Drive for show, putt for dough, and in this game it’s literally true. Every other shot is free. Only the putts count, and the fewest over 18 holes wins.
Count each player’s putts over the round and nothing else. Fewest putts wins: either the whole pot, or a value per putt paid by everyone above the winner. Split it front nine, back nine and total if you want three bets in one.
Low Putts, also called fewest putts or total putts, is the simplest putting bet there is, and it levels the field: a 20-handicap with a good stroke can beat a scratch player who hits every green from 40 feet. It runs alongside any game and suits any number of players.
Agree one thing first: what counts as a putt. Many groups count only strokes from on the green, so putting from the fringe is free; others count every stroke with a putter.
Worked example. A dollar a putt. After 18, Lee has 29 putts, Max 33 and Ari 35. Lee wins: Max pays $4 and Ari pays $6.
Front, back and total. Like a Nassau: three bets for the fewest putts on the front nine, the back nine and the 18.
Ties. Split the pot, or carry it to a putt-off on the practice green. Agree first.
Teams. In a team event, the team’s total putts counts; it also works as a putting “honey pot” at an outing.
Two players. A straight wager: the fewer putts wins.
Low Putts 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.
Get the free app Browse all 52 gamesEach player counts only their putts over the round. The fewest putts wins, either a pot everyone put in or a value per putt paid by everyone who took more.
It depends on the group. Many count only strokes from on the green, so a putt from the fringe is free; others count every stroke with a putter. Agree before the round.
There’s no set rule. Split the pot, or settle it with a putt-off. Agree first.
Usually not. Putting is the great leveller, so the game is normally played straight up.
Not yet. Low Putts isn’t one of the formats Duck Hook Golf scores.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
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