What are your favorite golf games?

[tefunk]

I enjoy a gentlemen's wager while playing golf.  The games/matches I play most often are a Skins Match ($1 per skin), Ka-Ching ($1 per point), and random side bets ($2 for birdies, $10 for eagles, $1 for closest to the pin).

Skins Match - We all know this one, but for those who may not... You play against an opponent each hole for a "Skin".  A value is assigned to each Skin (e.g. $1).  The player who wins the hole, wins the Skin.  If you tie a hole, the Skin carries over to the next hole (i.e. the next hole is worth 2 Skins).  At the end of the round you tally up the Skins.

Ka-Ching - This game has 10 coins, and each coin is worth so many points (positive points and negative points).  You assign a value to a point (e.g. $1).  If you "earn" a specific coin, by performing well (Birdie coin +1 point) or poorly (Three Putt coin -1 point), you hold onto that coin until someone else steals it from you.  At the end of the round, you tally up the points of the coins you've earned and you're either positive or negative (i.e. receiving cash, or paying it out).

I'm curious what games/matches others enjoy playing.  Would enjoy hearing them, and how they work.

[SCfanatic35]

My favorite game we play is called Wolf.  It is a 2 on 2 game where you take the low ball for each team to decide who wins the hole.  The game is played where the Wolf decides who he is playing with for that hole after watching each player hit their tee shot.  The catch is he must decide if he wants a player before the next guy tees off, once the next guy tees off he can't choose the previous player and so on.  If he doesn't want the 2nd, he can pick the 3rd or the 4th.  Whoever the wolf decides to play with is his partner for the hole.  The wolf can also decide to pick no one and play the hole against the other 3.  If the wolf goes alone he must beat the others, no pushes when a guy goes alone.  Each hole you rotate the wolf but must hit in the same order you started with.  Example below.

Hole 1 - A is the wolf, B hits crappy shot (doesn't want him), C hits an OK drive (picks him as his partner), D hits a 300 yard drive.  A & C vs B & D.

Hole 2 - B is the wolf, C hits an OK drive (gets picked), D hits a monster drive, A hits a monster drive.  B & C vs D & A

Hole 3 - C is the wolf (hits a great shot), D hits bad (not picked), A hits bad (not picked), B hits bad (If C doesn't pick him, C is playing alone)

Hole 4 - D is the wolf

Hole 5 - A is the wolf

On and on

Whatever team wins the hole, each player gets 1 point.  At the end of the round whoever has the most points gets the most money.  You can push on a hole except when the wolf goes it alone (he must win or all 3 guys get a point)

Probably butchered the explanation of it. Hope it makes sense.

[clearwaterms]

we play Bingo, Bongo, Bango.

It's a points game, you assign a value to each point, and each hole 3 possible points can be assigned.

Bingo = The first player to get on the green, IE the player who gets onto the green from the furthest away.

Bongo = Once every player is on the green, the Bango point is awarded to the player who is closet to the pin.

Bango = The player to sink the furthest putt.

The beauty of the game is that it accommodates players of all skill levels.  Because a better golfer is more likely to put it on the green from further away, but likely will have a longer putt than the less skilled player who misses the green by a small margin but has a chip shot to put it close.

Another game that somebody told me about was what he called "the price is right"  It works for a regular group at a known course. In other words everybody should have played the course and have some idea of what they will shoot at the course.  The game goes something like this.  On the first tee box, everybody announces what they will shoot.  The catch is that you can't shoot below that score or you automatically lose.  So think the game show, the price is right, the closest score without going under.  Equitable stroke control is in effect for the entire round, and starting on the 14th hole, you can't card (for the purpose of the game) worse than a double bogey (adjust according to the skill of your players)

The player who is closest without going under the score wins.  The purpose of the 14th hole thing is that you can't sandbag the last 5 holes to win the match.

[trackster]

Mario Golf for the N64.

[Fourputt]

Most often skins, but we do $.25 skins with $.50 greenies on the par 3's.  We usually do a $2 round robin (6-6-6) match concurrently with the skins game.  A bad day you might drop 7 or 8 bucks.  That keeps it friendly, and what we generally do is the winners put their winnings in the pot at the 19th hole for beer and snacks, and the losers have to cover any additional cost that goes over what's in the pot.

Originally Posted by trackster

Mario Golf for the N64.

I still play Links 2003 on my PC.  I've lived here on the island for more than a year without golf, so I play what is still the best PC golf simulation yet made (despite the fact that the game is 11 years old).

[dbuck]

The group I play with now doesn't play for money, but an old buddy and I used to do this: $1 front, $1 back, $1 total, .25 hole bogie, .50 pars, 1.00 birdie,$2 eagle--must win hole on each, $1 greenie closest to pin must be on green, 1 mulligan each 1st and 10th tee.

[Wally Fairway]

Mainly I just play stroke play; however when playing with my brother we play $1 skins, with carry overs ($2 birdie/$10 eagle) - with par or better validation. He is a teacher and plays much more golf than I do, so I usually pay him some money after the round.

[Lash]

Originally Posted by SCfanatic35

My favorite game we play is called Wolf.  It is a 2 on 2 game where you take the low ball for each team to decide who wins the hole.  The game is played where the Wolf decides who he is playing with for that hole after watching each player hit their tee shot.  The catch is he must decide if he wants a player before the next guy tees off, once the next guy tees off he can't choose the previous player and so on.  If he doesn't want the 2nd, he can pick the 3rd or the 4th.  Whoever the wolf decides to play with is his partner for the hole.  The wolf can also decide to pick no one and play the hole against the other 3.  If the wolf goes alone he must beat the others, no pushes when a guy goes alone.  Each hole you rotate the wolf but must hit in the same order you started with.  Example below.

Hole 1 - A is the wolf, B hits crappy shot (doesn't want him), C hits an OK drive (picks him as his partner), D hits a 300 yard drive.  A & C vs B & D.

Hole 2 - B is the wolf, C hits an OK drive (gets picked), D hits a monster drive, A hits a monster drive.  B & C vs D & A

Hole 3 - C is the wolf (hits a great shot), D hits bad (not picked), A hits bad (not picked), B hits bad (If C doesn't pick him, C is playing alone)

Hole 4 - D is the wolf

Hole 5 - A is the wolf

On and on

Whatever team wins the hole, each player gets 1 point.  At the end of the round whoever has the most points gets the most money.  You can push on a hole except when the wolf goes it alone (he must win or all 3 guys get a point)

Probably butchered the explanation of it. Hope it makes sense.

I've played this but slightly different.

We played with 3 people. You rotate the order, so the first time the order at the tee box would be A,B,C. The next hole would be B,C,A. Next hole is C,B,A....etc. The last person to go is always the wolf, so it would rotate from C, to B, to A, and so on. This lets you go through each scenario 3 times in 9 holes.

With 3 people, the rules are the same, but whoever ends up on their own gets 2 points for winning, while the team of 2 gets 1 point each. So if C is the wolf and decided to pick B, but then A ends up winning the hole, A would get 2 points. If C or B wins the hole, they would each get 1 point.

[SCfanatic35]

Originally Posted by Lash

I've played this but slightly different.

We played with 3 people. You rotate the order, so the first time the order at the tee box would be A,B,C. The next hole would be B,C,A. Next hole is C,B,A....etc. The last person to go is always the wolf, so it would rotate from C, to B, to A, and so on. This lets you go through each scenario 3 times in 9 holes.

With 3 people, the rules are the same, but whoever ends up on their own gets 2 points for winning, while the team of 2 gets 1 point each. So if C is the wolf and decided to pick B, but then A ends up winning the hole, A would get 2 points. If C or B wins the hole, they would each get 1 point.

That sounds interesting.  This gives us a way to play with 3 guys instead of the usual 4.  Do you allow pushes?

[lenman73]

We play three put poker.  Everyone antes 1 dollar and everyone gets 1 card.  Every three putt is another dollar.  Every one putt is another card.  Two putts do nothing in the game.  Best hand at the end wins the pot.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by lenman73

We play three put poker.  Everyone antes 1 dollar and everyone gets 1 card.  Every three putt is another dollar.  Every one putt is another card.  Two putts do nothing in the game.  Best hand at the end wins the pot.

That's an interesting game, but you have to think ahead to bring a deck of cards.  I supposed that they could double as something to occupy time when waiting for 3 groups to clear the tee on that slow par 3 hole.

[lenman73]

I keep a deck in my bag and I have been accused of missing greens on purpose. lol

However, I swear I do not miss them on purpose.

It is a fun game.  The last time we played, my buddy, the one who accuses me of cheating actually won.  Even though I ended up with 12 cards his hand was better.  I think he had 8.  It was at a course we play a lot and can read the greens in our sleep. lol

[WUTiger]

For games, I like to play in scrambles.

About the only individual game I think is fun involves a threesome. You have three six-hole matches. Two players play best ball against the third player, who gets a stroke a hole.

Rotation...

• Holes 1-6: A vs. B+C
• Holes 7-12: B vs, A+C
• Holes 13-18: C vs. A+B

[jtw89]

I keep a deck in my bag and I have been accused of missing greens on purpose. lol However, I swear I do not miss them on purpose. It is a fun game.  The last time we played, my buddy, the one who accuses me of cheating actually won.  Even though I ended up with 12 cards his hand was better.  I think he had 8.  It was at a course we play a lot and can read the greens in our sleep. lol

That sounds like a real fun game. Also sounds like y'all aren't playing for as many dollars as I would be! I three put way too often!

[Clubchucker]

We play a lot of left right Vegas. Two players farthest right on each hole are partners and two farthest left (on each hole). Usually play for .10 a point. As for how it's scored, say team A takes a 4 and a 6. Their score is 46 (low number gles first on each team). Team B takes a 5 and a 6 (56) so the two guys on team A get 10 points each for that hole. The big thing is birdies. If one team birdies they "flip" the other team, meaning their high score goes first. So say its a par-4, team A goes 3 (birdie) and a 5 for 35 total and Team B goes 4 and 8. Because of the flip it changes to 84. Birdies suck if you're on the wrong side of it! Oh and double digit scores always go first, so that putt for a 9 can be a big one.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Clubchucker

We play a lot of left right Vegas. Two players farthest right on each hole are partners and two farthest left (on each hole). Usually play for .10 a point. As for how it's scored, say team A takes a 4 and a 6. Their score is 46 (low number gles first on each team). Team B takes a 5 and a 6 (56) so the two guys on team A get 10 points each for that hole. The big thing is birdies. If one team birdies they "flip" the other team, meaning their high score goes first. So say its a par-4, team A goes 3 (birdie) and a 5 for 35 total and Team B goes 4 and 8. Because of the flip it changes to 84. Birdies suck if you're on the wrong side of it!

Oh and double digit scores always go first, so that putt for a 9 can be a big one.

Sounds like a really interesting game!  Just one silly math comment ... I can certainly see how a putt for a 9 would always be huge, it would not be for the reason you say.  If you make the putt for a 9 and your partner has a 5, you are at 59.  If you miss, then you are at 105.  However, if double digit scores didn't go first, then you'd be at 510!!!  That would probably end every match then and there is double digit scores didn't go first. :)

[Clubchucker]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Sounds like a really interesting game!  Just one silly math comment ... I can certainly see how a putt for a 9 would always be huge, it would not be for the reason you say.  If you make the putt for a 9 and your partner has a 5, you are at 59.  If you miss, then you are at 105.  However, if double digit scores didn't go first, then you'd be at 510!!!  That would probably end every match then and there is double digit scores didn't go first. :)

Great...now I'm going to have to ask the guys if the above scenario would "flip" on a birdie (for the other team) making it 510!  I don't know if that issue has ever come up!  :)  If it does, I certainly hope I'm on the birdie side of it....

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by Lash

I've played this but slightly different.

We played with 3 people. You rotate the order, so the first time the order at the tee box would be A,B,C. The next hole would be B,C,A. Next hole is C,B,A....etc. The last person to go is always the wolf, so it would rotate from C, to B, to A, and so on. This lets you go through each scenario 3 times in 9 holes.

With 3 people, the rules are the same, but whoever ends up on their own gets 2 points for winning, while the team of 2 gets 1 point each. So if C is the wolf and decided to pick B, but then A ends up winning the hole, A would get 2 points. If C or B wins the hole, they would each get 1 point.

We also play Wolf with three people a lot. However, there are a few variations from what you describe:

1. The first person to tee off is the wolf.

2. The wolf has to call "Lone Wolf" before any other players tee off.

3. If the wolf doesn't call Lone Wolf and passes on the second player, he has to take the third player, regardless of tee shot.

4. The wolf can also declare "Blind Wolf" before his own tee shot. Points are doubled for blind wolf.

The same rules work for 3 or 4 players (even more if you played in groups of 5 or 6).