proper golf stance

Games Golfers Play

Golfers like to play games during a match, especially those players with low golf handicaps. Some foursomes have a regular game whenever they play. Others don’t. Golf games add a little spice to a match and pressure players to perform. They provide a chance to execute an adjustment learned in a golf lesson or execute a golf tip. And they offer a chance to win money, gain a free drink, or earn bragging rights. Many golf games involve putting.

Perhaps the all time favorite game is the Nassau. The Nassau, as explained by Brent Kelly, the golf guide at About.com, is one of the most popular golf tournament formats and golf bets. It’s three tournaments or bets in one: the front nine, the back nine and the 18-hole scores all count as separate tournaments or bets. In a Nassau tournament, the player (or team) winning the front nine wins a prize, the player (or team) winning the back nine wins a prize, and the player or team with the low 18-hole total wins a prize.

Below are some other popular golf games that you and your foursome may enjoy playing next time you’re out on the course.

Three-Putt Poker
On the first tee everyone throws a nominal amount of money in a pot and gets a playing card. Each time a golfer one-putts a green, he gets another card. Each time he three-putts, he adds a dollar to the pot. At the end of nine holes, the golfer holding the best poker hand takes all the money and everyone re-antes for the second nine.

One-Hole Press
A press is a gambler’s mulligan. It’s a chance to salvage a hopeless match by starting a new wager. A one-hole press is like any other press, except that it expires at the end of the current hole rather than running to the end of the game. Terms and limitations, if any, should be negotiated at the beginning.

Saskatchewan
This is a putting game. If you’re on the green and you haven’t putted yet and your ball lies farther from the hole than the length of the flagstick, you can yell “Saskatchewan.” If you then make the putt, everyone pays you a dollar. But if you three-putt, you pay everyone else three dollars. Some players know this game by another name, but names in golf games don’t really matter that much.

Worst-Ball
This game is the opposite of best ball. If you or your partner does worse on a hole than both of your opponents, you lose a point. Worst ball can be played along side of best ball, where you get a point if you or you partner score lower than both of your opponents.

The Skins Game
One game made popular by television is Skins. It pits players in a type of match play in which each hole has a set value (usually in money or points). The player who wins the hole wins the “skin,” and whatever the skin is worth. Skins games are more dramatic than standard match play because holes are not halved. When players tie on a given hole, the value of the hole carries over and adds to the value of the following hole. The more ties, the greater the value of the skin and the bigger the eventual payoff.

Playing games with side bets adds a little extra to a golf match. Most golfers like to keep their bets to a minimum. Some players with low golf handicaps play for a little more. Nevertheless, golf games are a good way to spice up that regular golf date. They can also be golf lessons in themselves—thanks to the addition of a little pressure. There’s a wide range of golf games to choose from. But whichever game you play, try to keep it fun and friendly.

>

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This
Scroll to Top