Garbage

Definition: Garbage is a golf betting game that involves assigning values to a long list of achievements (both positive and negative) and awarding points to golfers as they record those achievements throughout a round.

Garbage is alternately known as Trash or Junk, and the most common alternate name is probably Dots (or "the Dot Game").

If you want to play Garbage within your group, the first thing you have to do is agree on all the side bets that you'll be tracking. Some examples of the positive achievements commonly included in Garbage are:

• hole in one
• eagle
• birdie
• long drives
• closest to the pin
• hitting fairways
• greens in regulation (or "greenies")
• chip-in (or "chippie")
• up-and-down from a bunker (or "sandie")

And so on. Some of the negative achievements commonly included in Garbage are:

• 3-putts
• 4-putts
• double-bogies and worse
• hitting into a bunker
• hitting into water

That's just a small sample. Some groups that play Garbage use dozens of side bets. So, like we said, to play Garbage you first must decide which achievements are going to be worth points, and how much each is worth.

One you've done that, go play a round of golf. Each golfer keeps track throughout the round of his positive and negative achievements. At the end of the round, each golfer tallies up his Garbage points, and then the group members tally up the differences and pay out the bets.

A couple things to keep in mind about Garbage: The more side bets (or achievements) you include, the more difficult the bookkeeping becomes. Also, the higher the point values you use, the bigger the wins and losses can be at the end of the round. Make sure if you are playing for money (each point worth X amount) that you play for affordable amounts.

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Also Known As: Trash, Junk, Dots, Dot Game