Grab some friends, set some stakes and pick one of these formats for a cutthroat game to get you in the championship groove.
The club championship is coming up, and you’re a little nervous about your game and how you’ll handle the pressure. But who wants to practice in what may well be the most glorious month of Colorado golf? The crews have groomed the courses into peak condition, the sun has moved off to a friendlier angle and the kids are going back to school.
It’s prime time for 18 holes, so grab some friends, set some stakes and pick one of these formats for a cutthroat game to get you in the championship groove. Pretend it matters, then settle up over a friendly 19th hole.
Putts Minus Fairways: My friend Sheila likes this one for its accessibility to all. Long hitters, short hitters, low handicappers, high handicappers – no one needs strokes to compete. Just count putts and subtract how many times your tee shot finished on the fairway and, optionally, the green. As in regular golf, low score wins. Scores tend to be close, so you can set your stakes per point differential.
Six-Six-Six: Decide how your foursome will rotate partners every six holes to create all three possible teams, then pop the scorecard with strokes given based on the lowest handicap and play three six-hole better-ball matches. Winning partners each get a point per hole won – a point, representing a quarter, a dollar, a Benjamin, or whatever you group negotiated. A competitive twist: The second ball breaks a tie. This helps keep all players putting until all four balls are in the cup.
Baker’s Dozen: Former CGA President and frequent competitor Gary Albrecht shares this couples-friendly team format. Pop the scorecard with strokes given based on the lowest handicap, and the lower of each team’s two scores counting. The twist: Only 13 scores count in the game, and the teams must decide as they go whether to count a score or not. (Scoring is kept to par, to equalize the values of par-3s, 4s and 5s.)
Coins/Poker Chips/Cards Challenge: You can find these online or invent your own variation and design cards that are passed around throughout the round. Set a base value of, say, $1 on each challenge. As players get a birdie (maybe plus-2), three straight pars (maybe plus-4), lose a ball (maybe minus-2), land in a bunker (maybe minus-1) and so forth they are passed the card to hold until another player wins it away. Of course it’s all about who holds the cards at the end, no running off to the car before settling. Good game for players of fairly equal ability, and fun to customize.
Skins: I like this game for competitive training because it emphasizes individual play, demands pressure putting and works well in a threesome. You just pop the cards with strokes based on the lowest handicap and play each hole as a mini-match. If two players tie, the next hole is now worth two points, and if this one is tied, the next hole is worth three points. The fun of this one is having to make a putt when you know the rest of the group is hoping you miss so that the hole carries over.
The above Fab 5 all yield scores you can post individually. For alternative games better suited to Colorado’s non-posting offseason, check out “Friendly Games.”
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Veteran journalist Susan Fornoff has written about golf for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, ColoradoBiz magazine and her own GottaGoGolf.com. She provides the voice of “Molly McMulligan,” the CGA’s on-course consultant on golf for fun. Email her at mollymcmulligan@gmail.com.
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