Golf side games: every format worth playing.

A round of golf with nothing riding on it is a walk with clubs. Every regular group eventually builds its own menu of side games: the formats that keep four players of four different abilities grinding over the same three-footer. Golf Datatech's 2022 study put a number on it: 84% of golfers play their own game for stakes. This is the field guide: what each game is, how many players it fits, and, because this is Press Tracker, which ones you can press.

Golf side games, also called golf betting games or money games, are the extra formats a group layers onto a round: the Nassau, match play, skins, Stableford, Wolf, and more, each designed to keep every player competitive to the last hole. The pressable ones let a trailing side open a fresh match mid-round.

The quick reference

Game	Players	Type	Pressable?
Nassau	2–4 (singles or teams)	Match play ×3	Yes (its natural habitat)
Match play	2 or 2v2	Head-to-head	Yes
Skins	2–4+	Per-hole pot	Not traditionally
Stableford	Any	Points	House rules
Best ball (Four-Ball)	4 (2v2)	Team match	Yes
Scramble	Teams	Team stroke	No
Wolf	3–4	Rotating teams	No
Vegas	4 (2v2)	Team numbers game	House rules
Dots / junk	Any	Per-event points	No
Snake	Any	Last-mistake pot	No

The match-play family and its variations

Nassau

The king. Three matches in one round (front nine, back nine, overall) at equal stakes, almost always match play, and the reason the phrase "$2 Nassau" exists. Its genius is the built-in reset: no matter how bad the front nine went, the 10th tee starts a fresh match. Full rules, history, and payout examples in our complete Nassau guide.

Straight match play

One match, 18 holes, holes won and lost. Clean and brutal: there's no back-nine reset, which is exactly why the press was invented. If your group plays straight matches, agree on the 2-down auto press or a blowout ends the entertainment by the 12th. Full scoring, dormie, and handicap rules in the match play guide.

Best ball (Four-Ball)

The standard team format: 2v2, everyone plays their own ball, each team counts its better score per hole. It keeps weaker players in the game (your partner covers your blowups) and it's fully pressable; team Nassaus are usually best ball underneath. Rules, allowances, and the scramble comparison in the best ball guide.

The points family

Stableford

Points per hole based on score: the classic scale runs from 0 for double bogey or worse up through 4 for eagle and 5 for an albatross, and modified versions weight it differently. Play it net (with handicaps) and a 20-handicap can beat a 5 straight up. Stableford Nassaus (points per nine) are a great mixed-skill format. Full point tables, net play, and the quota game in our Stableford scoring guide.

Dots, junk, and greenies

The garnish layer. Small fixed-value achievements tracked alongside the main game:

• Greenie: on the green in one on a par 3 (usually must two-putt or better)
• Sandie: up and down out of a bunker
• Birdie dots: self-explanatory
• Poly: holing a putt longer than the flagstick

Each dot has a small agreed value, totted up at the end. Junk turns dead holes into live ones, which is the whole point of side games.

The pot family

Skins

Each hole is worth one skin; win the hole outright and it's yours. Tie, and the skin carries over, which is where skins gets its drama, because three carried holes make the next tee box worth four skins. Validation rules (does a tied hole cancel or carry?) vary by group. Skins runs happily alongside a match game since it rewards outright wins rather than grinding halves. Full rules, carryover math, house rules, and strategy in our complete skins guide.

Vegas

The 2v2 numbers game: each team's two scores combine into one number: a 4 and a 5 becomes 45 (low digit first), and the difference between team numbers changes hands in points. A birdie flips the opponents' number high-side-first (that 4-5 becomes 54), which is how Vegas produces its famous swings. Not for the faint of wallet; set a point value accordingly.

The rotating family

Wolf

The social-chaos option for a foursome. Players rotate as the Wolf on each tee; after watching each drive in order, the Wolf picks a partner for the hole, or goes Lone Wolf against all three for multiplied stakes. Wolf is a game of timing, ego, and knowing exactly how far your buddy actually hits his 3-wood.

Bingo Bango Bongo

Three points per hole: first on the green (bingo), closest once all balls are on (bango), first to hole out (bongo). Because the points reward order rather than score, it's one of the friendliest formats for new or high-handicap players, and it enforces ready-golf pace as a side effect.

Snake

One pot, one rule: three-putt and you're holding the snake. Whoever holds it when the round ends pays everyone. Simple, cruel, and responsible for more lag-putt concentration than any swing tip ever published.

Which games should your group play?

• Four players, mixed skill: team Nassau (best ball) with auto presses, plus dots for garnish.
• Three players: Nassau as three individual matches, or Wolf's three-player variant, or skins; we ranked every format in the 3-player games guide.
• Two players: straight match play or a singles Nassau, with presses, obviously.
• Big group, big spread: net Stableford or a scramble; settle individual games inside the carts.

The pattern across all of it: the best formats keep everyone mathematically alive until late in the round. The Nassau does it with the back-nine reset. The press does it on demand. Skins does it with carryovers. Pick the mechanism your group enjoys.

Running your side games in Press Tracker

Press Tracker supports the match formats your money games actually run on: match play, stroke play, and Stableford scoring across 2- or 3-team matches, with the pressable side games (Front 9, Back 9, Total, or any combination) layered on top, each with its own illustrative stakes, and an optional skins pot with carryovers running alongside. Enter one score per team per hole; auto-presses fire at 2 down, and a manual press is always one tap away whenever your group wants one; the press log keeps every chain and the running net live so the 18th green is for putting, not accounting. Finished matches stay saved in a private feed your friends can revisit, and nobody else can.

Press Tracker is a scorekeeping companion for entertainment use only. It does not accept, hold, or process money. New here? Start with how to play a Nassau and what a press is.