Fairways to Heaven

Blessed are the straight hitters, for they shall inherit the course. Fairways to Heaven is a fantastic game to sharpen your driving game and test your nerves. It takes both accuracy and timing, with the added pressure to hit it straight when it counts. In Fairways to Heaven, each player in the group antes up a bet on each of the par 4s and 5s. The amount is usually a quarter or a dollar, but feel free to wager $10 if you're part of the six-figure income crowd.

An order of play is set and followed for the entire round, with the bet rotating from golfer to golfer. If the money player hits his ball in the fairway, then he wins the money in the pot and a new kitty is started. If he misses the fairway, the pot carries over and is increased as everybody antes up again. If the next money player finds the fairway, he collects the pot. Miss it, and the prize money continues to grow. Hitting the fairway pays but only if it's your turn in the rotation.

A game of foursomes will always include two extra fairways, and those are played with the first and second players teaming up on one hole and the third and fourth players partnering on the other. If either player of the partnership hits the fairway, he wins the pot and they both split the take.

"From Chi Chi's Golf Games You Gotta Play by Chi Chi Rodriguez and John Anderson. Copyright 2003 by Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Excerpted by permission of Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. Available in bookstores or by calling 1-800-747-4457 or visiting www.HumanKinetics.com. $17.95 plus shipping/handling."