Golf Games Beyond Best Ball

br> Wanna make things more interesting? Play these golf games with you buddies to add another level of competition!

The Nassau: The Nassau is three bets in one: low score on the front nine, low score on the back nine and low score over the full 18.

The $2 Nassau is perhaps the most common bet among golf buddies.


Gruesomes: Gruesomes, one of my favourite golf games,  is a 2-person team game where both members of the team tee off - and then the opposing team selects which drive they have to play.

Needless to say, the opposing team is likely to select the worst - or most gruesome - of the two drives.

Scoring format for this golf game can be either stroke play or match play.

To make things more interesting we typically have to choose which drive will be used before leaving the tee box before the exact lie of the ball is known.

This way you run the chance of picking a drive that you think is bad but ends up being a pretty good lie.

Following selection of the tee ball, the teams play out the hole in alternate shot fashion.

The player who hit the "gruesome" tee ball also plays the second shot.


Bingo-Bango-Bongo: In Bingo Bango Bongo, three types of achievements are rewarded with a point.

The first player in a group to get his ball on the green gets a point (bingo).

The player in the group whose ball is closest to the pin once all balls are on the green gets a point (bango).

And the player in the group who is first to hole out gets a point (bongo).

Add up the points at the end of the golf game, high points wins.

Bingo Bango Bongo gives weaker players a chance to earn points because what matters is being first at something.

For example, all members of the group tee off on a par-4. The player who hit the worst drive (farthest from the hole) plays first, and so has the first shot at winning the bingo point.

So, too, with closest to the pin. The best players in the group are likely to be on the green in two (or three on a par-5), while the weakest players might be chipping.

The closest-to-the-pin point is only earned once all balls are on the green, so the player who has hacked it up the fairway may be sitting just off the green and chipping - giving that player a great chance to pick up the bango point.

Because of these factors, and because the first person putting will be the one farthest from the hole, strict etiquette must be enforced. The player who is away always plays first.

Depending on the strength of the players, spotting players points to start just to even things out a bit can be done.

Doubling up points for consecutive Bingos or Bangos or Bongos is also fun and may promote tactical play to try and ensure a person doesn't get three consecutive Bingos in a row etc.

Snake: Snake is one of many golf putting games. At the beginning of the round, all players in the foursome agree on the bet amount.

Whoever three-putts first gets and keeps the 'snake' until someone else three-putts, then it changes owner to that golfer and keeps passing until the round is finished.

Whoever is the last golfer to three putt owns the snake and pays the other players in the foursome the agreed amount.


One man best ball: In this game, each golfer plays 36 holes. Each player selects their best score from each of the 18 holes, "selecting their best ball per hole".

The winner is the player with the lowest total.

This format is usually played with two-thirds or three-fourths handicap or a match play system could be used to help eliminate really bad holes even after best hole is selected.

To make things interesting you can combine golf games.  Track putts and play snake. Players may actually not select their better hole because they three putted and may risk owning the snake.


Return HOME from playing  these golf games.