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Golf Betting, or How to Make Your Friends Dislike You

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(Author’s note: In no way does this article reflect mine or anyone else’s condoning or endorsing betting or gambling in any way. I mean, I do condone and enjoy gambling, but this article is not meant to be a reflection of that.)

You’ve all heard someone say, “Let’s make it interesting today.”

Were you filled with dread or even fear when your buddies started talking wagers using words like Nassau, “barkies,” “splashies,” or even “automatic press.” I still remember learning what all these games meant and how much money it cost me to learn them. This is part of the reason I couldn’t work my way through college. Sorry, mom.

Have no fear. Having learned the game in Texas, where gambling is ubiquitous (and where Hall of Fame player and noted gambler Lee Trevino learned to play), I have a primer for you so you can know what bets you should take and what ones you should avoid.

First of all, do not, do not, gamble if you cannot or will not play your losses. Mr. Trevino was once asked about pressure on the PGA TOUR and was quoted as saying, “This isn’t pressure. Pressure is when you play for five dollars a hole with only two in your pocket.” While playing for money you don’t have is a great way to learn to deal with pressure, it is also a great way to get your spleen ruptured when you’re playing a large man from New Jersey who tells you he got his brand new Callaway clubs because they “fell off a truck,” and you have to tell him you can’t pay him the $100 you just lost to him.

So, check your wallet and forge on, my friend.

 

One of the most popular games is called Nassau. Nassau is actually quite simple. It is three bets where the person or team who wins the front nine wins one bet, the person or team who wins the back nine wins one bet, and whomever wins the entire 18 wins a bet. When your buddy wants to play a $2 Nassau, you are betting a total of $6, two on the front nine, two on the back nine, and two for the entire round. Sounds easy, right?

Where it gets tricky is when he says, “Two down automatic press,” and if you are less skilled than he (or not getting enough handicap strokes), you should be very leery of this bet. What this basically means is when one of you has lost two holes to your opponent, you start a new bet for double or nothing for the remaining holes in that bet.

For example, imagine you and I are playing a $2 Nassau with two-down automatic press. You come out hot, winning the first two holes. Now, we start a new bet for a new $2 for the remaining seven holes in that nine and the remaining 16 holes in the 18. (Because we are playing the front nine, the back nine bet is unaffected.) We are still playing for the original bet over the first nine, and now a new bet for the last seven.

If you win the next two holes, we start yet another $2 bet for the remaining five holes in the nine and the last 14 holes in the 18. So, you can see, if you are less skilled than your opponent, or simply having a bad day, you stand to lose a good chunk of change.

Another popular game format is Round Robin or Sixes. In this game, which is played within a foursome, each player is teamed up with each of the other three in three six-hole matches. When you are riding, you can use who is riding with whom to determine the order in which you will be paired. “C” is how you denote that you are partners with the person with whom you are riding. “C” stands for Cart. “O” is for the Opposite in the other cart. If you are driving, you’re paired with the passenger in the other cart and vice versa. “D” means Drivers are paired and passengers are pairs. So, if you are driving a cart and someone suggests COD, you are paired with your cart partner first, then with the passenger in the other cart, and finally with the driver in the other cart. You can put the letters in any order you like, obviously.

There are a massive number of bets you can make throughout a round in a game of Dots. Some people call it Garbage. Some people call it “How the hell do I count all these damn dots in these tiny boxes?”

In Dots, you receive points based on certain achievements such as making a birdie or eagle, having the longest drive on a predetermined hole, saving par out of a water hazard (also known as a “splashie”), saving par after hitting a tree (“barkie”), saving par without hitting the fairway (“Arnie”), saving par without hitting the fairway or the green (“Seve”), hitting the fairway and the green and making par (“Jack”), saving par from a bunker (“sandie”), chipping in from off the green (“chippie”), and hitting greens in regulation (“greenies.”) The list goes on an on, but you get a point or dot for each of these achievements.

However, you can also lose dots by making double bogeys or worse, three-putting, or hitting into a hazard.

As you can see, the amount of money per dot, and the number of dots you think you can make will be a determining factor as to whether or not you should play this game. Plus, be prepared to spend a lot of time counting dots at the end of the round. If your significant other doesn’t like that golf takes so long to begin with, they might not understand you taking another hour to sort out the betting afterward, especially if you lost.

 

And then there is Gruesomes, which is a game in which you play in partnerships of two against another twosome, and in which you could conceivably end up unfriending someone on Facebook.

You each hit a tee shot and your opponents get to select from which tee shot you will continue playing the hole. Some people will play alternate shot from that point, but you can both play a ball from that shot, if you choose. This game is fun when combined with Round Robin because it gives you a chance to screw someone over who put it to you earlier in the round, or to make an ally by selecting a better tee shot for someone who will eventually be your partner (although that is clearly less fun.)

Probably the most well known game is Skins. This format was popularized when for many years during the PGA Tour off season, they played the Skins Game near Thanksgiving weekend. In Skins, each hole is worth a certain amount of money and you win the money by winning the hole. If two or more players tie for low score, no money is won and it is added to the money for the next hole. So, if you make a lot of birdies, you can win a lot of money. However, if you make one timely birdie, you could make a windfall.

This is a very short list of all the games that are available to you, and the combinations are endless. Armed with this information, I hope you go out and take some money out of your friends’ (or future former-friends’) pocket. After all, money won is better than money earned.

If you have games you and your buddies like to play, please share them in the comments box below for your fellow players to enjoy.


Cover Image via Flickr

I'm a reinstated amateur who took up the game at 19 while in the military, and attempted to play for a living for a year. I've play all over the world, and still play competitively. I currently teach Golf for Beginners at Anne Arundel Community College and have coached high school golf. I am a single father of two children, and I enjoy reading, writing, movies, and of course, sports.

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