SIDE GAMES is dedicated to introducing some friendly, but competitive games that you and your friends can play while golfing. The following games have many different names and rules. If you have any suggestions on games for us to publish, please mail them to Golfer’s Lifestyle Magazine.
Lately we have been talking about practice things that you can do to improve your game and also bet on. This issue we are going to go to the course. We all remember the movie Caddyshak when Al Czervik, played by Rodney Dangerfield, bets Judge Smails (Ted Knight), $100 that he’ll slice the ball into the woods on the first tee. An annoyed Smails replies, “Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir, and I never slice!” Then he promptly hits it in the right trees. And we all know that there isn’t a club in America, big or small, fancy or mom and pop where there’s not some wagering going on.
Most gambling on the golf course is not one bet, but several. Stroke play, gross and net, wolf, nassaus, etc. Almost all the time there are several games going on, barkies, carties, greenies and other stuff that players just make up. Some of my friends play a game that they call Googly, it is played on the par 3s. Here’s how it works, all players hit, if there are balls on the green, the furthest from the hole is the Googly. If the green is not hit, the closest to the flag is the Googly. At this point, the Googly has to make par to win bogey or worse loses. My friends play that is a $10 per player bet. So if the Googly makes par, he gets $10 from each player, if he makes bogey or worse, he pays $10 each to the other players. If the Googly makes birdie, he gets paid double from each player. Add this game to your Sunday match, just have some cash in your pocket, because my friend’s don’t take American Express.
