The Best Golf Games for 6 Players

First: Can You Play as a Sixsome?

Check with the course. Many courses don't allow groups of more than five, and a sixsome is slow on a busy day. If you can't, play two threesomes with the same games and combine the results, so it still feels like one match.

Skins: The Best Game for Six

Skins gets better with more players. The lowest score on a hole wins it outright, and with six players ties are more common, so carryovers build and the late holes are worth more. Play it net so everyone has a real chance on every hole.

With six players at $20 each, the pot is $120, which is $6.67 per skin across 18 holes. Agree before the round whether a tied hole carries over or is lost, and whether a skin needs a birdie to count. Those two rules decide most of the money.

Wolf: A New Partner Every Hole

Wolf works with six. On each hole one player is the Wolf and watches the others tee off. After each drive he can pick that player as his partner or pass. Pass on everyone and he plays alone against the other five as the Lone Wolf, for a bigger payout.

With six, a partnership means two against four. The sides are uneven, so the stakes have to be adjusted so that each hole still nets to zero. theStick does that automatically and rotates the Wolf, so you only have to decide who to pick.

Banker: One Against Everyone

In Banker, one player is the Banker on each hole and plays a separate match against each of the other five. Beat the Banker and he pays you. Lose and you pay him. The Banker for the 1st hole is chosen at random; after that, the first player to hole out with the lowest net score on a hole banks the next one.

It is high-variance for the Banker and easy to follow for everyone else, which makes it a good second game alongside Skins.

Star Game: Three Against Three (or Any Split)

Star Game splits the group into two sides of any size: 3 against 3, 2 against 4, even 1 against 5. Each side plays best ball, so the side's score on a hole is its lowest net score. It can be played as stroke play over the round, match play hole by hole, or both.

Three against three is the closest thing to a team match for six. If one player is much better than the rest, put him alone against five: he has to beat five best balls on every hole.

Nassau: Watch the Exposure

A Nassau with six players playing individually means every pair plays its own match. That is 15 matches across the group, and each player is in five of them. At $10 a bet, that is up to $150 at risk per player before any presses.

If your group wants a Nassau with six, play smaller stakes or play it as teams. theStick runs every pairing and press at once, but the money can still add up quickly.

Whole-Round Games: Stableford and Low Net

If you would rather not bet hole by hole, rank the whole round instead. Stableford gives points for each hole's score against par, and Low Net ranks everyone by net total. Both work the same with six as with two, and they make a good base bet under the side games.

Side Games That Scale

These work with any number of players:

A Good Six-Player Combination

For a regular sixsome, this covers every type of player:

Three games for six players is a lot of bookkeeping by hand. theStick tracks every game for the whole group hole by hole, applies handicap strokes for each match, and at the end shows each player one net amount to pay or collect.