The free Duck Hook Golf app went from 13 formats to 25, learned how to score a press, and now tracks the closest-to-the-pin money too. Duck Hook Pro is up to 41 games, and there are more than 8,700 new courses to play them on. Here’s everything that’s new.
In July the app scored 13 formats. It now scores 25, and every one of them is free. Each new game has a full rules guide if you want the fine print before you try it on your group.
The fourth didn’t show. You now have three options that were built for exactly that.
Every group presses and no two groups mean the same thing by it. The app now scores both kinds:
Turn presses on when you set up the game, then tap Press under the bet when you’re behind. The app sets the start hole, which is always the next one nobody has scored, so nobody backdates a press to the hole they just won. Every press shows on the leaderboard for the whole group the moment it’s declared.
There are four presets: Classic, Auto, Strict and Hammer. Auto declares presses by rule, for instance every time a side goes 2 down, which is the one to pick if your group has ever argued about a press. Hammer makes the other side take the doubled bet or fold. The guide to presses has the full rules and worked examples.
Some bets the scorecard can’t decide. Five bucks on closest to the pin at the 7th. Long drive on 12. The longest putt of the day. The app now tracks fourteen of these: closest to the pin, long drive, longest putt, straightest drive, closest in two, closest to the target, Poison, a putting contest, a chipping contest, beat the stick, a one-club hole, an opposite-hand hole, a hole-in-one pot, and a custom bet you name yourself.
Pick the bet, pick who’s in, set the stake, and pick the winner when it’s decided. It doesn’t have to be the whole group; two golfers in a foursome can have their own. The winner takes the pot, a tie splits it, and if nobody hits the green, nobody pays. The app doesn’t measure anything. You tell it who won, and you have 24 hours after the round ends to do it, so the longest putt can be argued out in the bar. All fourteen are explained in the guide to side bets.
More ways to bet would be a step backwards if each one meant another round of who-owes-who. So the round settles as one. Skins, the Nassau on the side, the press on the back nine and the closest-to-the-pin money are netted per golfer into a single set of payments, and everybody gets one results email, not one per game.
Down $20 on skins and up $15 on closest to the pin? You owe $5, once. More on how the netting works.
A new game is no use if your course isn’t in the app. So we went looking for the ones we were missing, at home and well beyond it.
| Where | Courses added |
|---|---|
| United States | More than 1,300 |
| Canada | More than 1,400 |
| Mexico | More than 140 |
| Europe | More than 5,800 |
That brings the total to nearly 28,000 courses.
The US additions are mostly the small ones a course list tends to miss: about half are nine-hole courses. Canada and Mexico are new to the app altogether. So is nearly all of Europe, from Scotland and Ireland to Spain, Sweden and Turkey, which means the buddies trip to St Andrews or the Algarve can run on the same app as the Saturday game.
Every one of these courses comes with its tees, its pars and a real stroke index, so handicap strokes land on the holes they’re supposed to. While we were in there, we also corrected the stroke index on 380 courses we already had.
Still can’t find yours? Email support@duckhook.golf with the course name and location, and we’ll add it.
25 formats, presses, side bets and every new course. No ads, no paid tier for players. Set up your first game in under a minute.
Download Duck Hook GolfDuck Hook Pro scores everything the free app does, plus 16 games the app doesn’t score yet. The pro or organizer sets up the game and keeps the card in Duck Hook Pro, which works out the result and the settle-up and shows it on the TV leaderboard.
| Kind of game | New in Duck Hook Pro |
|---|---|
| Rotating and one-against-the-field | Wolf, Banker, Hammer, Acey Deucey |
| Two against two | High-Low, Scotch, Sixes |
| Running side games | Rabbit, Snake, Murphy, Wad, Bingo Bango Bongo, Dots |
| Outings and events | Yellow Ball, Flags, Horse Race |
A few of these needed more than a points table. For Hammer, the pro records who threw it on a hole, how many times, and whether the last one was accepted or folded. For Yellow Ball, the pro builds teams of three or four and sets the order the ball rotates in. A Horse Race runs for the whole field, with the chip-off loser entered when a hole ties and a board showing who is still in.
Half the field at a charity outing has no handicap. Duck Hook Pro now has both one-day systems as options on a stroke-play game. For Peoria, it draws the six secret holes (or takes the pro’s own) and keeps them hidden until the round ends. For both, it works out every golfer’s handicap and net score.
Duck Hook Pro is $299 a year, with all 41 games, recurring leagues, member/guest and Ryder Cup events, and TV leaderboards. The app stays free for every golfer.
See Duck Hook Pro| Free app | Duck Hook Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Game formats | 25 | 41 |
| Stableford, Tilt, Nines, Split Sixes, Defender | ✓ | ✓ |
| Daytona, Chapman, Greensomes, Shamble | ✓ | ✓ |
| Criers & Whiners, String | ✓ | ✓ |
| New US, Canadian, Mexican and European courses | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wolf, Banker, Hammer and 13 more | Not yet | ✓ |
| Peoria and Callaway handicaps | Not yet | ✓ |
Not sure which game fits your group? The game finder has rules guides for 42 games, with filters for what’s in the app and what’s in Pro.
The free Duck Hook Golf app scores 25 game formats: Skins, Nassau, Stroke Play, Match Play, Quota, Stableford, Modified Stableford, Nines, Split Sixes, Defender, Tilt, Vegas, Howard Vegas, Daytona, Best Ball, Scramble, Shamble, Alternating Shot, Chapman, Greensomes, Criers & Whiners and String, plus match-play versions of Best Ball, Scramble and Alternating Shot.
Yes. All 25 formats, presses and side bets are in the free app. There are no ads and no paid tier for players.
Yes. Alongside more than 1,300 newly added US courses, the app now has more than 1,400 courses in Canada, more than 140 in Mexico and more than 5,800 across Europe, each with tees, pars and a stroke index. That brings the total to nearly 28,000 courses.
Not yet. Wolf is one of 16 games scored in Duck Hook Pro and not in the free app. The others are Banker, Hammer, Horse Race, Acey Deucey, High-Low, Flags, Rabbit, Sixes, Snake, Murphy, Wad, Bingo Bango Bongo, Dots, Scotch and Yellow Ball.
Yes. Duck Hook Pro scores all 25 formats in the free app plus 16 of its own, for 41 in total.
Duck Hook Golf