Golf's answer to the backgammon doubling cube. Any shot, any moment, either side can drop the hammer — double the bet, or make them pay to walk away.
At any point — mid-hole, mid-swing — you can hammer, which doubles the stakes. Your opponent either accepts or concedes the hole immediately. They can hammer back. It’s the backgammon doubling cube dropped onto a golf course, and it makes a 4-footer feel enormous.
Hammer is a hole-by-hole money game with one explosive mechanic: at any point during a hole, either side can call “hammer!” — an offer to double the stake. The other side must accept (the hole is now worth twice as much, and they gain the exclusive right to hammer back) or fold, conceding the hole at its current value. It's pure pressure golf: the best moment to hammer is the instant your opponent's ball splashes into a bunker, and the redoubles can turn a $1 hole into real money before anyone reaches the green. Play it 1v1 or 2v2 best ball.
Worked example. $2 base, 1v1. On the par-3 12th, Dana's tee shot finds the back bunker. Alex, ball safely on the green: “Hammer.” Dana can fold and pay $2, or play on for $4. Dana accepts — then holes the bunker shot. Now it's Dana with the hammer rights and Alex with a 25-footer… “Hammer back.” Alex folds and pays $4. One sandy two, one perfectly timed re-hammer, and the psychological damage carries for weeks.
The re-hammer right. After an accepted hammer, only the accepting side may throw the next one. This is the load-bearing rule — it stops one side from machine-gunning doubles and makes accepting a hammer a real asset.
Auto-2-down hammer. Some groups fold Hammer into a match: when a side goes 2 down, a hammer is automatic. Closer to an automatic press than pure Hammer, but popular.
Ties. Push is standard. The carryover version rolls the hole's full (post-hammer) value into the next hole — thrilling and financially inadvisable.
Caps. A max of two or three hammers per hole keeps the arithmetic friendly. Agree before the round, not while one of you is holding an 8x putt.
2v2 etiquette. Either partner can call the hammer, but many groups require the team to answer one together. Thirty seconds of partner negotiation over a $16 decision is part of the show.
The hole-by-hole Hammer on this page is scored in Duck Hook Pro: the pro records who threw the hammer on a hole, how many times, and whether the last one was accepted or folded, and Duck Hook Pro settles it. It isn’t in the free app yet. The free app does have the Hammer rule on a match: set up Match Play for a flat stake, choose the Hammer press preset, and the side that doubles makes the other accept or fold.
See Duck Hook Pro Browse all 42 gamesAny time before the hole is decided — most dramatically while an opponent's ball is in the air or sitting in a bunker. The only restriction: after a hammer is accepted, only the side that accepted may throw the next one.
You concede the hole immediately and pay its current (pre-hammer) value. Declining isn't free — it just caps the damage.
Yes — the side that accepted a hammer owns the right to hammer next, redoubling the hole. A hole can double multiple times: 1x → 2x → 4x → 8x. Groups that value their friendships sometimes cap it.
Two common rules: the hole pushes (nobody pays), or the hole's value carries to the next hole, skins-style. Carryovers plus hammers escalate quickly — agree before the round.
Yes — play holes at net value with strokes falling by stroke index, exactly like net match play. The hammer mechanics don't change at all.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf