Your handicap, handed to you as actual string. Spend it to move the ball anywhere — out of the bunker, off the tree root, into the hole — and cut off every inch you use.
Every player gets a length of string, usually a foot per handicap stroke. Any time you want, measure a length off and move your ball that far — out of a bunker, past a tree, into the cup — then cut it off. Once the string is gone, it’s gone. Nobody plays it the same way.
The string game makes handicaps physical. At registration each player receives a length of string — classically one foot per handicap stroke — plus access to scissors. At any point in the round, you may pick your ball up and move it, any direction, any purpose: out of the cabbage, past a bunker lip, or the last three inches into the cup. The distance moved is measured along the ground and snipped off your string, and no stroke is counted. When the string runs out, you're playing real golf. It's the most laughter-per-yard format in the game and a staple of couples' nights, corporate outings, and any event where half the field doesn't have an official handicap.
Worked example. Dana (15 feet of string) opens with a drive under a pine — two feet of string buys a clean swing. On the 8th, a bunker shot stops on the lip: one foot, on the green. Dana hoards the rest until the 18th, where a par putt hangs on the edge, one inch from falling. Snip. Par, eleven feet of string spent, and not one of those moves cost a stroke.
Into the hole is legal. The signature rule: string that reaches the cup holes the ball, no stroke. Some events ban holing by string on the 18th for theater — make it explicit either way.
No banking mid-shot. String moves happen while the ball is at rest. You can't “pre-spend” string on a ball in flight, and you can't move an opponent's ball (tempting as it is).
Double-length escapes. The popular hard-mode variant: moves out of bunkers or penalty areas cost twice the measured distance.
String plus format. The game layers happily onto a scramble, shamble, or best ball; keep the underlying scoring gross and let the string do the equalizing.
Mulligans instead? If your crowd would rather re-hit bad shots than relocate them, run Criers & Whiners — same spirit, different currency.
In the app. The app gives every player one foot per course-handicap stroke, or a flat 25 feet each when you play without handicaps; other rates aren’t options yet. It scores the round gross and settles the bets. It doesn’t track the string you cut, so it can’t break a tie on string remaining — a tie on gross shows as a tie, and the string in your hand settles it.
Set up the game in about thirty seconds and every player sees their length of string before the first tee shot.
The classic allotment is one foot per handicap stroke (a 15-handicap gets 15 feet), but events can scale it — 50 feet flat for a fun corporate outing, six inches per stroke for a serious one. Teams usually pool a combined length.
Yes — that's the format's signature move. If your ball sits three inches from the cup, spend three inches of string and it's holed with no stroke added. Watching someone measure a 40-foot putt with string is why people sign up.
Standard rules say yes — string can lift the ball out of a bunker, drop area, even a water hazard's edge, measured along the shortest path to the new spot. Some events charge double length for escapes from penalty areas; check the rule sheet.
No — string moves are free of strokes; you pay only in length. That's what separates it from a mulligan format like Criers and Whiners, where you re-hit shots.
Someone other than the player — a cart partner or designated scorer with scissors. Measure along the ground from the ball's original spot to its new one, cut honestly, and keep the remnant visible on the bag.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf