The Local Golfer’s 5 Favourite Betting Games to Play on the Course

What makes golf so addictive? Yes it is great to play on your own and battle it out for your best score, but we feel there is no better way to get the competitive juices flowing than to have a side bet with your mates and take their cash!

At The Local Golfer, we’ve put together our 5 favourite money games to make playing with your new golf clubs and golf balls in a Saturday comp or even a lazy 9 holes a little more exciting.

1. Vegas: This game is played between 2 teams of 2 players and puts not just yours but your mate’s skill of hitting golf balls to the test. For each hole each team's score is put together, for example, if one player has a 4 and the other has a 6, the team score will be 46 (the lower score always first). The difference between each team's score will be continually added and paid out at the end of the round. For example, if on the first hole team A scores a 35 and team B scores 44, team A will have won $9. These winnings will keep being added and paid out after the round.



2. Let it Ride: In this game, each player wins money for hitting their golf balls with their golf clubs to score a par or better: par = $1, Birdie = $2, eagle = $4. After earning money on a hole, each player has an option to either bank their cash or they can ‘Let it Ride’. If the player chooses to bank, their winnings get added to their total pool. If a player chooses to let it ride, their potential winnings double for the next hole (eg. Par is now worth $2, Birdie is worth $4 and so on). However if they score bogey or worse, they lose what they earned the previous hole. Once the round is finished, each other player pays out equally how much each player has won.



3. Wolf: This is a game played by 4 players all putting $3 a hole ($54 total) into the kitty. At the beginning of the round an order of play is decided by the group, each player will take turns of being the wolf on each hole. On each hole, the wolf uses their golf clubs to tee off first, and then followed by each consecutive player. The wolf will watch the next player's tee shot on their golf balls and after watching, has the decision to either choose them as a partner, or to pass and watch the next tee shot. If the wolf passes on every player they must howl and call wolf meaning which they will play on their own for a greater potential winning on the hole. If the wolf plays with a partner and their team wins the hole, they will win $6 each. If the wolf plays the hole on their own and wins, they will win $12, and if the wolf loses the other 3 players will win $4 each. After each hole each player's winnings will be continually added and taken out of the kitty following the 18th.



4. Skins: Before the start of the round players must decide how much each skin is worth. On each hole a player uses their golf clubs and golf balls that win the hole will take the skin on that hole. If a hole is tied by at least 2 players, the next hole will jackpot and now be worth 2, with the same happening if the next hole is also tied (meaning if 5 holes are tied in a row, the next hole will be worth 6 skins). All skins will be added at the end of the round and each player paid out according to how much each skin was worth.



5. Front, back and Overall: This is a simple game to be played by a minimum of 2 players. Before the round players will decide how much each bet will be worth. The first bet will be won by the winner of the front nine, the second by the winner of the back nine and the Third bet will be won by the winner of the total 18 holes.