The Best Side Games for Your Golf Trip

Side games keep every hole interesting. Your round can be falling apart and you're still in the skins on 14, or still one good hole away from flipping the back nine. They give the whole group something to watch, not just the low handicaps.

Here are the side games buddies trips come back to most often: Nassau, Wolf, Vegas, skins and closest-to-the-pin. Each one has simple rules and handicap tips. A note before you start: agree on the rules and any stakes before the first tee, and keep the stakes at a level everyone is comfortable with. Bragging rights, a round of drinks, or a few points toward a trip trophy work just as well as money.

Quick comparison

Nassau

A Nassau is three matches in one: the front nine, the back nine, and the full 18. You can play it one-on-one or as two-person teams using best ball. Each of the three counts separately, so losing the front doesn't end your day.

Presses

A press starts a new match for the rest of that nine, usually when someone falls two holes down. Before you tee off, decide:

• whether presses are automatic or have to be called
• whether the player who's up can decline a press
• whether there's a limit on presses per nine

Handicaps in a Nassau

In match play, the lower player plays off scratch and the other player gets the difference in Course Handicaps, with strokes taken by stroke index. (The USGA/R&A recommended allowance for singles match play is 100% of the difference.) For team best ball, see the four-ball allowance in our Ryder Cup-style format guide.

Wolf

Wolf is built for a foursome, and the rotation makes it a strategy game.

1. Set a tee order and rotate it each hole. On each hole, one player is the Wolf. Most groups have the Wolf tee off last.
2. After each tee shot, the Wolf can pick that player as a partner, but only right then, before the next person hits.
3. If the Wolf passes on all three, they go Lone Wolf: one against three.
4. The best net (or gross) score on the hole decides it: Wolf and partner vs the other two, or Lone Wolf vs everyone.

Points

A common setup: a winning team of two gets 1 point each, a Lone Wolf who wins gets more (often 3 or 4), and a Lone Wolf who loses gives points to each opponent. Some groups also allow a "blind wolf", where the Wolf declares Lone Wolf before anyone tees off, for even more points. Choose your numbers and write them down.

Holes 17 and 18

With four players rotating, the rotation doesn't divide evenly into 18 holes. A common fix: the player in last place in points is the Wolf on 17 and 18.

Vegas

Vegas is played two against two. Each team combines its two scores into a two-digit number, with the lower score first.

Example: One team makes a 4 and a 5, so their number is 45. The other team makes 5 and 6, so theirs is 56. The difference is 56 − 45 = 11 points to the first team.

The birdie flip (optional)

In a popular variation, if a team makes a birdie, the other team's number flips with the higher digit first. So a 5 and 6 becomes 65 instead of 56. This makes swings much bigger.

A word on stakes

Vegas swings fast. One blow-up hole can produce a huge difference. If you play it for anything, keep the value per point tiny, or cap the points per hole.

Skins

Skins is the easiest game to run for a whole group, and it works with any number of players.

• Each hole is worth one skin.
• The player with the lowest score, outright, wins it.
• If the low score is tied, nobody wins and the skin carries over, so the next hole is worth two. Carryovers keep building until someone wins a hole outright.

Gross or net

Gross skins uses the scores as written, and suits a group of similar players. Net skins subtracts each player's handicap strokes on the holes where they get them (by stroke index), so a mixed group all has a real chance. Agree whether you're using full Course Handicaps or a reduced allowance.

Example: A player getting 12 strokes gets one on each hole with stroke index 1 through 12. On a par 4 with SI 8, their gross 5 counts as a net 4.

Optional rules to agree in advance

• Validation: a skin only counts if the winner makes par or better (net or gross, as agreed) on the next hole.
• The last-hole carryover: if 18 is tied, decide whether the carried skins go unclaimed, carry into tomorrow's round, or are split.
• Whole group or foursome: skins can run across the entire trip field, not just your group, as long as everyone's scores are in one place.

Closest-to-the-pin and longest drive

The easiest add-ons in golf, and anyone can win them.

Closest-to-the-pin:

• Pick one or more par-3s before the round.
• The ball must finish on the green to count.
• The first group to finish marks the spot with a tee or a marker card bearing the player's name, and each group after that moves it if someone gets closer.

Longest drive:

• Pick one hole, usually a par-4 or par-5 with room to swing.
• The ball must finish in the fairway to count.

Both work for the whole field across every foursome, so the trip has something going on in every group.

Trip-long games

Some games run across the whole trip, not just one round:

• Calcutta: players or teams are auctioned before the event, and the pool pays out on results. Our golf trip Calcutta and side game rules post covers how to run one.
• A points race: a trip-long Stableford or net-score points table, with a trophy at the end.
• A team cup: two teams, match play, points per match. See our Ryder Cup-style golf trip format.

Keeping it friendly

• Put the rules in writing before the trip, including handicap allowances and stakes. Then nobody can change them on the 16th green.
• Use one shared scorecard so every result comes from the same numbers.
• Keep stakes small and optional. Nobody should feel pressured to join a game.
• Settle once at the end. Net everyone's side game results together with shared trip costs and settle in the fewest payments. Our guide on how to split golf trip costs explains how.

Fairway Outing tracks side game results and who owes what, and gives players one-tap Venmo or Cash App links to settle up with each other. It doesn't hold, collect or process any money for games.

FAQ

What's the easiest side game for mixed handicaps?
Net skins is one of the simplest: each hole is its own contest, strokes are applied by stroke index, and one good hole can win it. Closest-to-the-pin is friendly to every skill level too.

How do presses work in a Nassau?
A press starts a new match for the rest of that nine, usually when someone falls two holes down. Decide in advance whether presses are automatic or must be called.

Gross or net skins?
Gross suits players of similar ability. Net gives a mixed group a fair chance.

How many people can play Wolf?
Wolf is designed for a foursome. There are variations for three or five players, but four is the standard.

How do you settle side game results at the end of a trip?
Keep one running record across all rounds, net it out per player, and settle once with the fewest payments.

Set up your games before the first tee

Add skins, side pots and team formats to your trip in Fairway Outing. Players post scores from their phones, and the leaderboard shows live gross and net results. See what players see on the example invite, or grab the golf trip planning checklist to plan the rest.

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