Joker's Wild starts with the members of each 4-person team being designated one of the four card suits (heart, diamond, spade, club). This is done randomly, with suit not related to playing ability.
Once each player on the team knows his/her suit, players tee off and play the first hole. There are two different ways we've seen Joker's Wild proceed next:
1. Once on the putting green, players find, in the bottom of the cup, a playing card. The suit on that playing card determines which member of the team has his score counted as the team score. If the card is a diamond, and the player designated as the diamond makes a 6, then the team score is a 6.
OR:
2. All team members complete play of the hole and proceed to the next tee box. On that tee box is a sign displaying one or two card suits (depending on how many scores per hole the tournament is using). If, for example, a club and a spade are displayed, then the scores on the preceding hole by the players designated club and spade are combined for the team score. It's also possible that one suit will be displayed twice; i.e., two diamonds. In that case, the diamond player's score is doubled to count as the team score.
So where does the joker come into play in Joker's Wild? Any of the cards used in the cups or on the teeing grounds can be a joker. And when a joker shows up, the team gets to use the lowest of its four golfers' scores.
Clearly, Joker's Wild requires an organized tournament committee to set up. The tournament organizers need to make sure the suits displayed around the course are a good mix, and that players get their heart/diamond/spade/club designations randomly and without knowledge of where those suits will appear around the golf course.
Return to Golf Glossary index
