Alternate shot with an escape hatch: both partners drive, keep the better ball, then share it into the hole. All the teamwork of foursomes, half the terror.
You both hit driver, choose the better ball, and play alternate shot from there — whoever’s drive you didn’t use hits next. Much friendlier than straight foursomes because a wild tee shot doesn’t automatically sink the hole. Play “bloodsomes” and your opponents pick which drive you keep.
Greensomes (sometimes called Scotch foursomes or modified alternate shot) fixes the scariest part of foursomes: watching your partner stripe one while your own driver stays in the bag. In greensomes both players tee off on every hole, the team picks the better drive, and from there it's pure alternate shot — the partner whose ball wasn't chosen plays the second stroke. One ball, one score, half the blow-ups. It's a staple of UK club competitions and mixed events, and the gentlest introduction to shared-ball golf a partnership can get.
Worked example. Par 5. Alex hits a bomb into light rough; Dana finds the short stuff 40 yards back. The team keeps Dana's ball for position — so Alex plays the layup, Dana the wedge, Alex the putt. Two putts later that's a five-stroke hole using both players' strengths: Dana's fairways, Alex's putter.
The standard team allowance is 0.6 × lower course handicap + 0.4 × higher course handicap, rounded to one team number and applied by stroke index. An 8 and an 18 play off 12. In match play, the difference between the two team allowances sets the strokes given. If the event publishes its own allowance, that governs.
Gruesomes (bloodsomes). The evil twin: your opponents pick which of your drives you must play. Expect to hit a lot of second shots from the trees. Identical mechanics otherwise, and genuinely hilarious in a grudge match.
Greensomes vs. Chapman. Chapman delays the choice one shot further: both partners also hit second shots (swapped) before the team picks a ball. Greensomes chooses immediately after the drives.
Par 3s. Both players still tee off and the team keeps the better one — effectively a free closest-to-the-pin contest before the alternating starts.
Mixed events. When partners play from different tees, each drives from their own tee and the choice happens as normal — one reason greensomes dominates mixed club competitions.
In the app. The app scores Greensomes as stroke play: gross, or net off the 60/40 team handicap above, which it works out and applies by stroke index for you. Match play Greensomes isn’t in the app yet. Gruesomes needs nothing special — whoever picked the drive, the app only needs the team’s number on each hole.
Set up a Greensomes game in about thirty seconds, pair the teams, and let everybody watch it play out.
The partner whose drive was not selected. If the team plays Alex's drive, Dana hits the second shot, Alex the third, and so on, alternating until the ball is holed.
The widely used allowance is 60% of the lower partner's course handicap plus 40% of the higher partner's, combined into one team handicap. An 8 and an 18 would play off 4.8 + 7.2 = 12.
In foursomes (alternate shot), partners share one ball from the tee — only one player drives on each hole. In greensomes, both players drive and the team picks the better ball before the alternating starts. Greensomes is friendlier; a bad drive can simply be discarded.
Chapman adds one extra step: after the drives, the partners swap and BOTH play second shots before choosing a ball. In greensomes, the choice happens immediately after the drives and only one second shot is played.
A mischievous variant where the OPPONENTS choose which drive your team must play — invariably the worse one. Also called bloodsomes. Same alternate-shot mechanics from there, considerably more suffering.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf