From the article: Golf Tournament Formats, Side Games and Golf Bets
Side games or bets are an important part of the game for many golf buddies. Getting together for a round, deciding what to play - and to play for - and then adding it all up at the end of the round over food or drinks in the clubhouse: That's a great day at the golf course for many groups of buddies. And some of those side games and side bets can get pretty complicated. Lots of them exists only among groups of friends. What are the favored side games played within your group? Let's hear some details: Tell us what side games or bets you play most often with friends. Name Your Game
The Swing
- Our group of 6 to 20 players play a game called the SWING. Two players are selected by throwing every players' ball into the air. The two closet balls form the SWING TEAM. Using full handicap, the swingers play every combination of the remaining players. If there are 10 players, the two swingers are playing against the combination of 28 teams for $1 per hole per man on the front nine. The bests are pressed on the back nine to $2 per hole per man. Therefore each swinger is playing for 28 dollars per hole on front and 56 dollars per hole on back nine. We use a computer program to do the calculations and print out the results. Handicaps can be ajusted on a daily basis based on amount of money won or lost. Each foursomwe also play skins, snakes, bingo bango bongo and individual nassau bets.
- —Guest ebo
Wickers
- Wickers is your basic trash game that accumulates. Name all your trash prior to teeing off and the $ per dot (ie - $1). The first trash scored is worth a dollar, the next two, the next three. Use a blank scorecard with each players name and add up the total of each player's dots at the end of the round. (GR - 1,4,5,6,10,12) Make sure you have someone keep just the wickers. I have heard tales of 1000s of dollars changing hands at Shady Oaks in Fort Worth, and even a heart attack to avoid payment. My buddy and I tried with a quarter, and bumped it down to a dime the next time we played. Works for all skill level as well because we keep the true trash in play. Trash only counts if you call it prior to the next tee shot, and walking to the wrong cart pays your partners a dot. Examples of trash - Stobbies (approach within the pin), Polies (putts longer than pin), Arnies, Greenies, Dr. Chipinksy, Snakes (3 putts) pay, Hogan's (FIR, GIR, BIRDIE OR PAR), Blue Plates...HAVE FUN!!!
- —Guest Little 9
Good Times
- When I was stationed in San Diego, we played as a foursome for dots, greenies, gorillas, and sandies, plus the snake. Dots was the team game for the foursome; we changed partners after every 6 holes. If my twosome's low score was lower than your twosome low score, we got one dot. Then we got a dot if our higher score was lower than your higher score. We played that part to full handicaps. Then we played greenies - closest to hole on a par 3 after tee shot (must be on the green and must make Par or better). A greenie was another dot. Gorilla is a greenie played on a par five - closest to hole after three shots. Sandies is up and down from a greenside bunker. The snake is a subset of TRASH. Last one to three putt bought the round. Great group, with handicaps ranging 6 - 12.
- —Guest Doug Burns
Five Point Scotch
- Foursome game - two on each team. Five "points" are possible on each hole, one point each for: Prox - on the green, closest to the pin in regulation. Low putts (team total) Low individual score Low team score Birdie When I started playing this game a point was worth ten cents, but after a few presses the game could get a little scary for a kid with only a couple of bucks in his pocket. Now we start the value of a point at a buck. Is that affluence or inflation?
- —Guest Dave
Quig
- We play Nassau plus 1 dollar greenies, 3 dollar birdies, and 5 dollar eagles. It ends up always being close at the end as long as you are playing with comprable golfers. But it can make the last three holes pretty interesting if you're down.
- —Quigplumb04
Wolf
- My group mixes it up every now and then, but we always come back to Wolf.
- —Guest wolfman
Trash
- You make a list of bad things that can happen when you play. Ball in water, ball in trap, 3 putt, 4 putt, hit cart path, OB the list can go on as far as you want. You then play for an amount for each those on the list. If you are the last person to do one of the bad things you would owe everyone else the amount agreed on. A dollar for each bad thing keeps it friendly. If you had 3 bad things at the end in a foursome your would be out $9 if you where playing for dollars. Our 18th hole has water, several bunkers, and OB so things can change quickly. I might have hit into a trap early in the round and no one else has during the round. We get to 18 and someone else hits into a trap, I am off the hook and he is now the one that owes all. The only one that pays for the bunker is the last one to be in a bunker. You can get stuck early in the day, our course only has OB on 3 holes so if you hit one OB early in the round you may be stuck with not much chance to get rid of it.
- —Guest kjpjr
the whole shebang
- Back in my younger days, I played in a group that just went crazy with side games. We played everything - barkies, sandies, Arnies, KP, long drive, we gave points for making par after hitting a cart path; there were about three different putting games in the mix ... I bet there were 20 different props involved. Ultra-garbage. Dots on steroids. It took us more time to tally it all up afterward than it did to play the match! Good times.
- —Guest HP
