Somebody in every foursome says “let’s play something different today” and then nobody can remember the rules. This is the fix — every format and side bet worth playing, written the way you’d explain it on the first tee. Search it, filter it, pick one.
42 games and counting
One player, one card. Bring a foursome or bring forty.
Win the hole, win a point. A quadruple bogey costs you exactly one hole — and that changes everything.
Rules In the appThree bets for the price of one: front nine, back nine, and the whole round. The bet your grandfather played.
Rules In the appEveryone gets a personal points target based on their handicap. Beat yours by the most and you win.
Rules In the appLow score on the hole wins the cash. Tie it and the money rolls forward — which is how hole 14 ends up worth $180.
Rules In the appCount them all, low total wins. No hiding a blow-up hole, no partner to bail you out.
Rules Pro onlyA point for first on the green, one for closest once everyone’s on, one for first in the hole. Distance never matters.
Rules In the appOne player defends the hole against the other two. Win it and you collect twice — lose it and you pay twice.
Rules In the appThe best game for a threesome. Nine points on every hole, split 5-3-1, and nobody is ever out of it.
Rules In the appSix points a hole for a threesome, split 4-2-0. Simpler math than Nines, same never-out-of-it feel.
Rules In the appPoints against par, and a blow-up hole just scores zero. Pick up, move on, stay in the game.
Rules In the appStableford with a fuse. Make a net birdie and your next hole counts double — the good part and the bad part.
Rules Pro onlyTee off last, watch three drives, then pick a partner on the spot — or take on all three alone for triple.
RulesTwo-person teams and up — the formats built for a scramble day or a buddies trip.
One ball, two players, every other shot. The format that has ended more friendships than any other.
Rules In the appEveryone plays their own ball, the team takes the low score. The easiest team format to explain on the first tee.
Rules In the appVegas that keeps doubling. Poker hands, lead changes and birdies all trigger a roll — and the stakes climb all afternoon.
Rules In the appEveryone hits, you take the best shot, everyone hits again from there. The reason charity outings finish before dark.
Rules In the appTwo-man teams turn their scores into a two-digit number. Score a 4 and 5 and you’re a 45. Birdies flip the other team’s digits.
Rules In the appBoth drive, swap balls and hit each other’s second, then pick one and alternate it home.
Rules In the appVegas with teeth. Miss par and your high score goes first — a 5 and an 8 becomes 85, not 58.
Rules In the appBoth drive, keep the better one, then alternate it home. Foursomes with an escape hatch off the tee.
Rules Pro onlyTwo points on every hole: one for the better low score, one for the better high score. Your partner’s bad hole finally matters.
Rules Pro onlyThe club’s big weekend: bring a guest, get flighted by handicap, play a round robin of short matches.
Rules Pro onlySix points a hole — low ball, low total, proximity, birdie. Sweep all four and the hole doubles.
Rules In the appTake the best drive, then everybody plays their own ball in. All the fun of a scramble, real scores on the card.
Rules Pro onlyThree six-hole matches with rotating partners. By 18 you’ve teamed with everyone and beaten everyone.
RulesThe stuff you play on top of whatever else is going on. Add one to any round. Raising the stakes mid-round? Read the guide to presses. Betting on closest to the pin or a long drive? See the guide to side bets.
Low score collects from everyone. High score pays everyone. That’s the whole game.
Rules Pro onlyOne player is the house for the hole. Everyone else names their own bet against them. High variance, higher drama.
Rules Pro onlyGreenies, sandies, barkies, arnies, polies. The full junk dictionary and what each one is worth.
Rules Pro onlyThrow the hammer any time and the bet doubles — unless they fold, and then you win it right there.
Rules Pro onlyCall your Murphy before you chip: get up and down, or pay everybody. Nothing to do with your main bet.
Rules Pro onlyWin a hole outright and you catch the rabbit. Still holding it at 9 and 18? You get paid.
Rules In the appFive bucks on who’s closest at the 7th. Fourteen pots the scorecard can’t decide, and how each one pays.
Rules Pro onlyThree-putt and the snake is yours. Hold it walking off 18 and you pay everyone. Watch grown men leave 3-footers.
Rules Pro onlyEvery first putt you hole feeds the pot. Whoever drops the last one on 18 takes the whole thing.
RulesFormats for a full field, a shotgun start, or a three-day golf trip.
The night-before auction. Bid on the teams you like, own their result, and collect if they finish on top.
Rules In the appYour handicap strokes become mulligans. Replay the shots you hate — then live with what you get.
Rules Pro onlyYou get par plus your handicap in strokes. Wherever you run out, plant your flag. Farthest flag wins.
Rules Pro onlyThe whole field plays a hole together, the worst score goes home. Repeat until one team is left.
Rules Pro onlyHow to give a fair handicap to a field where half the players don’t have one. Computed from the round itself.
Rules Pro onlyTwo teams, two captains, a weekend of matches and a trophy nobody actually needs. The best golf-trip format ever built.
Rules In the appYour handicap comes as an actual piece of string. Move the ball anywhere you want — even into the hole — and cut off what you used.
Rules Pro onlyOne yellow ball rotates through the team and its score always counts. Lose it in the water and the side pot is gone.
RulesSixteen of the formats above — skins, nassau, vegas, howard vegas, daytona, quota, stableford, nines, split sixes, defender, tilt, best ball, scramble, alternating shot, match and stroke play — keep score for you inside the free app, with presses and side bets on top. Live leaderboards, automatic handicaps, and one settle-up at the end instead of four guys arguing over a napkin.
Duck Hook Golf