golfrewind.com

I invented a great golf game called - GOLF LOTTERY:

THE BACKGROUND:
Same 4 guys, This is our 16th year (Never skipped 1)
2 are 25 handicappers
1 is a 16 handicapper
I am a 6 handicapper

It is so difficult to find a good game for such different handicappers, I have tried them all, but its very hard.

THE GAME:
1) Everyone puts $$$ in a pot (any amount you agree to, make it worth winning, or worth trying not to lose)

2) Then each person takes out a sleeve of balls. (if no sleeve, then take out 3 balls)

3) Mark the balls with a colored marker.(we allowed each person to mark their own balls, Same color)

4) Play the round

5) At the end of the round, everyone takes all their marked balls and puts them in a bag.

6) Pick 1 ball out of the bag and winner takes all.

Game over.....

SOME RULES WE MADE ON THE COURSE:
1) A player can change a marked ball for a new ball if their ball gets scuffed(ie, tree, cart path, regular wear). This is at the Discretion of the player, and is accepted anytime someone wants to change their ball.

2) Rolling the ball in the ROUGH because you dont want to look at your colored mark, after already playing 4 holes is not an acceptable excuse to give yourself a better lie. Just do it while we are not looking.

3) It is not a miracle that your ball went 200 yards into the woods, hit a tree and came back 200 yards to somehow end up on the edge of the woods with a perfect shot to the green. Oh, and how did your #3 become a #2. Hmmmmmm, that was determined a LOST BALL....1 down 2 to go

4) NO YOU MAY NOT BUY BACK IN.... 3 BALLS, YOU LOSE EM, YOU OUT !!!!!!!!


THE WAY I HANDICAPPED IT:
1) The low handicapper -
a) If you shoot your handicap or better - keep all your balls
b) If you shoot over your handicap - you take the average balls that all remaining ball holders have
(if the player does not have any balls, you do not average that in)
2) The High Handicappers -
a) If you finish with it, you keep it - Great job and probably a great round


HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED:
We played the game on the last day of a 4 day trip. No other games were played during this trip.

The first 3 rounds were terrible, I believe the 2, 25 handicappers lost so many balls it was as if they were digging into their bottom zipper every 2-3 holes for balls, some times multiple digging on the same hole.

Watching this just amazed me at how quickly and easily my buddies accepted losing a ball and taking a new one. Most of their 6,7 & 8's were stemmed and assisted by a lost ball.

One of the 25 handicappers lost all 3 balls, shot a 92, and loved playing the game, he lost his final ball on a par 3, 172 yards, all carry to the water, this was the 17th hole.

One of the 25 handicappers lost just 1 ball, shot an 87(shaved off 10 strokes), later he pulled me aside and said he loved playing the game. He said he never had though of worrying about losing a ball before. It made his decision making on shots and club selection much more important. He played like I have never seen before, Hitting 3 woods and irons off the tee box, it was pretty great to watch. In 16 years, he never played so well.

The 16 handicapper shot an 88(his handicap on the nose) - He kept all his marked balls (1)

I shot an 80, played like ****, but that's another story for another day (all 3 balls still remain)

So, 1 has 1 ball, 1 has 2 balls, that averages to 1.5 balls (.5 and higher round higher, .4 and less round lower) Remember, dont count the player that lost them all. So Kept 2 balls

The 25 handicapper won the pot. Took us all out for dinner with the winnings, paid the bill which was higher than the pot, so it cost him a little, but most importantly, HAD A GREAT DAY OF GOLF !!!!


JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW:
I am no gambling golfer by any means. I have my 3 buddies that I love to play golf with. I am much better than they are, which is no big deal in any of our minds. We just love to play golf. I always cheer them on and want to see them play well. As do they for me.

For a lower handicapper, I find losing a ball is very dramatic, I dont care how many balls I have in my bag, I am only thinking about the one that is in play. It wasn't quite that way for my buddies. It was just an idea I had to keep their heads in the game at all times. Not worring as much about the score, but more so to keep the ball in play. It was as basic as, "DONT LOSE YOUR BALL".

It worked and we loved it. And they played great !!!!!


Play well

Loved reading about your game but more importantly, you sound like a good friend and a great guy to play golf with....

seconded

Well said!

Thank you!!!!,

They are great guys to play with, I'm just ok .

I should have asked in my original post, if anyone else has any games that work well with such a wide range of Handicaps, please post them here. I would very much appreciate it.

Regards
&
Play well

Great game actually. I'm in sort of the same situation as you...I usually shoot low 80's while all my buddies are low 90-120 so it was tough to ever try and play any games. We'll give this a shot next time out