Fun golf games to play with your group

The most fun golf games for a group are team formats like a scramble or best ball, points games like Stableford that take the sting out of a bad hole, games with changing partners like Wolf, and small side games such as Junk or Snake played on top. Most need nothing more than a scorecard and a rule everyone agrees on before the first tee.

This guide covers each kind, how it works in a paragraph and who it suits, with links to the full how-to. Playing with a small group? Start with golf games for 3 players or golf games for 2 players. For games played mostly for money, see golf betting games.

Team games

Scramble

Everyone tees off, the team picks the best shot, and all play the next shot from there, until the ball is holed. One score per team. Nobody’s bad shot ever counts, so it is the friendliest format there is, and the standard at charity outings. How to play a scramble.

Shamble

The team picks the best drive, then everyone plays their own ball into the hole, and the best score counts. It is a scramble off the tee and best ball after that. How to play a shamble.

Best ball

Two teams of two, everyone plays their own ball, and the lower score on each team is the team score. Play it as a match or add up the totals. How to play best ball.

Points and match games

Stableford

Every hole earns points against par: 2 for a par, 3 for a birdie, 1 for a bogey, 0 for anything worse. Most points wins. A blow-up hole is just zero, which makes it a good individual game for mixed groups and beginners. How to play Stableford.

Match play

Play hole by hole against one opponent. Win a hole with the lower score; the match is won by holes, not strokes, and often ends before the 18th. How to play match play.

Wolf and Nines

Two of the best games for a group that plays every week. Wolf rotates the Wolf, who picks a partner after the drives or goes alone, so the teams change every hole. Nines is a threesome game that splits 9 points on every hole, 5 to the best score, 3 to the middle and 1 to the worst.

Side games

Side games run on the same scores as the main game, so they add fun without changing how anyone plays. Pick one or two.

• Junk (Dots). Earn a dot for a greenie (on the green in one on a par 3), a sandy (par from a bunker), a chip-in or a birdie. A three-putt costs a dot. Each dot is worth a set amount. Every group has its own list.
• Snake. Three-putt and you hold the snake. It stays with you until someone else three-putts. Whoever holds it after the last hole pays everyone else.
• Rabbit. Win a hole outright and you catch the rabbit. When someone else wins a hole outright, it runs loose again. Hold it when a nine ends and you win that nine.
• Bogey Tax. Every bogey pays a small fee into a pot, and doubles pay more. The pot goes to the winner of the main game or to the player with the fewest bogeys.
• Low Putts. Count putts on every hole. Fewest putts for the round wins.
• Birdie Bounty. Make a birdie and every other player pays you a set amount. Eagles pay more.
• Skins. Every hole is worth a skin, won by the lone low score, with ties carrying over. It works as a main game too. How to play skins.

Picnic scores all of these as side games on top of a main game, from the same scores you already enter.

More games to try

These are popular too. Picnic doesn’t score them yet, but they all work on a paper card.

• Bingo Bango Bongo. Three points on every hole: first on the green, closest to the hole once everyone is on, and first in the hole. It rewards steady play over long hitting.
• Hammer. In a match, either side can hammer, doubling the value of the hole. The other side accepts or concedes the hole at the old value.
• Banker. One player is the banker on each hole and plays every other player in a separate bet, with each player choosing their own stake for the hole.
• Scotch. A two-on-two points game with points on each hole for the low ball, the low team total and often closest to the hole or a birdie.

How to pick a game

1. Start with the group. Beginners or mixed abilities: a scramble or Stableford. Steady partners: best ball. Three players: Nines. Four who like to mix it up: Wolf.
2. Decide how serious it is. A team format and a couple of side games keep it light. A match, a Nassau or Wolf gives every shot something riding on it.
3. Agree on the rules before the first tee. Strokes or no strokes, what counts as Junk, and what happens on ties.