“If I could just have that one back…” In this format, you can. Handicap strokes become mulligans, and the only question is when to spend them.
Instead of strokes off your score you get that many do-overs. Hate your drive on 3? Hit it again. The catch is you have to take the replay, and there are only so many. Watching a 20-handicap burn four mulligans on the first three holes never gets old.
Criers and Whiners (also billed as a No Alibis or Mulligan tournament) swaps the abstract math of handicap strokes for something every golfer viscerally understands: do-overs. Instead of subtracting strokes at the end, each player receives a budget of mulligans based on their handicap and may replay any shot in the round — the shanked tee ball, the chunked wedge, the lipped-out three-footer (if the event allows putt mulligans). The catch that gives the format its name: the replay stands, even when it's worse. Nothing in golf is funnier than a player re-hitting into the same pond, and nothing is more satisfying than burning your last mulligan on the 18th and striping it.
Worked example. Dana (12 mulligans) slices the opening drive OB — mulligan, fairway, crisis averted, 11 left. Through nine holes Dana has burned seven fixing full swings. On the 17th, needing a par, Dana chunks a chip and spends mulligan #12 to get up and down. On 18 there's nothing left in the bag but golf — which is exactly the point of the name.
Putt mulligans. The biggest fork in the rules. Allowed, mulligans become putting insurance and most budgets get hoarded for the greens. Banned, the event stays a ball-striking contest. Either works; ambiguity doesn't.
Buy-a-mulligan fundraisers. Charity outings often sell extra mulligans at registration ($5 each, limit 2–4). It's painless fundraising and pairs perfectly with this format — just cap the total so the trophy still means something.
Team criers. Run it on top of a scramble or best ball with a shared team budget. The arguments over whether to replay Jo's drive are half the entertainment.
Reverse criers (Whiners only). The sadistic variant: opponents get to force you to replay your best shots. Usually reserved for grudge matches and bachelor parties.
No handicaps? No problem. Flat budgets (everyone gets 6) work fine for corporate outings. For a proper one-day handicap instead, use the Peoria or Callaway system.
In the app. The app sets every budget at the common rate, three quarters of course handicap, or a flat six each when you play without handicaps. Half- and full-handicap budgets aren’t options yet. It scores the round gross and settles the bets, but it doesn’t count mulligans as you use them, and whether putt mulligans are allowed is your group’s call on the first tee.
Set up the game in about thirty seconds and every player sees their mulligan count before the first tee shot.
The event sets a conversion from handicap — commonly around three-quarters of course handicap, so a 16-handicap gets 12 mulligans and a 4-handicap gets 3. Some events use half handicap for a tougher test or full handicap for max forgiveness.
Yes — the standard rule is that the replayed ball is in play no matter what, and you can never mulligan a mulligan. Re-hitting into the water after a re-tee is a rite of passage.
Depends on the event. Allowing putt mulligans makes them extremely valuable (most players save them all for the greens); many events ban them to keep the game about full swings. Announce the rule clearly.
It's the format for everyone who moans “if I could just have that one back.” Here, you can — a set number of times. It's also called a No Alibis tournament: after the round, you have no excuses left.
Yes — that's a big reason outings use it. Give everyone a flat mulligan count (say 6) or estimate loosely from average scores; the format is forgiving of rough handicap guesses. For a more formal one-day handicap, see the Peoria and Callaway systems.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf