How to play Wolf in golf: rules, scoring and money

Wolf is a golf game for three to five players where one player each hole, the Wolf, picks a partner after watching the tee shots, or goes alone against everyone for double points. Best ball of each side wins the hole. Partners change every hole, so nobody is stuck on a losing team for long.

Wolf is one of the most popular golf betting games for a foursome, and it works for a threesome too.

How Wolf works

1. Set an order. The first player is the Wolf on hole 1, the second on hole 2, and so on in rotation.
2. The Wolf tees off first, then watches the others drive one at a time.
3. Right after a player’s drive, the Wolf can take that player as a partner for the hole. Once the next player hits, that drive is off the table.
4. If the Wolf passes on everyone, the Wolf plays alone against the rest. That’s a lone Wolf, worth double.
5. Best ball on each side wins the hole. Each player on the winning side scores the hole’s points. A tie scores nothing.
6. Near the end, the player with the fewest points becomes the Wolf so they have a chance to catch up: the last two holes with four players, the last three with five.

Scoring example

Jim, Mike, Dana and Priya play nine holes of Wolf with no strokes, 1 point a hole and $1 a point. A lone Wolf is worth double, won or lost against each of the three others.

Two holes decide this game. On hole 3, Dana is the Wolf on a par 3. She hits first, likes her tee shot, passes on all three drives after hers, and makes a 2. A lone Wolf win is 2 points from each of the other three: Dana scores 6, and Jim, Mike and Priya each lose 2.

On hole 5, Jim tries the same thing and it goes wrong. His 5 loses to Mike’s and Priya’s 4s, so he gives up 2 points to each of the other three: minus 6 for Jim, plus 2 each for the rest. That’s why he is the Wolf on 8 and 9. With the fewest points, he gets the last two holes to try to catch up.

Final points: Dana 10, Priya 4, Mike 3, Jim -3. At $1 a point, each player pays every player ahead of them the gap. Jim is 13 behind Dana, 7 behind Priya and 6 behind Mike, so he is down $26. Dana is ahead of everyone and is up $26. Priya ends up $2 and Mike down $2.

Strokes: playing Wolf net

Net Wolf gives each player strokes on the hardest holes by stroke index, and the best net ball on each side wins the hole. Because partners change every hole, strokes matter more here than in most team games: a high handicap with a stroke on a hard hole is a smart partner pick.

Picnic plays Wolf net by default. Percent handicaps sets the allowance and Net strokes chooses between Off the low and Full handicap. Switch Handicaps to Gross to play without strokes, as in the example.

Variations

• Lone Wolf. Go alone after seeing the drives for double points. Picnic: yes (Lone wolf on the hole, worth 2 times).
• Blind Wolf. Go alone before anyone tees off. Picnic: yes (Blind on the hole, worth 4 times).
• Three or five players. With three, the Wolf takes one partner or goes alone against two. With five, it’s two against three or one against four. Picnic: yes.
• Losers lose points. On a partner hole, the losing side also loses a point each, so the game sums to zero. Picnic: not yet.
• Ties carry. A tied hole adds its points to the next. Picnic: not yet.
• Hammer. The trailing side can double the hole mid-play. Picnic: not yet.

The money

Wolf is played per point. At the end, each player pays every player ahead of them the gap in points times the stake. That makes Wolf swing more than it looks: in the example, $1 a point and a 13-point gap means Jim pays Dana $13 on her own, and $26 in all. For a regular game, $1 a point is plenty; some groups play for less.

Picnic keeps the tally and shows who owes whom; your group settles up.

Tips

• Going alone is a bet that you beat everyone else’s best ball. It pays when you have hit a great drive and the others are in trouble, not because you feel lucky.
• If you are the Wolf on a hard hole, the player who gets a stroke there is often the best pick.