Do you gamble on the course?

[JeffJ]

Just looking for some opinions. I play to an 11 and usually play with guys within 2-3 strokes of me. We usually play $1 wolf with 2X birdies and 3X eagles, we usually leave the complicated stuff off so nobody ends up getting killed. If we have a 18+ capper or a + we will usually give strokes one way or another

 

Saturday we played a fivesome and I ended up owed about $30 from the other four. It helps to birdie the two long 5's and par the two hardest holes on the course. The three low men paid me and another guy $15 and then bought lunch. It was a pretty good game and everyone came away happy and not feeling taken. To me this was a easy going game with a couple $$ involved and gave me enough cash to pass some off to the guy who took my clubs to my car while I was eating lunch. Is it a sign that the head cart guy knows the code to get into my car? :man_in_love:

 

Thoughts?

[blaird]

I usually play in 3 different games.

 

1. Teams are picked on the first tee its 4 bucks for the 18 holes and we either play double or triple low ball for front 9 and back 9. There is also .50 skins. The other day I had 4 skins with 15 players, $30 just on skins.

 

2. $15 to get in. We play greenies ($1 from the 15 goes to each greenie and there are 4). $5 from each 15 goes to a low net. The last $6 goes to skins.

 

3. The big money game is a swing game. Usually is $5 a stroke sometimes $10/$20. This game can get expensive.

 

I love every game I play in. Each game is with a different group of people so it is always different. The last game though, they have gone over with 15 players or so to a par 3 course and played 36 holes, the 1st 18 from the back tees and the last 18 from the front tees. I like to PLAY, i dont care if there is money involved or not.

[italianstallion]

I only play for cash when I'm playing with members where I work. Its alot of fun and its a great way to get you to actually take it seriously when you're going out to have fun as well. We play $1 skins, plus $1 birdies and greenies, $3 eagles, plus a team score for each hole worth $1. So if we have four players and I win a hole with a birdie, I take away $3 total from everyone for the skin, plus another $3 for the birdie, and if my partner and my score is lower than the other two guys, thats another $2. Its actually a pretty good system, because its very hard for me to have to owe at the end of a round :D

[hef63303]

I only gamble with people that understand that the winners buy the beer.

 

[adamsstaff]

I hate playing when I am not gambling....I lose interests to fast. Gambling keeps me focused

[Lngnokr71]

I always play for $$$, wether it be in the daily dog fights at the Oaks or just a side bet....$$$ money always makes the game more interesting.....

[michael.martinez]

With friends, we play $1/skins, $1/closest to pin (has to be GIR), and double the take for birdies for the hole you are playing. For closest to pin, you have to score par or better. Skins and closest to pin in GIR carry over to next hole if no one wins prior. More competitive.

[mshills]

Typically just for a few $$, maybe a $10 or $20 Nassau. Sometimes with presses, sometimes with automatic presses, sometimes no presses period, just depends on whom I'm playing with and everyone's mood.

 

I like to add a couple of side bets just for laughs.

 

Arnies: Make par and your ball was never in the fairway? It's worth $5 or however much.

 

Seves: Make par and your ball was in the wrong fairway? It's worth $7 or $10.

 

The groups I typically play in have bets like this just to keep things interesting, but everyone is of similar ability or has a legit hcp, so no one ever really gets cleaned out.

[mark m]

Almost every round I play, except for a rare "practice round", features gambling or prize money (tournaments) or both. I post around 80 rounds a year.

 

Our $16 game breakdown (example for 20 participants = $320):

 

$2/man = individual low net ($40)

$6/man = par 3 nearies, $1.50 x 4 par 3's ($120/4 = $30 each nearie)

$4/man = gross skins ($80 pot)

$4/man = net skins ($80 pot)

 

We play by USGA rules and NO GIMMIES.

 

In addition:

We always have an inside our own foursome game - usually a partners nassau.

Some guys have individual bets as well.

 

A good day you will win over $100. A bad day you'll lose around $40. No one gets killed and we all get along reasonably well. Another benefit is that a game like this helps to ensure accurate handicaps for group members.

 

Handicaps in our group go from plus players to around a 22 or so. Most of the group is single digit. We had to add net skins a couple of years ago so that the older and higher handicap guys have a chance. Some of these guys play the forward tees - that gives them a chance on the par 3's and for skins as well. Over the course of the year the better players tend to win more of the money but it is not out of line and everyone has a chance to have a good day. If someone wins big he will most often buy everyone a drink after. We have a yearly meeting to discuss and make adjustments to our game.

 

My take: I need the game. It makes you play hard/concentrate. It has helped me to improve my game.

 

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I like to see what others do so that we can improve our game. I hope others will chime in.

[highergr0und]

With one of my groups, it's $0.25/person/hole skins, plus $0.50 birdies/eagles, and $0.25 for closest to pin on par 3s. If you don't make par, you lose it and owe everyone else $0.25. Nobody is ever down more than a few dollars at the end and it's more bragging rights.

 

Another group I play with (about 12 people), it's a $5 buy in for skins and we figure out the $$ amount at the end. Then after the round, teams are picked (try to do foursomes) by the lowest scoring players (sometimes 2 teams, sometimes 3, etc). Then they take the lowest score per hole per team and add up the round. Another $5 is thrown in per player. Each low 9 hole score takes $2 per person from the pot and the overall low score takes the other $1. It's actually a super pain in the a#$ since it takes about 30 minutes after the round to get it all straight, but usually nobody loses all $10 and some guys make decent money off of skins (seen 1 skin take it all before).

[Triplebogey16]

$25 a hole

$5 birdies

$5 sandies

$10 eagles

[daughterscameron]

Not many times I will play, without playing for a little cash! the guys

 

I golf with ALWAYS have a game going. :drinks:

[Ace In The Hole]

There is a local returant owner an oriental guy he is hilarious to play with, he is a 38 or more handiecap but he loves gambling so usually just before you tee off he will yell $5 you miss fairway, and then on we go $5 I miss the green $5 I miss that putt, it's always up to me if I want to take the bet, then we always have some side game going. I like playing for a few buck, and no one loses their shirt, it's just a good time. I have played in some bigger money games but it's usually not against friends, so I don't feel bad taking that kind of money off someone. With friends usually whoever won the most money will buy a round of drinks so it alwways just evens itself out.

 

I just wish i was golfing at all right now, 3 feet of snow and -30ºC means I have 4 months before I am golfing here!!

[One_Putt_Blunder]

$2 a hole skins with carryovers. Simple and easy to keep track of. I love it puts alot of pressure on me to play well, because I have to give up so many strokes to my buddies 16 handicap (I am currently 6.8) We usually come out fairly even, Whoever looses usually pays for lunch and a beer or two after the round.

 

$5 closest to the pin on par 3's

[Kreth]

My friends and I usually play $.25, $.50, or $1 skins, and we'll hit the putting green to settle any carry-overs on the last hole. Sometimes we'll throw in extra skins for closest to pin or longest drive.

[par36golfdeercreek]

me and my buddies play squeegies. Nice because it really puts pressure on your shortgame. For those who don't know wwhat it is heres the explanation. It all takes place on the greens. If you are outside a pin length from the hole, you can be squeegied by your playing partners. If they do this and you 1 put, anyone who squeegied you ows you $1. If you 2 putt from there you break even, no money distributed. If you three putt, you owe each person who squeegied you $1. It's really fun, because you really get a feel for how good your short game is. Theres different stipulations and whatnot, you can squeegie a squeegie for double the money, you can even squeegie yourself to make some extra money if no one squeegies you.

[Lean23]

Most of the above games are pretty standard in my group. We usually start at $1 skins, $2 birdies and $5 eagles. We even throw in $20 hole in 1's, just in case. No carryovers. Anybody that is losing can press.

 

We'll also play 2 man teams, low ball and low total. This game we carry over so we usually start out at .50 per point. It's a pain in the arse to keep the scorecard but a fun game for a foursome.

 

We've also played the 5 point game when playing 2 on 2. Points are usually $1 and are as follows: 1 point for closest to pin (proximity or prox), 1 point low ball, 1 point low total, and 1 point for fewest putts/team. If you win all 4 points, then you get a bucket for a bonus point.

 

Another game that's pretty fun is a 9 point game. It's good for a threesome. It's an individual stroke game. 9 points are given out on each hole. If all 3 guys tie, they each get 3 points. If the 3 scores are 5, 4, and 3, the guy who makes a 3 would get 5 points, the guy who makes a 4 would get 3 points, and the guy that made a 5 would get 1 point.

 

If 2 guys par and one guy makes a bogey, the 2 par's would get 4 points apiece and the guy with the bogey would get 1 point. If one guy wins and the other 2 tie, the winner gets 5 points and the other two get 2 points apiece. There are always 9 points awarded on each hole. At the end of the round, they are paid up like skins. Player A could have 65 points, B could have 60 points, and C would have 37 points. Player C would pay A 28 units, C would pay B 23 units and B would pay A 5 units. $1/point can get expensive if you have a bad day.

[dpb5031]

Standard bet is a $10 nassau better ball match with 2 down autos plus an automatic press at the turn. One down presses are also typically accepted. We always play junk at 20% of the nassau bet so in this case all junk is $2. (Sometimes we take it up to "Holiday Rates" which is typically $25s and $5s)

 

Junk consists of:

 

Sandies (up and down from bunker)

Greenies (closest to pin on 3s and 5s)

Polies (anything going in from outside the length of the flagstick)

Nasties (anything into the hole from off of the green)

Skins (outright winner on any hole)

Birdies (2 x junk)

Eagles (5 x junk except for an ace which pays 10 x junk)

 

***All junk must be for par or better except for skins***

 

Sounds like a lot of accounting but we circle the skins and put dots down for all of the other junk. You just add em up at the end then add or subtract them from the Nassau total.

 

As a group we also have a $40 "throw in." $20 goes into a scat pool and the other $20 goes toward paying places to the best scores of the day relative to each player's stableford quota. We maintain our own scores and average the top five out of ten stableford scores to determine a player's quota. To prevent sandbagging we adjust any abnormally poor performances to 80% of the player's given quota. The quotas get updated on a spreadsheet each Monday.

 

We typically have about 3 or 4 foursomes but sometimes have as many as 6 or 7. Players in our group range from scratch to about a 14 handicap. One guy (the Commissioner) keeps the spreadsheet. At the end of the season we sort the spreadsheet to view things like # rounds played, money leaders, scats leader, ROI, % in the money, etc. We have it down to science at this point and the money gets spread around pretty good plus the system cannot be sandbagged.

[The Boom Bapp]

The best game improvement tool is the Wager.

 

No Money = No Pressure = No Fun = BORING!!

 

You will find out how good you are under pressure and if you can handle it or if it handles you!! Played my first nassau last year and I focus more on my game because of it. Now I always make sure I have cash when I leave to play. I learned quickly that playing under pressure is addicting and it made my rounds more fun no matter what the game turns out to be that day.

[Johnny]

Ask joey,demo&sakman

......

I donate

Rarely do I bet with mynormal group

[mark m]

dpb: That's a good game. You guys do have it down to a science.

 

Questions on the $40 throw in:

What is the $20 scat?

How many places would you pay in the Stableford?

Does it vary depending on the number of players?

 

Our nassau game press rules are almost the same. We have a couple of grandfathered in rules on our nearies = 3 putt a nearie, you lose it, and that money goes into the other 3 (so they would be worth $40ea instead of $30) and if someone sweeps all four that's another $5/man (never happened that I know of).

 

Thanks in advance,

MM

[mat562]

Always.

 

Whether it's the 'losers buy the drinks' wager in my regular fourball with mid-handicap friends, or the modest wager with a couple of low handicap or pro friends, it's an integral part of the game for me.

 

I can't claim to rival Lee Trevino or Ray Floyd, but a small wager makes all the difference to me and my mindset on the course. Admittedly, I'm a typical Yorkshireman in that handing over a twenty pound note is like handing over my wife and the deeds to our house, but it's a great bit of motivation and a great focussing tool to fight hard to take the money - or 'not pay up' if you're a half empty type.

[GatorBait]

Yes, unless I am playing alone (not often)

 

Most of the time we do $5 front, $5 back, $5 each par-3 closest to the pin (there are 4). Two-man better ball no strokes. We structure the teams accordingly. None of us really like strokes, so we generally use different sets of tees to make it fair if we need to. Nothing serious, but it keeps it entertaining and we usually just drink up the money anyway. It gets $30 on the bar anyway... ;)

[birdieblair]

Usually when I play with my dad and his work buddies we play a $1 a hole......not much money gets passed around but it does make short putts that much more interesting

[dpb5031]

MM,

 

With our $40 "throw in", $20 from each player (half the total collected) goes into our scat pool. When everyone is in, one player from each group will call out the low scores on their card hole by hole. Any score that is not halved by anyone else in the field wins a scat. Typically only birdies and/or eagles hold up, but sometimes a par will hold up on a day with tough conditions. The scat pot is then divided by the number of scats outstanding. e.g. If we have 20 player that means $400 in the scat pot. If 4 scats are out, that's $100 per scat paid to the winners. 5 scats means $80/per, etc. Of course it's possible to win more than one or even to win the only one. I did that once with a big field and won $480 for the only scat. :

 

Winners are always bummed when too many scats are out and the pot gets diluted and the higher handicaps b**** about the lower guys having the edge. At one point we tried using 50% handicap but it was too much of a pain in the a** to call them. It's always fun calling them out too because a lot of ball busting goes on.

 

With regard to the stableford points places you are correct; we base the number of places and the pay-outs on the size of the field. It is all published on the back of our point quota sheet so there is never a question as to the pay-outs and the number of places.

 

We use the common stableford scoring system:

 

Eagle: 5

Birdie: 3

Par: 2

Bogie: 1

Double or higher: 0

 

We do not use negative points. Our system is a great indicator of how someone is playing and changes more quickly. Because the stableford system only measures ones output, it really cannot be sandbagged and you don't have to worry about the inherent problems with the USGA's equitable stroke control. For reference, I ended the season as a 5.6 USGA index and my stableford quota with our group is 29.8 points.

 

Best,

DPB

[jaskanski]

You bet I do!

 

Nothing more than loose change though. If you get absolutely raped, the most you'll lose is £20.

[mark m]

DPB,

 

That sounds like a lot of fun. Again, thanks for taking the time to post all that. I will use it, believe me.

 

I like that you use 5 pts for Eagie. This must be because NO ONE gets 2 strokes on any hole. (You mentioned your highest guys were 14 hdcp.)

 

2 strokes on any hole is one too many IMHO...can't stand that 3 for 1! 4 for 2! stuff....whoops...now I made all the high guys mad...that could be a topic of another discussion.....later

[dpb5031]

Mark,

 

That's the great thing about using the Stableford (points) system. There are no strokes. Each player has a quota that is essentially his handicap that he plays against. Think about it this way; There are 18 hole on the golf course, if you par every hole you would score 36 points in the Stableford system (even par) because each par is worth 2 points. A six handicap would presumably have a quota of about 30 points, a ten handicap 26 points and an 18 handicap would have a quota of around 18 points.

 

 

Of course in our four ball matches we give strokes where they fall for the sake of making a fair match, but the point totals at the end are all based off of each player gross score relative to his own quota for the throw in. Scats are gross also.

[mark m]

OK - got it - that is brilliant.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

 

Do you do medal play in the nassau - where all 4 players get all their hdcp strokes were they fall - which can lead to a big swings in the match on any hole?

 

Or match play?

[Lean23]

The quota system that dpb described is what we do at our member/guest.

 

In regards to playing for money puts pressure on. It's funny what everybody's pressure point is. I've seen guys that have more money than anybody get pale because a .25 skin had carried over 3 times and the next hole is worth $1.00, but it's a "Big Hole".

 

I've also seen guys with no job make 12 footers to tie a $400 hole. There are many ways to handle pressure. It's like fire, you can use it to cook your food, or it can burn your house down.

 

I think Lee Trevino once said, "Pressure is a $20 nassau with $10 in your pocket."