Golf Games Explained
How to play 'Sixes': The game where everybody plays on the same team (at some point)
bgwalker
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.
Is there anything worse than setting up a 2 vs. 2 match and getting stuck with the guy or gal who is "just off today." Or, conversely, going up against the guy or gal who says somethng along the lines of "I don't know what got into me today!" or "I'm playing out of my mind!" or "I just shot 100 yesterday, this is crazy!" Weird, because yesterday is not today and you're really p---ing me off now.
Not speaking from personal experience or anything.
One easy game to employ to avoid these unfortunate situations is a game called "Sixes," where no matter what, you'll have an opportunity to play with the person who is playing out of their mind, and also the person who isn't, and the person who is actually playing to their handicap.
Here's how to play.
Number of players required: Exactly four.
Best for: Tight-knit groups of four. Would not play this with randoms. Folks who don't mind jumping from partner to partner mid-round. Players of all skill levels.
How to play: Sixes is your standard Fourball (best-ball) match with a slight twist. You begin as you normally would, Player A and Player B vs. Player C and Player D. In Sixes, though, that first match takes place on holes 1 through 6. Then, you change partners.
For holes 7 through 12, it would be Player A and Player C vs. Player B and Player D. Then, you switch again. Holes 13 through 18 would be Player A and Player D vs. Player B and Player C. Sounds easy, right?
Well, it is, up until you have to add up all the scores at the end. Actually, that's pretty simple, too. If you make each match $5, the most you can lose is $5. At the end, you simply pay out the difference. Let's say Player A won Match 1 with Player B, then won Match 2 with Player C, then won Match 3 with Player D. Payouts would look like this:
Match 1 (1-6):
Player A +$5, Player B +$5
Player C -$5, Player D -$5
Match 2 (7-12):
Player A +$10, Player C $0
Player B $0, Player D -$10
Match 3 (13-18):
Player A +$15, Player D -$5
Player B -$5, Player C -$5
As you can see, all three other players, Players B, C and D, would owe Player A $5 each.
Variations: Sixes can also be played in the Nassau format, which would make each 6-hole match into three separate matches. The first three holes would be the "front," the last three holes would be the "back," and the six holes would be the "overall." This opens up a few more bets, and allows for presses for when a team goes 2 down. You can also add in a birdie bet where any time a birdie is made that team gets an extra $1. One other fun added wrinkle - if teams tie with a low net score on a hole, you can use the second player's score to break the tie.
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.
MORE GOLF GAMES EXPLAINED