Skins
Also called Skins Game, Cuts, Syndicates
Each hole is worth a skin; outright low score wins it, ties carry the value forward.
Six usually plays as two threesomes. Run Nines or Split Sixes inside each group with a shared Skins or quota pot across both, or, where the course allows a sixsome, play Banker or Aces & Deuces, which scale to any number.
Settle the shared pot on the patio: a quota game lets the two groups compete without seeing each other, and a Snake that travels between carts keeps the putting honest.
How many are playing?
Wagers settled hole by hole or match by match. Keep the units small and agree the rules on the first tee.
Also called Skins Game, Cuts, Syndicates
Each hole is worth a skin; outright low score wins it, ties carry the value forward.
Also called Acey Deucey, Aces and Deuces, Ace-Deuce
Low score on the hole collects from everyone; high score pays everyone.
Also called Bankers, The Bank, Hawk
A rotating banker tees off last and plays a separate cash match against each other player.
Stableford-style scoring: pile up points, chase a quota, or split a fixed pot every hole.
Also called BBB, Bingle Bangle Bungle
Three points a hole: first on the green, closest to the pin, first in the hole.
Also called Points Play, Stableford Points, Points
Score points per hole against net par; highest total wins.
Also called 39s, Thirty-Nines, Chicago Quota
Stableford-style points chased against a personal quota of 39 minus your handicap.
Also called Points Game, Quota Points, Dogfight
Beat your personal point quota (36 minus handicap) by the widest margin.
Also called PGA Tour Stableford, Barracuda Championship format
Stableford with negative points for bogeys, rewarding aggressive play.
Also called Misery, Penalty Points
Collect penalty points for every mishap; fewest points wins.
Also called Best 11
Only your best 11 net holes count, but you must commit each hole right after playing it.
Also called Ride It, Bank or Ride
Earn points per hole and choose to bank them or let them ride for double next hole.
Scrambles, best ball, alternate shot and the partner games that run on top of them.
Also called Four-Ball (Two-Man Best Ball), Better Ball, Fourball
Partners play their own balls; the lower score on each hole counts.
Also called Captain's Choice, Fort Lauderdale, Four-Person Scramble
Everyone hits, team picks the best shot, everyone plays from there until holed.
Also called Chapman System, Pinehurst System, Pinehurst Foursomes
Both drive, swap balls for the second shot, pick one ball, then alternate.
Also called Scotch Foursomes, St Andrews Foursomes, Canadian Foursomes
Two partners share one ball and alternate every stroke.
Also called Bramble, Champagne Scramble, Texas Shamble
Pick the best drive, then everyone plays their own ball into the hole.
Also called Bloodsome Scramble, Yellowsomes
Greensomes where your opponents choose which of your drives you must play.
Also called 4-Man Cha Cha Cha, Progressive Best Ball, Waltz
Four-person best ball where 1, then 2, then 3 scores count in rotation.
Also called Step-Aside Scramble, Dropout Scramble, Stand-Aside
Scramble where whoever hit the chosen shot sits out the next stroke.
Also called Modified Alternate Shot, Selected Drive Foursomes, Scotch Foursomes (Selected Drive)
Both partners tee off, choose one ball, then alternate shots to the hole.
Also called Yellow Ball (Money Ball), Devil Ball, Pink Ball
One rotating 'yellow ball' score counts every hole plus the best of the rest.
Also called Round Robin for Five or Six, Rotating Matches, Fivesome Round Robin
Rotate pairings every three or six holes so everyone plays with and against everyone.
Also called Team Best Ball (3-4 Players), Best 1 of 4, Best 2 of 4
Everyone plays their own ball; the team counts its best one, two or three net scores.
Also called Scramble with minimum drives
Scramble where a set number of each player's tee shots must be used.
Also called Ambrose Scramble, Ambrose Competition, Shotgun
Australian scramble played with a formula team handicap.
Also called Bowmaker Stableford, Team Stableford
UK team format: everyone plays, the best two (usually) Stableford scores count per hole.
Also called Dice Scramble
A die roll decides whose drive the scramble team must play.
Also called Long and Short, Whack and Hack
One partner hits every long shot, the other every short shot.
Scramble where the player whose drive is chosen sits out until the green.
Also called Odd/Even, Odds and Evens, Odd-Even Alternate Shot
Team format where hole number decides whose ball or how many balls count.
Also called Worst-Ball Scramble, Opposite Scramble, Bizarro Scramble
A scramble where the team must play from the worst shot every time.
Small bets that layer onto any round: greenies, sandies, snake and friends.
Also called Dots (Junk / Garbage / Trash), Trash, Dot Game
Umbrella game that bundles many achievement bets into points ('dots') settled at the end.
Also called Greeny, Closest to the Pin, KP
Hit the green in regulation (usually closest on a par 3) and keep it with a two-putt.
Also called Sandy, Sand Save, Super Sandie
Make par or better on a hole where you were in a bunker.
Also called Palmers, Seves
Make par on a par 4 or par 5 without ever touching the fairway.
Also called Woody, Barky, Seve's (some groups)
Hit a tree during the hole and still make par or better.
Also called The Snake, Three-Putt Snake, Snakes
Every three-putt passes the snake; whoever holds it after 18 pays the pot.
Also called Birdies (Dot), Birdie dot, Birdies bet
Every birdie earns a dot; eagles earn double.
Also called Nasties, Uglies, Ferret
Hole a shot from off the green.
Also called Ferrets and Golden Ferrets, Desert Ferret, Chip-in / Bunker hole-out
Ferret: hole out from off the green with a non-putter; Golden Ferret: hole out from a bunker.
Also called Hogies, Perfecto, Jones (birdie version)
Reward for hitting the fairway and the green in regulation on the same hole.
Also called Up-and-Down Call, Flaps, Murphies
Call your up-and-down before you chip; make it and collect, miss and pay.
Also called Nicklauses, Tiger, Longest Drive in Fairway
Longest drive on the hole, but it must be in the fairway.
Also called Polies (Poley / Polee / Pinnie), Poley, Polee
Hole a putt longer than the flagstick (or stick an approach inside flagstick length).
Also called Zoo (Zookeeper / Animals), Zookeeper, Dr. Doolittle
Penalty game: each bad shot earns an animal you hold until someone else commits it.
Also called Comeback
Get paid for following a bad hole with a par or better.
Also called First-Longest-Most, Birdies bet, Fish
Three bets on birdies: first birdie, longest birdie putt, most birdies.
Also called Card Golf
Earn playing cards for on-course feats and show the best five-card hand at the end.
Also called Bear, Skunk, Chimpanzee (lost ball)
Penalty animal for going out of bounds; passes to the next offender.
Also called Anti-Sandies, Reverse Sandies, Camel (Zoo)
Penalty bet: leave your ball in the bunker after a swing and you owe a mole.
Also called Oozles and Foozles, Ouzles, Oozlum
Par-3 bet: closest to the pin wins an oozle, but a three-putt costs a foozle.
Also called Par-3 Challenge (Threes), Threes, Par-3 Total
Only the par 3s count; lowest total on them wins.
Also called Scruffy, Scruffs, Bad-drive par bet
After a terrible drive, bet you'll still make par.
Also called Seve's, Ballesteros
Make par without ever being in the fairway (an Arnie by another name).
Also called Sharks (Fishies / Splashies), Sharkies, Splashies
Hit into water and still make par or better.
Named for Tom Watson: commonly a holed chip from off the green (partially verified).
Same course, different rules: limited clubs, mulligans, strings, flags.
Also called Three Club Monte, 3-Club Challenge, One-Club Challenge
Pick three clubs (putter usually free) and play the whole round with them.
Also called No Alibis, Mulligans, Play It Again Sam
Your handicap becomes a supply of mulligans to spend anywhere in the round.
Also called Last Man Standing, Flag Competition, Plant Your Flag
Each player gets par plus handicap strokes; plant your flag where your last stroke ends.
Also called Hated Holes, Three Hated Holes
Pick the three holes you hate before the round and take an automatic par on them.
Also called String It Out, Stringball, Handicap Strings
Move your ball by hand as far as your piece of string allows, cutting off what you use.
Also called Composite Course, Cross Country Scramble
Play made-up holes from one tee to a different hole's green across the property.
Also called Three Blind Mice, Throw-Out, Lemon Drop
Drop your three worst holes and compare 15-hole totals.
Formats built for leagues, charity days and buddies trips.
Also called Stroke Play (Medal Play), Medal Play, Individual Stroke Play
Count every stroke; lowest 18-hole total wins.
Also called Ryder Cup Style (Team Match), Team Match Play, Buddies Cup
Two captained teams play sessions of foursomes, four-ball and singles for points.
Also called Play vs. Par (Bogey/Par Competition), Par Competition, Match Play vs. the Course
The course is your match-play opponent and it makes par (or bogey) on every hole.
Also called Eclectic (Ringer), Ringer Tournament, Ringers
Over many rounds, keep your best score on each hole to build one dream round.
Also called Derby, Rumpsie Dumpsie, Elimination Shootout
Big group plays together; the worst score is eliminated on every hole.
Also called Trip Points Race (Stableford/Quota League), Buddies Cup Points Race, Season-Long Quota
Every round of the trip or league feeds one leaderboard of Stableford or quota points.
Also called Beat the Pro's Score, Beat the CEO, Beat the Pro par-3 challenge
Everyone plays net against the club pro's gross score; beat it by the most to win.
Also called Challenge Ladder
A season-long ranking where you climb by challenging and beating players above you.
Games that make a round on your own count for something.
Also called Solo Scramble, Two-Ball Best Ball, Best Ball With Yourself
Hit two balls from every spot, play the better one, and find out how low you can go.
Also called Speed Golf, Fitness Golf, Extreme Golf
Run the course with a few clubs; your score is strokes plus minutes.
Rules and point values are the versions most groups play, cross-checked against multiple published sources; where groups differ the common variations are listed on each game’s page. Your group’s house rules always win, so agree them on the first tee.
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