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Miscellaneous — Games - for the course.

There are times when you want to add a bit more challenge than the golf course can offer on it's own.

Try some of these to add some enjoyment or maybe frustration to your day. I will be adding more as I find ones that I feel would be of interest.

If you know of some that should be on the list, send me an email.

Golf Games You Gotta Play by Chi Chi Rodriguez

From great golf games to invaluable tips from one of the greatest golfers ever, Chi Chi Rodriguez scores a hole in one in Chi Chi’s Golf Games You Gotta Play. Designed to break the monotony of “hit it, chase it, find it, count-‘em-up golf,” Golf Games You Gotta Play provides unique insights to improve your shotmaking abilities and bring a whole new level of enjoyment to every hole that you play—no matter what your handicap.

Click on the book cover to order or get more information abou the book.

The Complete Book of Games

Here are some on-course games that you might enjoy playing add that can add a little excitement to your round.

Auto Win

The object of the game is to "win" each hole. To win a hole you need to;

Chip the ball in the hole from off the green (fringes do not count).
Hole out from a sand trap.
Land the ball on the green from a distance of at least 150 yards or the tee on any par 3 with the ball ending up withing one flag length of the hole.

The player with the most holes won at the end of the round wins. If more than one playere scores an "Auto Win" for a hole, you can decide whether to the hole is halved, award no points, or carry over the points to the next hole.

Barkies

Barkies are side bets that are won when a player makes par on a hole when a tree is hit. Decide ahead of time whether leaves count - most of the time the ball should come in contact with wood. You can even consider double barkies being worth twice the bet if two trees are hit on the same hole.

No golfer wants to hit a tree, so this is not something that a player sets out to do. It can add a fun side to a round and it is a nice reward for a player who can recover for par after hitting a tree.

Best Ball

This game allows you to have a bad hole and still do OK.

It is traditionally played with a team of two players. Each player plays his own ball but only the lowest score of the two counts for each hole. Scores can be figured on either gross or net - or both if you use this as a tournament format.

Best At Something

This is a game within a game. Points are awarded as follows:

Add 1 point for;

Each fairway hit from the tee. This only counts if you use your woods.
Greens hit in regulation. The fringe does not count.
Holes with single putts. Using your putter from the fringe is not considered to be a putt.

Subtract 1 point for:

More than 2 putts per hole
Each hazard hit into.
Each lost ball.
Hitting the ball out of bounds.

Bingo Bango Bongo

This is mostly an intra-foursome game played for points, money, or drinks. Points are scored by;

BINGO — Being the first ball on the green. Be sure to determine whether the fringe counts before starting.
BANGO — Being the closest to the pin once everyone is on the green.
BONGO — Being the first to hole out.

There are no gimmes, farthest from the hole always plays first, and if any one player wins all three points on one hole, they win double.

Chicago

Chicag is a game where golfers begin their round with negative points. Each player begins with a negative amount based on their handicap, then add positive points during the round. The main concept is to get from a negative number to a positive one.

Here is the breakdown for negative points.

Handicap	Points	Handicap	Points	Handicap	Points
Scratch	-39 pts	13	-26 pts	26	-13 pts
1	-38 pts	14	-25 ts	27	-12 pts
2	-37 pts	15	-24 pts	28	-11 pts
3	-36 pts	16	-23 pts	29	-10 pts
4	-35 pts	17	-22 pts	30	-9 pts
5	-34 pts	18	-21 pts	31	-8 pts
6	-33 pts	19	-20 pts	32	-7 pts
7	-32 pts	20	-19 pts	33	-6 pts
8	-31 pts	21	-18 pts	34	-5 pts
9	-30 pts	22	-17 pts	35	-4 pts
10	-29 pts	23	-16 pts	36	-3 pts
11	-28 pts	24	-15 pts
12	-27 pts	25	-14 pts

During the round, players earn positive points on the basis of;

Bogeys are worth 1 point
Pars are worth 2 points
Birdies are worth 4 points
Eagles are worth 8 points.

Not every player will be able to get into the positive numbers, so the highest point total wins.

Chicago could be played in a tournament format for stroke play, or as a betting game among your foursome.

Disaster

A popular side game to play by keeping track of the number of disaster points during a round. The player with the highest total of diaster points pays the others in the group.

Here is a possible scoring system:

Teeing off in front of a tee box marker — 1 point.
Out of bounds — 1 point.
In a hazard — 1 point.
In the water — 1 point.
Lost ball — 1 point.
Leave ball in trap — 3 points.
Leave ball in trap twice — 3 points.
Trap to trap — 3 points.
Three putt — 3 points.
Four putt — 5 points.
Whiff — 5 points.

Duffers Delight

This game is best in match play format.

The idea of the game is not to penalize the abnormally bad shot. It allows golfers at any level to compete.

Duffing off the tee.

Hitting the ball less that 75 yards in the fairway, subtract 1 stroke from the hole score.
Hitting the ball less than 75 yards in an adjacent fairway, subtract 2 strokes from the hole score.

Do not count strokes for the following;

Whiffing (completely missing) the ball.
When a putt stops further away from the pin than when you hit it.
Taking more than 1 stroke to get out of a sand trap.

No penalty strokes for the following;

Ball in the water
Lost ball.

Greate for corporate groups and fund raising tournaments.

Four Point Scotch

This is an alternate to Hop Scotch.

Everyone tees off. After the second shot, the best lie is selected and the alternate team member hits next. On par 3's the best tee shot is used.

Hop Scotch

The teams consist of two players each.

All players tee off and the best drive of each team is selcted. Within the team each player begins taking the alternate shot. The team member whos drive was not chosen starts.

Low Ball Low Total

Two points are awarded for each hole, 1 point for the lowest individual score and 1 point for the lowest team score.

Teams consist of two players and no points are awarded in case of ties. This point system works well with Nassaus.

Match Play

Holes are eith won, halved or lost, based on the net score of each hole. The handicap is applied using the match play index on the scorecard. The two competitor's handicaps are compared and the difference e.g. 14 - 6 = 8, is the number of strokes given away. The number of holes where one stroke is allocated is then decided, according to the match index.

When a player is ahead on wins more than there are holes left to play, that player is declared the winner. It's important to remember in match play that the player who is the farthest from the hole always plays first. This is especially true on the putting green. You must not putt out if your opponent's ball is still "live" and furthest from the cup.

You may pick your ball up if your opponent is heard to "give you the putt". The scorecard is generally not used.

Nassau

This is probably the most familiar term in golf betting formats. Nassau can be played and scored on its own or used in combination with other games of golf.

Wagers are made on the best front nine, the best back nine, and the entire 18 holes.

Nine Point Game - great for three players

If there are only three players, play the Nine Point game. Handicaps should be used. Each hole is worth nine points.

Points are earned as follows:

Low score without any ties is worth 5 points. If the other two players tie then they each receive 2 points.
Low score without any ties is worth 5 points. If one of the other players has the next lowest score (without ties) then he will receive 3 points and the last place player will receive 1 point.
If two players tie for low score they will each receive 4 points and the last place player will receive 1 point.
If all players tie for low score each player will receive 3 points.

Par or Out & Bogie or Out

This is a game fow low handicappers. Very simply, you either make par on each hole or you're out of the game. You finish playing the round but you're eliminated as a potential game winner. Last player is the winner.

For those who are not quite scratch players you might consider changing the game to bogie or out instead of par.

Scramble aka Ambrose

This is a great tournament format especially for groups of duffers and novices. Teams can be 2, 3, or 4 players.

Each player tees off. The best drive is determined. All other balls are picked up brought to the place of the chosen drive. Everyone takes their second shot from there. Putting is handled in one of two ways. Either continue stroke play from the best lie until the first ball goes in the cup or let each person putt out from the best initial lie for best team score.

One option that helps level scores for ringers is to requie at least four tee shots from each team member.

The score card is marked as for single stroke play and the lowest score wins the competition. It is important to note that every player must have their handicap marked on the card. Only one score is kept for the entire team, regardless of the number of members. Handicaps are calculated by adding the handicap of each player and then dividing that total by; 4 in a two-ball event, 6 in a three-ball event, and 8 in a four-ball event. The net score is calculated by subtracting the exact resulting handicap so all those fractions count.

Skins

Played hole by hole the skin is won by having the lowest score on the hole. Points or money is carried over or added to the next hole in case of a tie score on any hole.

In tournament play winnings for each hole are set prior to beginning of play. On TV the amount for each hole varies by difficulty. This is generally a foursome games since it would be very difficult to do for multiple foursomes.

Stableford

Each player scores Stableford points on a hole based on their handicap and the stroke index for the hole. During the round, each player and marker has to calculate the points allocated to each score on a hole based on the stoke index. A player on a handicap of 12 recieves a shot on the 12 hardest holes, while a player on a 27 handicap receives 2 shots on 9 holes and 1 shot on 9 holes, based on the course index.

You mark both the stroke score and Stableford points on the card, and the highest point score wins. Only the Stableford points are tallied.

Three Club Monte

A player chooses 3 clubs and a putter. The choice of clubs can not be changed for the entire round. An alterate method is to allow club changes at the end of the front nine.

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