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Golf is fun! Golf with a few fun wagers between friends can even be more fun! A golf bet between friends can be as simple as who keeps the ball in the fairway off the first tee. Or, which player loses a ball first? Here’s a list of the best golf betting games to play.
The best way to get this list of best golf betting games to play is to start with a few of the most simple ones. Remember, the amount of the wager on each hole is up to you and your friends. It could even be as simple as who buys the first beverage when you’re finished. Now let’s get started! The first betting game has already been touched on above. It’s called Long Drive!
Long Drive
This game is simple and can be played on a single hole or all of the par four and five holes on the course. The rules are simple – the player with the longest drive wins as long as it is in bounds. Players can use a driver, long iron, three-wood, hybrid or whatever club they want and feel comfortable with – as long as the drive stays in bounds.
Closest To the Hole
Ok, we’ve covered the long holes, but what about the par three holes? That’s where the closest to the hole comes in! Play this simple game on each of the short holes with the player getting closest to the hole from off the tee being the winner. Some people may also stipulate that the ball must be on the green as well, but that’s up to you and your playing partners.
Skins / Dollars
How much more simple can a golf wager get than this? All you have to do is set a skin or a dollar amount for each hole. Win the hole and win the bet! The amount you wager for each hole is set before the match starts. A variation of this game happens when you have a set amount for par three holes, a slightly higher amount for par four holes and even more for par five holes. If no one wins the hole, everyone cards the same score, then the skins/dollars roll over to amount the next hole.
Winning a Sandy!
Have you heard of the Oscars, the Grammy’s or the Tony Awards? Now it’s time to win a “Sandy” award when playing golf. There are a few versions of this game starting with the simple version, which is that the player that avoids sand traps during a round wins. Another version is that a “Sandy” can be won whenever a player gets up and down from a bunker in two shots. The “Sandy” award could be a cash prize or a cold beverage courtesy of the other players.
Hazards
This is the last of the simple best golf betting games to play on this list. Before a round, a prize is decided. Each player could put one, five, ten or more dollars into the pot – your choice. The player that avoids all hazards during a round wins the pot at the end of the game. Hazards can include all bunkers, streams, ponds and out of bounds – decide the rules before starting play. Sprinkle heads and similar are not considered hazards.
Stroke Play / Final Card
Let’s start the more complicated list of the best golf betting games to play with one that is tough and yet the most simple. It’s stroke play! This game works best when you are playing with players that have similar golf handicaps. Simply play a round of golf according to the USGA rules of the game like you would if you were in a PGA tournament. Why can this simple game become complicated? Because all of the rules of golf apply including penalties. The player with the lowest score at the end of the round wins the pot! What is the “Final Card” version? That’s when differences between handicaps arise in case strokes are awarded to even the playing field out.
What Is 3-Ball Betting in Golf
Two-Man or Four-Man Scramble
A scramble in golf is when you play each hole from the best shot on your team. You can knock one in the water, but you play your next shot from the spot where your teammate landed on two feet off the green! This is a common format with many of the weekend tournaments we all play in from time to time. A scramble usually applies to a four-man team against other four-man teams. A Two-man scramble is when you have a foursome playing a fun round and you want to add some spice. Divide your foursome into two teams and work the scramble that way. This is a perfect game for a foursome consisting of two couples, or two sets of father-son or mom-daughter players. You get the idea.
Best Ball
Again, this is a common format for local tournaments. Best ball can be played for each hole or as a cumulative score after a round. Wager amounts depend on what you and your friends set or by the officials for the tournament that you are playing. Each team cards the score for the best ball / score on their team for each hole or at the end of the round as mentioned above. If you are on a four-man team and you sink a birdie putt and everyone else cards par or a bogey, then you scratch the other scores and your team records the impressive birdie! The great thing about the best ball format is that every player on your team still gets to play their entire game.
Stableford
Are you a PGA fan that has watched the Barracuda Championship and wondered what was going on? The Barracuda Championship is the only PGA Tour tournament that uses a Stableford-style scoring system instead of a stroke-play scoring system. Here’s how this works – each score is assigned a value. Here’s an example using the Barracuda scoring system. Double bogey or more equals -3 points, bogey equals -1 point, a par equals 0 points, birdies scores 2 points, an eagle equals 5 points and double eagle scores 8 points. This is just an example – but the player with the most points at the end of the game wins!
Top 10 Biggest PGA Tournaments
Bingo Bango Bongo
Yes, this is a fun game. No, this is not the tongue-twister word “Bazinga” used on the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory. There are three ways to win a point with Bingo Bango Bongo on each hole. Your group will determine a wager amount for each point before starting. The amounts can be the same or increase depending on what you decide. Point one is Bingo – goes to the first player on the green. The Bango point goes to the player closest to the hole. The Bongo point goes to the first player to put the ball in the hole!
Daytona / Vegas
This game is known as Daytona or Vegas and is a foursome game with two-player teams. This is a scoring game that can add up quickly. You assign an amount to each point. It could be a penny a point, a dime, a dollar, ten bucks or a 100 spot depending on your wallet. Here’s the basic game using a dollar per point. All four players complete the hole and check their scorecards. Let’s say it’s a par three. One team has two players that score a par and a bogey. That’s a 3 and a 4. They scored a 34 – the lowest number goes first. The other team scored a bogey and a double bogey – that was a score of 45. The lowest score wins the hole which is a 10-point difference which is a $10 win. You can also play Flip the Bird which is when one team cards a birdie and the other team does not. Then the losing team flips their numbers and the higher number counts. Using the example above, the score of 45 becomes a score of 54 which is a 20 point/$20 buck win.
Nassau
Nassau is a very popular wagering game on the golf course as there are several variations based around one main format. A round of golf (18 holes) is broken down into three bets or stages. All three get their payoff and the wager amounts are determined by you! Let’s say $10 per bet/stage or $30 bucks per player in the pot. The winner of the front nine wins stage one, the winner of the back nine wins stage two and the winner overall grabs the final bet. If a player in a foursome gets locked out and does not win anything and is out $30 – the other three players buy that player a sympathy beverage.
6-6-6 (Triple Six)
6-6-6, or Triple Six, is a great game if your teams are skewed. Such as one player in the foursome is a great golfer and another is new to the game. The game is split into three sections of six holes. You switch partners every six holes and every six holes is a new wager. Player 1 and player 2 are partners for the first six holes. Then player 1 and player 3 are partners for the next six holes. Then player 1 teams up with player 4 to finish out the last six holes. Every 6 holes can be a new bet. This is a simplification of the Triple Six format as you can incorporate other games into this format.
There are plenty of other games that can be on the list of best golf betting games to play, but this is a starting point for you to hit the links with. The great thing about any golf betting game is that you can tweak the format for your own needs. What’s important is that you make wagers you can afford and that are appropriate. Always try to have a great time on the course and enjoy the moment. If you can win a few bets – that’s not a bad thing either!
