Golf game rules
The games your group actually plays, explained plainly. Skins, Nassau, Wolf, Vegas, and more, with the variations and how to settle. Skins Golf scores every one of them live.
Skins Game Rules
A skins game gives a 'skin' to whoever wins a hole outright. Tie the hole and no one wins it, so the skin carries to the next hole. That carryover is what makes skins fun: one hole can be worth a stack of skins.
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Nassau Rules
A Nassau is three bets in one match: the front nine, the back nine, and the overall eighteen. Each is worth the same stake, so a $5 Nassau is up to $15. Presses add new bets when someone falls behind.
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Wolf Rules
Wolf rotates a 'wolf' each hole. The wolf tees off last in the order and, after watching each playing partner's tee shot, can pick that player as a partner — or pass on everyone and go 'lone wolf' to take on the field for bigger points.
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Las Vegas Golf Game Rules
In Vegas, each two-player team combines its scores on a hole into a single two-digit number, lower score first. A 4 and a 6 become 46. The two teams' numbers are subtracted, and the difference is the points won.
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Bingo Bango Bongo Rules
Bingo Bango Bongo awards three points on every hole: 'bingo' to the first ball on the green, 'bango' to the closest to the pin once everyone is on, and 'bongo' to the first ball in the hole. Order of play matters more than raw skill, so it keeps mixed groups close.
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Golf Junk Rules (Dots & Garbage)
Junk — also called dots or garbage — is a stack of tiny side bets riding on top of your round for one-off feats: a greenie for closest on a par 3, a sandie for getting up and down from a bunker, a barkie for a par after hitting a tree. The names change group to group, and that is the point: none of it matters except the value. Set what each junk is worth, award it when someone earns it, and total it up.
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Golf Snake Rules (Three-Putt Game)
The snake is one token that moves to the most recent three-putter. It changes hands all round, and whoever is holding it after the last hole is down its value to every other player. The cruelty is timing: three-putt early and someone will probably take it off you, but three-putt on the 18th and you are stuck with it.
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6-6-6 Golf Game Rules (Four-Ball, Alt-Shot, Aggregate)
6-6-6 is one match in three flavors. Four players in two fixed teams play the round as three six-hole legs, and each leg is a different format: holes 1-6 are four-ball, 7-12 are alternate shot, and 13-18 are aggregate. The lower team score wins each hole. It rewards a pair that can play every style, not just their favorite one.
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Left Right Golf Game Rules
Left Right is Vegas with fresh teams every hole. Instead of fixed partners for the round, players split into two sides at each tee, so who you are paired with keeps changing. Each side combines its two scores into a Vegas number, low score first, and the lower number wins the hole.
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Quarter Flip Golf Game Rules
Quarter Flip is a coin-flip best ball where the teams reset every hole. Each tee, every player is flipped Heads or Tails to set the two sides, and the low ball on the winning side takes the hole value. Birdies double the hole, eagles triple it, and either side can throw the hammer to raise the stakes.
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Stableford Scoring Rules
Stableford scores by points, not strokes. You earn points based on your net score versus par on each hole: a blow-up just scores zero instead of a big number, so it keeps everyone in the round. Most points wins.
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Match Play Rules
Match play is scored hole by hole, not by total strokes. Win a hole and you go one 'up'; lose it and you go one 'down'; tie and the hole is 'halved'. The match ends as soon as a side is more holes up than there are holes left to play.
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Banker Golf Game Rules
In Banker, one player each hole is the 'banker' and plays a separate match against every other player at the same time. The banker rotates so everyone takes a turn carrying both the risk and the upside.
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Rabbit Golf Game Rules
A 'rabbit' is loose at the start of each nine. Win a hole outright and you 'catch the rabbit'. Hold it to the end of the nine and you win that nine. The catch: anyone who wins a hole outright takes the rabbit from you.
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Chairman Golf Game Rules
Win a hole outright and you become the 'chairman'. You score a point for every hole you stay chairman. You keep the chair until another player wins a hole outright and takes it. Most points at the end wins.
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Golf Calcutta Rules
A Calcutta is an auction held before a tournament. Each team goes to the highest bidder, all bids form one pool, and the pool pays out to whoever owns the top-finishing teams. It is the classic night-before event at a member-guest.
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Quota Golf Game Rules
Quota gives every player a personal target: 36 minus your course handicap. You earn points per hole, commonly 1 for bogey, 2 for par, 4 for birdie, and 8 for eagle, and whoever beats their quota by the most wins. It is one of the fairest games for a mixed-ability group.
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