On The Tee
With McAfee

Home Page

On The Tee

Purpose

History

Schedule

Scoreboard

Photo Gallery

USGA News

Entry Form

Information Request Form

About Us

Scholarship Information

Contact Us

Games make golf even more fun

Wagering on the golf course is commonplace and golfers have come up with some exciting games to make things even more interesting.

Even in the early days of golf, the Scottish liked to place wagers on the course. This is evident from the fact that the Honourable Company of Edinburgh had a “Clerk of the Betts.” According to historian Al Barkow, they played for bottles of claret and rumps of lamb.

Let's review some of the interesting games that golfers play today to turn courses into mini-casinos.

The Nassau is the most common. The golfers or teams play for a set amount on the front nine, back nine and 18. It can get interesting when presses, new bets from that point that run concurrently, come into play. The type of scoring is up to the individuals—stroke or match play, best-ball, scramble or alternate shot, full handicaps or no handicaps.

I recall back in my days at Odessa College where I once played a nine-hole match against Joe Namath for $5 at the Snyder Country Club. I was 5-3-1, meaning I was five up on the original, three up on the first press and one up on the second press when we got to No. 18. He double pressed. I won that hole also and took $25—a lot of money back then when I was making only $120 a week.

Sometimes greenies, closest to the pin on the par 3s; sandies, getting up and down from the sand for par; or barkies, making par after hitting a tree, are added as side bets.

Skins are also popular. The lowest score on a particular hole win. It gets interesting when you play carryovers and a lot of holes are tied. In the Hill Crest Country Club Memorial Day Scramble last year, my partner holed a wedge for an eagle that gave our team a skin worth $450.

Wolf, also known as Captain & Crew or Boss, is another interesting game, usually reserved for foursomes or fivesome if allowed. One player, based on an established order, has the choice of teeing off first. Then he watches and can pick a partner immediately after that player hits a tee shot—no waiting to see how all of them hit. Or the player can elect to “wolf it” and take on all the others by himself, doubling the bet in the process. A brave version of this game is where the first player can elect to “lone wolf” it after he hits his drive, tripling the bet. The game is best when played with players of about the same handicaps, but handicaps can be used to even the playing field.

Round Robin, also known as Sixes or Hollywood, is where you play six holes with each member of your foursome, using best-ball format with or without handicaps. It's not bad if you use combined Stableford points for each match.

Las Vegas is not a game for the timid and can turn into big money. Two=man teams play each other. If team A has a par 4 and a bogey 5, its score is 45. Two bogies by the other team would result in a score of 55. It's gets interesting when one of the team gets birdie as the other team's two scores are flipped, turning a 5 and a 4 into 54 instead of 45. Be careful on the value of each point.

Another Vegas style game would place the value of holes based on yardage, winning a 550-yard par 4 would get your team 550 points. A 178-yard par 3 would be worth only 178 points. It might get expensive at $1 a point.

An interesting way to determine teams on each hole is to pair up the players who are closest together off the tee. If the first player slices out of bounds, you can bet the other three are going to be aiming left.

Acey Duecey is a game for foursomes where the low score (the ace) wins an agreed on amount from each of the other three players, and the high score (the duece) loses an agreed amount usually half of the ace bet to the other three. Ties can be eliminated or, for the brave, can be carried over to the next hole.

Bingo Bango Bongo involves players getting one point for the first to get on the green (bingo), one point for being the closest to the pin once all the balls are on the green (bango) and one point for being the first to hole out (bongo). One version gives a double bonus or six points if a player sweeps all three on a hole. It tends to even things out, but I once recall getting 42 of the total 54 points (no bonus points) when playing with two others in Florida. Even at 25 cents a point, they each owed me $9.

Mulligan & Recall can be fun for foursomes. Each player on a side gets one mulligan per side to use at any time he wishes. However, the other team can recall a shot and have the player hit again one time per side. I recall hitting my second shot over water to reach the par 5 No. 17 in two., Of course, my opponents recalled it. I found water this time. Since my partner was in trouble, I asked for my mulligan. Yes, I hit the green again and two putted for a winning birdie.

Gruesomes involves a two-man team playing usually from the worst of their two drives as selected by their opponents. The format can allow both to finish out from that position or in one version to play out in alternate shot fashion.

In a Shamble, the two partners can play from the best of their two drives, usually getting only half of their handicaps.

A good game for threesomes is “9.” On each hole, the lowest score gets five points, the second best three points and the worst score one point. In cases of a tie for the low score, each players would get four. In case of a tie for the second best score, each player would get two points.

Like the card game, “golf bridge” involves bidding. A flip of the coin can determine who gets first chance to bid. That player or team announces the score that he thinks he will make on that hole. Another player or team can allow the bid to stand or bid lower if it wishes, thereby doubling the initial wager. It's dangerous, but the first bidder can always go even lower and double the bet again.

If you have not tried some of these games, give them a try. Just keep the bets reasonable.