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The "Nines Game" is the perfect way to spice up a round of golf with your buddies when there are only three of you playing.
Do you like to have a little friendly competition when playing golf with your buddies?
We usually play a cart-to-cart match play format with the cumulative score for each two-man team deciding the outcome of each hole.
When a fourth golfer can’t play and we don’t get a fill-in, the three of us usually play the Nines Game.
Scoring For The Nines Game
In the Nines Game, every hole is worth 9 points and the game can only be played with three golfers.
All three players get points for each hole, based on each player’s score. In our version of the game, we award extra bonus points too, just to make it more interesting.
If you are the only player to par a hole, you get 5 points for that hole. If someone else in your threesome also pars, you each get 4 points and the player with the higher score gets 1 point. That equals 9 points.
If all three players par the hole, each player gets 3 points for a total of 9 for that hole.
If you par a hole and one of the other players in your threesome gets a bogey and the third player gets a double-bogey, the scoring would be 5 points for you, 3 points for the bogey player, and 1 point for the double. That totals 9 points for that hole.
Don’t Forget Your Bonus Points
In our game, we have some interesting bonus point opportunities. If you happen to achieve one of the following, you will get 2 bonus points added to your score for that hole.
There is a catch though, to qualify for the bonus points, a player must score a par or better on the hole in question.
Types of Bonus Points
Water Bounce: If you skip your ball across a water hazard and it returns to dry land and you can play it, you get 2 bonus points if you play on to par that hole.
Sandy: If you hit your ball out of a sand trap, and par that hole, you get 2 bonus points. Find two sand traps on the same hole and still get a par, you are scoring large with 4 bonus points.
Barky: Trees are good to hit for points. Sometimes contact with a tree is obvious while, at other times, it is more subtle. As long as at least one player in your threesome hears the sound of your ball coming into contact with any part of a tree, you get 2 bonus points for that tree contact. But remember, only if you par that hole. Hit two trees on the same hole and still get a par, well done, you get 4 bonus points.
Birdie: This one is pretty obvious. Birdie a hole and get two bonus points, and hopefully some props from your buds for that great birdie.
Eagle: Not that these bonus points come into play very often, but if you eagle a hole, you would get 2 bonus points for that spectacular performance.
Real High-Stakes Drama
It is always fun when at least two in our group are close in points coming down the stretch. Adds some excitement to the last few holes.
We don’t play for money or drinks, we just play the Nines Game for fun and a few bragging rights of course.
Here is the scorecard for the Nines Game that I played last week with two of my good friends, Larry and Ron.
As you can see, those two cagey veterans laid a pretty good beating on me but, never fear, I will stand up, dust myself off, and keep on truck'in.
What is Your Score For This Hole?
There you are, standing on an elevated tee overlooking the fairway of a 550-yard par 5 with a slight dogleg left.
You tee it up, pick your target, and put a nice smooth swing on it.
Off it goes, down the left side of the fairway. Your ball makes slight contact with a few leaves in a tree but still manages to fly a fair distance down the left side of the fairway right into a fairway bunker.
From the fairway bunker, your second shot advances the ball down the fairway to about 100 yards from the pin.
Your third shot misses the green left and lands in a green-side bunker.
Your fourth shot from the bunker is amazing. You are now lying 4, maybe 6 inches from the cup.
You make the putt. Nice par.
The other two players both bogeyed the hole.
How Did You Score?
Congratulations! You just parred that hole and the other two players got bogies. That's 5 points for you and 2 point for the two bogey boys. But wait, there's more...
Now let’s add up your bonus points.
You hit some leaves on your tee shot. That's a Barky, 2 bonus points.
You then found the fairway bunker down the left. That's a Sandy. 2 bonus points.
You hit out of the greenside bunker on your fourth shot, That's another Sandy and 2 more bonus points.
Since you parred the hole, points would be 5 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 11 points for that hole. That's huge. Well done.
Next time you're enjoying a round of golf with two of your buddies, give the Nines Game a try. It's a blast.
TIP OF THE DAY
Don’t play golf for money with a person who has a better tan than you.
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