SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The fifth playing of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown is being contested at New Korea Country Club in the Republic of Korea and features one of the most unique formats in all of golf. Read on to learn more about how the biennial team competition works and what format will be utilized over the four days of play to decide a winning team at the 2025 International Crown.

Pools

The eight teams that comprise the field have been split into two pools based the combined Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings of all four athletes as of the Aug. 4 standings. Pool A contains the one, four, five and eight seeds, while Pool B contains the two, three, six and seven seeds.

The teams have been seeded and pooled as follows:

Pool A

No.1 United States, No. 4 Australia, No. 5 Thailand, No. 8 People’s Republic of China

Pool B

No. 2 Japan, No. 3 Republic of Korea, No. 6 Sweden, No. 7 World

Thursday through Saturday: Four-Ball

Every team will play two four-ball matches against the other three teams in their pool. Four-ball is often referred to as better ball or best ball. All points from the four-ball matches on Thursday through Saturday will be cumulative and will determine the top two countries advancing from each pool.

In four-ball, each player on a two-person team will play their own ball on each hole until the hole is completed. The team will then take the better of those two scores as their team score, and the team with the lower score will win each hole. One point will be awarded for a match victory, a half point will be awarded for a tie and no points will be awarded for a loss.

At the conclusion of the three days of four-ball competition, the two countries with the most points from each pool will advance to Sunday.

The matches for the first three days of competition at New Korea Country Club will be structured as follows:

Thursday Pool A	Thursday Pool B
United States 1A vs. People’s Rep. Of China 8A	Japan 2A vs. World 7A
United States 1B vs. People’s Rep. Of China 8B	Japan 2B vs. World 7B
Australia 4A vs. Thailand 5A	Republic of Korea 3A vs. Sweden 6A
Australia 4B vs. Thailand 5B	Republic of Korea 3B vs. Sweden 6B

Friday Pool A	Friday Pool B
United States 1A vs. Thailand 5A	Japan 2A vs. Sweden 6A
United States 1B vs. Thailand 5B	Japan 2B vs. Sweden 6B
Australia 4A vs. People’s Rep. Of China 8A	Republic of Korea 3A vs. World 7A
Australia 4B vs. People’s Rep. Of China 8B	Republic of Korea 3B vs. World 7B

Saturday Pool A	Saturday Pool B
United States 1A vs. Australia 4A	Japan 2A vs. Republic of Korea 3A
United States 1B vs. Australia 4B	Japan 2B vs. Republic of Korea 3B
Thailand 5A vs. People’s Rep. Of China 8A	Sweden 6A vs. World 7A
Thailand 5B vs. People’s Rep. Of China 8B	Sweden 6B vs. World 7B

In the event two countries are tied for first in each pool, the following will be used to break ties:

Total points accumulated in head-to-head matchups between the tied countries
Total number of matches won in all six four-ball matches
Highest-seeded country entering the competition

If three or more countries are tied for first place, or two or more countries are tied for second place within each group, a playoff will be conducted to decide what team will move on to Sunday play.

If it is a two-team playoff, the format for will be hole-by-hole, four-ball match play in which concessions are allowed. If there are more than two teams in the playoff, the format for the playoff will be hole-by-hole, four-ball stroke play with no concessions allowed.

Sunday: Foursomes and singles

Two semifinal matches will be played Sunday morning with the first-place country from Pool A will play the second-place country from Pool B, while the first-place country from Pool B will play the second-place country from Pool A. Each semifinal match will consist of two singles matches and one foursomes match, and the country that is first to reach two points will win the match.

Foursomes is most commonly referred to as alternate shot. In this format, two players competing as a team will alternate hitting shots until the ball is holed. For example, one player will hit their tee shot on the first hole, and player two will hit the second shot. The two players will then alternate hitting shots for as long as it takes to complete a hole. The team with the lower score will win each hole. One point will be awarded for a match victory, a half point will be awarded for a tie and no points will be awarded for a loss.

Sunday morning – Semifinal No. 1	Sunday morning – Semifinal No. 2
Winner Pool A vs. 2nd Place Pool B (Singles)	Winner Pool B vs. 2nd Place Pool A (Singles)
Winner Pool A vs. 2nd Place Pool B (Singles)	Winner Pool B vs. 2nd Place Pool A (Singles)
Winner Pool A vs. 2nd Place Pool B (Foursomes)	Winner Pool B vs. 2nd Place Pool A (Foursomes)

The countries that win their semifinals matches will compete in the finals on Sunday afternoon, once again using that one foursomes match and two singles matches combination. The team that wins that match will be the 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown champions.

Sunday afternoon – Third-Place Match	Sunday morning – Semifinal No. 2
Semi No 1 Loser vs. Semi No. 2 Loser (singles)	Semi No. 1 Winner vs. Semi No. 2 Winner (Singles)
Semi No 1 Loser vs. Semi No. 2 Loser (singles)	Semi No. 1 Winner vs. Semi No. 2 Winner (Singles)
Semi No 1 Loser vs. Semi No. 2 Loser (Foursomes)	Semi No. 1 Winner vs. Semi No. 2 Winner (Foursomes)

The Format: 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown

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