Games people play

[SunnyDaze]

What kind of games (money games) do people play? I golf regularly with a group of guys. We usually have between 6 and 10 guys show up, and we have a standard game. Everyone puts in $15, and we track "dots", skins, and net total scores. Dots are awarded for such things as: sand saves for par or better, closest on a par 3 in regulation and backed up by no more than a 2-putt (par or birdie), natural birdies, natural eagles (worth 2 dots), and no-putt pars (or better). Skins are calculated using handicaps, and we play off the lowest handicap (usually me, with a 5). We pay out for low net, 2nd low net, and 3rd low net.

The payout money is divided 1/3 for dots, 1/3 for skins, and 1/3 for the nets. Everything collected gets paid out the same day.

We have this all put into an Excel file so we just have to enter everyones scores when we are done, and with the wonders of Excel it just tells us how much everyone gets back. This is really a lot of fun, and everyone comes out at the end of the year pretty even. It does not seem to favor the low or the high handicappers (after looking at the results for all of last year). As the low handicap golfer in the group, I ended up just +$2 for the year; the least lucky was out of pocket $110 (a 7 handicap), and the luckiest was up just over $100 (a 10 handicap); most players were within about $40 of getting their money back for the year. So - not a lot of money changes hands overall, but we have a lot of fun with it every weekend.

Sometimes we also have some side games within the foresomes, simple stuff like lefty/righty where the 2 players on the left off the tee play the two players on the right each hole for low net scores, and we have a rule that no one can end up out of pocket more than $20 for the day (none of us are rich, and we want this to be fun - after all it's just about beating the other guys!). The handicaps run from my 5 to a 23, with most in the mid teens.

What kinds of games do the rest of you play?

[Fitzpatrick]

Pretty straightforward stuff, usually. If we play for money at all, me and my usual golf buddies play for a couple of bucks a hole (never more than $5, but more commonly $2). It's usually laid out at the first tee, and all winnings are paid out at the 19th (typically in the form of some kind of libation). Sometimes, though, we will make side bets during the course of the round, including lowest round, fewest putts, up-and-downs, and the like.

[Sandpiper3]

A game that Ive played with a group i play with once in awhile. Play off your handicap, everyones score cards in at the end of the round and you pull partners out of a hat. Then you play a hole by hole match with the adjusted total score on the hole between the partners (ie, player A and B both got 5's on a hole, so they have a 10, players C and D had a 4 and 5, so they total 9, they won the hole). If more then one team ties, you carry over. Whoever is organizing can determine the amount each skin (the point for winning the hole) is worth. If you end up with an uneven number of people, one person ends up being paired with (we called him Mike Weir) a dummy player who played straight off (we play a 8 handicap) a handicap, so if he's an 8, he'll bogey on the 8 toughest holes, and make the rest pars. Also theres KPs on every par 3 for another skin.

Then inside each 4some theres usually a bunch of mini games where some money changes place, wolf, nassaus and the normal games.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Every sunday morning at my club a bunch of guys play a little Rang game.

You play your regular round of golf and at the end of the day we look to see if someone got the lowest score on a hole. If someone gets the lowest score alone (ex someone birdies number 3 and no one else has one) everyone gives that person a quarter. 50 cents if it was a birdie.

so..

Player A 4 par
player B 4 par
player C 3 birdie

player A and B each give player C 50 cents.

dosen't sound like much, but when you get 20 people playing and you win 5 rangs with birdies, it can pay for your lunch

[Fourputt]

Usually something like $.50 or $1 skins or maybe a $5 round robin. Nothing all that exciting. I makes it more interesting without being too painful when you have a really bad day. In neither case can you lose more than a $20 bill, and that's about my limit.

[ualtim]

Gambling is illegal at Bushwood

I normally just play individual stroke play. No money. I also do not have a regualr foursome or any thing like that so it would probably be different if I was playing with the same group of guys every week.

[DouginGA]

havent played it since the fall, but think that bingo,bango, bongo really improves your focus and short game.

[limpalong]

Usually kept fairly simply... either skins, wolf, or poleys. Skins, of course, are paid to one who, alone, scores lowest on a hole. If 2, or more, have the low score the skin carries over.

Wolf is, basically, 'call your partner. Rotating between players, the wolf is the last player to hit. If you like the shot of the first to tee off, you can take him as your patner against the other two on that hole. If the first knocks it in the trash, wait for the second to hit. If he stripes a drive, you can call him. Before the third hits, you have to decide whether to chance it with him or play by yourself... against the other three. If you go it alone, par the hole, and one of the other 3 birdies... you lose. If your score ties the lowest of the other 3, it carries over.

Poleys is simply a putting contest. If your ball lies outside the length of the flag pole on a green and you make the putt, you get a 'poley'. If you make a poley for birdie or eagle, the pay doubles.

[mont86]

Dollar on every hole for longest drive in the fairway or shots closest to the pin
on short holes.

[demon]

I play straight up skins no handicaps no strokes, the old guys usually count me out after 5 or 6 holes. Some of the decent younger guys usually start off around 5.00 a hole then drop down to about a 1.00 per hole after a few holes.

[artfulgolfer]

I play a Nassau with my weekend partner, Dots/Skins/Net game with a foursome I play with tomorrow, and Las Vegas with another group.

With Las Vegas, you and your partner's score is made up by multiplying your low score by ten and high score by one and adding them together. So, if I score a 3 and my partner scores a 4, our score is 34. If our oppenents both score 4, they get 44. We win the hole by 10. We usually only play for 10 cents a point

If both teams get the same low score, the points stay pretty close even if your partner triple bogies... e.g. 45 vs 48. Helps the struggling player from bringing the team down too much.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by demon

I play straight up skins no handicaps no strokes, the old guys usually count me out after 5 or 6 holes. Some of the decent younger guys usually start off around 5.00 a hole then drop down to about a 1.00 per hole after a few holes.

I take it you don't play against anyone with worse than a single digit handicap then.... either that or there are some rather stupid players at your course. If I'm playing with you and you dont give my 14.9 index any strokes, then we don't have a game. How many I get might be negotiable, but I'm not playing a 3 straight up.

We always give/get strokes as handicaps indicate, but then we generally all know each other and our games are friendly, not blood matches.

[demon]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

I take it you don't play against anyone with worse than a single digit handicap then.... either that or there are some rather stupid players at your course. If I'm playing with you and you dont give my 14.9 index any strokes, then we don't have a game. How many I get might be negotiable, but I'm not playing a 3 straight up.

We always give/get strokes as handicaps indicate, but then we generally all know each other and our games are friendly, not blood matches.

I am usually asked my handicap after the first or second hole. Besides tournaments I have never played anyone with a single digit handicap. Most of the people are mid 90's players, at least the munis I play they are. If someone wants to throw money away then I will gladly take it. I would bet that 1 out of 30 rounds I play I play with someone serious.

[dave.]

pound pound pound

pound front nine
pound back nine
pound match

50p bits

[JEFF4i]

My mom used to pay me a dollar for each birdie I got, and I'm notoriously tight, so each dollar was important to me. This was only in rounds I was shooting for score though, not to fix problems.