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Any number Plays alongside any game

How to play Bounce Back.

Everybody makes a double. The question is what you do on the next tee. Bounce Back pays you for the answer: par or better straight after a double bogey earns a point.

The short version

Make a double bogey or worse on a hole, then par or better on the very next hole, and you earn a point. Points are worth an agreed amount and settled at the end, usually alongside the group’s other junk.

Overview

Bounce Back is a small points bet, usually one item in a group’s junk list next to greenies, sandies and barkies (see dots). It’s the only junk item that rewards a bad hole, as long as the next one is good. It suits any number of players.

Format:Side bet, points Scoring:A point for par or better after a double Handicap:Gross or net, agreed first Players:Any number

How Bounce Back Works

  1. Agree the value and the threshold. Agree what a point is worth, and whether it’s played on gross or net scores.
  2. Make the comeback. A double bogey or worse on one hole, then par or better on the very next hole, earns a point.
  3. Record it with the junk. Mark the point on the hole alongside any other junk.
  4. Settle up. Pay the differences at the agreed value, or let the most points take a pot.

Worked example. Chris makes 7 on the par-5 11th, then 4 on the par-4 12th: a bounce back, one point. Pat makes 6 on the par-4 14th and 4 on the par-3 15th: a bogey, no point. At a dollar a point, Chris collects a dollar from Pat.

Rules & Variations

Thresholds. The common version is a double bogey or worse followed by par or better. Groups change it: a bogey followed by a birdie, or a bigger payout for a birdie after a double.

Gross or net. Played gross, it’s a real achievement for higher handicaps. Played net, everyone has a fair chance. Agree which before you start.

With other junk. Bounce backs are usually one line in a junk game (with arnies, barkies, sandies and the rest) and paid at the same value.

Strategy

Playing Bounce Back this weekend?

Bounce Back isn’t one of the formats Duck Hook Golf scores yet. The free app scores 32 others — skins, Nassau, Wolf, Vegas, Stableford, Snake and the rest — and does the arithmetic and the settle-up for you.

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Frequently asked questions

A bounce back is making par or better on the hole straight after a double bogey or worse. As a side bet, each bounce back earns a point.

Either; the group agrees first. Gross is harder for higher handicaps, net puts everyone on equal terms.

Not in the common version, which needs a double bogey or worse first. Some groups use a lower threshold; agree it on the first tee.

Each point is worth an agreed amount and the differences are paid at the end, or every player puts in and the most points takes the pot.

Not yet. It isn’t one of the junk items Duck Hook Golf’s Dots game tracks.

If you like Bounce Back, try these

Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.

Dots (Junk) Greenies, sandies, barkies, arnies, polies. The full junk dictionary and what each one is worth. In the app Trouble Points for every water ball, bunker, three-putt and whiff. Lowest total wins. Murphy Call your Murphy before you chip: get up and down, or pay everybody. Nothing to do with your main bet. Pro only Snake Three-putt and the snake is yours. Hold it walking off 18 and you pay everyone. Watch grown men leave 3-footers. In the app Let It Ride Score points every hole, then bank them or let them ride. A net double bogey wipes out everything riding. Skins Low score on the hole wins the cash. Tie it and the money rolls forward — which is how hole 14 ends up worth $180. In the app

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