hardest holes by stroke index, and net scores decide each hole. Most casual match play is net.
The strategy
What your opponent does changes what you should do.
If they're in the trees off the tee, the aggressive line is suddenly wrong. Take less club, play safe, win the hole with a 5 against their 6.
If they hit it stiff to four feet, the safe lay-up just lost the hole. You need to take on the green from 200, because par against their birdie loses anyway.
That's the whole game. The shot before yours sets the math for the shot you're about to hit. Three practical consequences follow.
Play the person in front of you. If they're away, watch what they do before you commit. Their result, good or bad, changes the calculation. The article on why aiming at the pin costs you strokes covers when aggressive aiming is the wrong call. In match play, the same logic applies, with your opponent's shot as the trigger.
Don't compound a bad hole. Like Stableford and skins, match play caps your downside per hole. Losing a hole badly costs the same as losing it narrowly. If you're six deep in trouble and your opponent is on the green for 3, concede the hole, tee off on the next, and reset.
Use concessions as currency. Give the 3-footer early in the round to build goodwill. Make them putt the same 3-footer late in the round when nerves are real. The short ones you give in holes 1 to 6 are the ones you don't give in holes 14 to 18.
What to do this weekend
Set up a match against a single opponent, 18 holes, net if your handicaps differ. If the net match math gives you a headache at the 19th, the Rightee scorecard scan settles the result from a photo of the filled card. Then pay attention to two moments.
The first: every time your opponent plays before you, watch their result before you commit. Adjust your club and your aim to beat their likely number, not the par on the card.
The second: every time you've already lost a hole, leave it on the green. The next tee is a clean slate. Match play doesn't have a memory.
Stop playing the course. Start playing the person. The card looks after itself.