Most golf groups are mixed: a single-digit player, a few in the teens and someone who plays twice a year. Pick the wrong game and the best player wins every bet by the sixth hole. Pick the right one and everybody has a chance until the last putt. Here is how to keep a game fair when the abilities aren't.
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Start With Net Scoring
Handicap strokes are what make a mixed group work. Each player's strokes come from their Handicap Index, given on the hardest holes first, and the net score decides the hole. A golfer without a Handicap Index plays at gross, so it is worth encouraging regulars to get one.
Two settings make a big difference:
•Play off the low player. Instead of everyone getting their full course handicap, the lowest player plays off zero and everyone else gets the difference. The match is the same, but fewer strokes are handed out and the numbers are easier to follow.
•A percentage of handicap. Many groups use a percentage, often 80 to 90 percent, so higher handicaps don't have too large an edge in head-to-head games.
theStick shows a dot on every hole where a player gets a stroke, so nobody has to work out the stroke holes from the card.
Each green dot marks a hole where that player gets a stroke in the game; the number at the top of each column is the handicap the game plays off.
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Stableford: One Bad Hole Doesn't End Your Day
In Stableford you score points on each hole against par: more for a birdie, fewer for a bogey, nothing for a double or worse. The worst a hole can cost you is zero, so the player who makes a nine on the 4th is still in it. That makes it the best whole-round game for a mixed group.
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Team Formats Carry the Weaker Players
Team games let a weaker player contribute without having to play every hole well.
•Scramble: everyone hits and the team plays the best shot. Use the team handicap split (a percentage of the lower and higher handicaps) so a team with a strong player doesn't run away with it.
•Four Ball: two against two, each plays their own ball, and the better net score counts. A high handicapper's stroke on a hard hole often wins it.
•Star Game: if one player is much better than everyone else, make them the Star and let them take on the rest as a team.
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Side Games That Reward Moments
Some of the best side games don't depend on 18-hole scores at all:
•Dots (junk): points for a sandy, a chip-in, a greenie or a birdie. Anyone can hole a bunker shot.
•Snake: the last player to three-putt holds the snake and pays at the end. Every putt matters for everyone.
•Skins, net: win a hole outright and you win the skin. With strokes, a high handicapper can take the biggest carryover of the day.
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Keep the Stakes Even
A mixed group usually has mixed wallets too. Keep the stakes small and the same for everyone, and make the side games, not the main bet, the place for the action.
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A Good Combination for a Mixed Foursome
•Stableford, net, as the main bet.
•Dots for the shots everyone remembers.
•Snake to keep the putting honest.
theStick scores every game hole by hole, applies each player's strokes and shows one net amount per player at the end, so nobody needs to check the math.
