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
Luck of the Draw
- Fun game to play if you want to play for 10 or 20 dollars a round on it or a round of drinks. 1 full deck of cards per foursome. Draw one card after each par, draw two after a birdie, 3 after an eagle. Best 5 card poker hand at the end of the day wins.
- —Guest Jared
Switcheroo
- This is a partners game. Partners play their own ball until they are inside the 100 yard marker. After that partners switch and play their partner's ball. Match play with only the low ball counting. Handicap for the both balls is 50% of the team total rounded down.
- —RDewson
Beat the Bear
- A player is designated the bear (we use low handicapper to high handicapper) on each hole. If you beat the bear you receive one point and if the bear beats you, you get minus a point. The player with the most points wins. It is good to score well when you're the bear as you keep opponents from getting points. Can be played with an odd number of players. If there is more than one group, you'll have to check it at the end. Don't play with a big group as you'll be all day adding up points.
- —Guest Turk
Kilimanjaro game
- Named after one of our players who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro this year. Similar to the Irish Fourball except that the pressure of having to count all 4 scores occurs on holes 8-11. One net score counted on holes 1, 2 and 17, 18. Two net scores counted on holes 3, 4 and 14, 15, 16. Three net scores counted on holes 5, 6, 7 and 12, 13. Four net scores (the peak of the mountain) on holes 8, 9, 10, 11.
- —Guest ken Finkenaur
Sunday at the Masters
- Scoring format: Player's net score plus Masters (PGA) partner's Sunday score. Before playing Masters Sunday morning, we go down Saturday's Masters leaderboard to auction off partners. (We have a minimum bid which covers the cost of the after-party. Funds above minimum go into the winner's pot.) Players post their net score at the after-party. We create a dynamic leaderboard that changes with each Augusta partner's birdie or bogey. The back nine at the Masters is even more fun when you’re watching your partner trying to carry you up the leaderboard.
- —Guest West Sound Golf
Baseball
- Baseball is a game each individual plays against each golfer in a group. Each player begins each nine with a clean slate. Each score higher than par is a "strike." After nine holes is completed, players with zero "strikes" receive five units from each opponent; one strike players receive three units; two strike players receive one unit. THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT...receiving zero units from each opponent. Unit value TBD. One variation is to allow players to regain strikes by making birdies on two consecutive holes following a "strike."
- —Guest Steve Beller
6 hole Naussau COD
- COD is where the partners change every 6 holes, starting with the Cart partner, then the Opposites (Driver of one cart, rider of the other), then finally Drivers. Within each 6 hole you have a 6 hole Naussau, first three, last three and overall. Normally we played for $2 per segment, plus dollar dots for the usual trash. Keeps things interesting.
- —JOESCDP
Hammer
- two man game, every hole starts a $1 with carryovers. Any time down you can press adding a $1 to the bet for the remaining holes. Presses must happen between holes, not during. Also at any time a player can hammer the other player. When hammered, the bet currently riding either doubles (hammer accepted) or is conceded (hammer declined). The hammer is available to both players at the start of the match, but then rotates after someone uses it. say you have a three hole carry over with the holes worth $2 per. Player A hammers player B. B has to decide whether to accepet the hammer and have the bet now worth $12, or decline the hammer and concede the $6 to player A. It really gets exciting when there are multiple hammers on a hole. Can be played with ful handicaps, but on holes where someone is getting a stroke, the person recieving the stroke can only hammer if they sacrifice their stroke.
- —Guest JAllen
Tough to beat Best Ball
- Nothing better than 2-man Best Ball (match). Love the pressure when one guy is out of the hole, leaving his partner to carry the team.
- —Guest Mike Shannon
Kansas Scramble
- A normal scramble until the ball is on the green and selected as team ball. Then a "teamputter" must be appointed to finish the hole on his own from that point on the green. Tactical play could be to target the fringe with the approach shot, so that all team members may chip (or putt) from just outside the green. Teamputtership must be divided evenly among all team members after all holes played.
- —Guest Hans-Dirk Bakker
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
1-15 of 18Next
