Golf Games Explained
How to play 'Heads-Tails': A fun 2 v 1 or 1 v 1 v 1 game depending on . . . yup, you guessed it, a coin flip
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Golf Games Explained is exactly what it sounds like. You want to mix it up and try something new for once? Well, someone has to do the thankless work of playing different golf formats and telling you if it's worth it. You can thank me later.
Remember 5-3-1? The perfect golf betting game for when your fourth inevitably bails? Well, fear not, because that was far from the only game you can play as a trio. "Heads-Tails," like 5-3-1 before it, is designed for groups that just can't seem to find a fourth but still like to play for a little something on the course anyway.
Here's how to play.
Number of players required: Exactly three.
Best for: Sorry to be repititve, but it's best for groups of three. Those who can never find a fourth or have the most unreliable friends imaginable. People who carry change. Trios who like to team up sometimes but also don't mind going alone as well.
How to play: Step 1 of the game is for all three players to break out a coin on the first tee. Everybody flips their coin and the results of the flip determine if that hole will be a 2 v 1 match or a 1 v 1 v 1 match.
If all three coins land on heads or tails, it's 1 v 1 v 1. If two coins land on heads and one on tails, or vice versa, then the two players who had heads play against the player who had tails in a 2 v 1 match. This process repeats on every tee box so that each hole is a separate match.
Now, as for scoring, it's a points-based system. And, as always, playing with handicaps is encouraged. Let's say in a 2 v 1 heads vs. tails match on the first hole, the player who had tails achieves the lowest score. That player would receive a point for each player he beat (two points on the hole). If the team of two has the lowest score, they each get a point (one and one). In the 1 v 1 v 1 scenario, if any of the players have the solo-lowest score, they get a point from each of the other two (two points on the hole). If any of the two players tie in the 1 v 1 v 1 scenario, there is "no blood" and zero points are awarded to anyone. There are no carryovers like there would be in skins since the team scenario is changing on each hole.
As for the stakes, those are completely up to the group. It could be a set amount from each player, say $20 on the first tee, and it could be winner-take-all or it could be divvied up between the first and second-place finishers. Or you could put a certain dollar amount on each point and pay out the difference at the end of the round. Variations of the game are completely up to the group, too.
If you have any golf games or variations of golf games we haven't covered and you'd like to explain, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter/X @Cpowers14.
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