Got games?

[clarkgriswold]

Hey all,

Heading south in a few days for a week of playing with my 15 year old son who is gearing up for the spring golf season.  Looking for ideas of games we can play that would stoke his competitive fire a little bit and help him improve his course management/decision making at the same time.  I think the idea of his getting into my pocket might motivate and accelerate his improvement?

Any ideas...I am not up to speed on much other than Wolf, to be honest.

Thanks!!

[grubby98]

play a straight Nassau with him.  something like 5/5/5 or 20. Each 9 is worth 5 and then total. If you win all three then you get 20. Another would be proxy on a par 3.  We play and after everyone hits the closest to the hole gets a skin.  But if that person 3 putts then he has to pay double to everyone.  Then just make somethings up.  Like an up and down gets you 2 dollars but if you don't it cost you a dollar.  That way he will focus on every shot.  Another thing would be to play for some chores at the house.  Another my dad used with me was any putt over 10 foot he payed a dollar per foot if I sunk it,  but if I missed a putt inside 5 feet I had to pay 2 per each feet.

[dfreuter415]

Originally Posted by clarkgriswold

I think the idea of his getting into my pocket might motivate and accelerate his improvement?

Sounds like you want a couple of ideas for gambling games.  Here are some ideas in Golf Digest....

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf/2012/golf-betting-games

[clearwaterms]

I really like

bingo, bongo, bango.

It is a ton of fun because golfers good and bad can enjoy the round.

Basically here is how you play.

Each hole has 3 awards called Bingo, Bongo, and Bango.

Bingo is earned by the first person to reach the green (ie the person who hits the green from the furthest away)

Bongo is once everybody is on the green, it is the person closest to the hole (but it doesn't matter where they got on from

Bango is the person who sinks the longest putt (chipping in automatically wins this one)

The benefit is that good golfers tend to get on the green from further away, but the not so good golfers tend to get on from a little closer so they generally are the last to get on, but have a good idea of how close they have to get etc.

If we have a 3 some, we generally do $10 a guy for 18 holes.  Each point ends up being worth $.50 and the player with the most points wins the extra money (some points go unearned like on par 3s we don't play the first on)

Most of the time, most players only end up losing around $4 or $5.  Its a ton of fun.

Another game that we have played (but I can't remember the name) is guess your score.  It helps to have a course that everybody has already played (or nobody has played) you pick your score and you pick a dollar amount (nassau works here just fine) and you can't go UNDER that score.

In other words, if its your favorite course and you typically shoot 90 on that course, you would say 88, if you say end up shooting 86, you had a great round, but you can't win money.  To prevent sand bagging, starting on the 12th or 14th hole, you can't take worse than double bogey for your score (for the game)

These games allow everybody to play regardless of handicap, which I like because I play with a variety of skill levels.