Golf side game
How to play Team stroke play
For a foursome, in two teams of two.
How it works
Player 1 and the partner picked in setup play the other two on score, everyone playing their own ball. There are three bets, as in a Nassau: the front 9, the back 9 and the overall 18. The team with the lower score over a bet’s holes wins it, and a tie is a push.
A team’s score
- Best ball (to start): on each hole, the team’s better score counts.
- Both scores added: on each hole, the two partners’ scores are added up.
The money
Each player on the team that wins a bet gets its stake from a player on the other team ($5 on each nine and $10 overall to start; $0 leaves a bet out). A bet still being played shows as money in play until its last hole.
Handicaps
Net (the default), with full handicaps or off the low player, or gross. A hole counts once all four have scores.
Example
Best ball: Ann and Bo shoot 34 on the front to Cy and Di’s 36, and the back is tied at 36. Ann and Bo win the front and the overall, 70 to 72: $15 each at $5-$5-$10. The back is a push.
This is how Putt for Dough plays it; setup changes the amounts. Free, with no account: one phone keeps score, everyone follows the money live, and settling up is a tap.
More games
- Nassau For 2 to 6 players, one on one, or two teams of two in a foursome.
- Skins For 2 to 6 players.
- Banker For 2 to 6 players.
- Wolf For a foursome.
- Vegas For a foursome, in two teams of two.
- Stroke play For 2 to 6 players.
- Stableford For 2 to 6 players.
- Dots For 2 to 6 players, on top of any game.
- Birdies For 2 to 6 players, on top of any game.
- Sixes For a foursome. Also called Round Robin or Hollywood.
- Bingo Bango Bongo For 2 to 6 players.
- Low ball / high ball For a foursome, in two teams of two.
- Nines For a threesome. Also called 5-3-1.
- Team skins For a foursome, in two teams of two.