Baseball
Each player is allowed one 'baseball throw' per hole. 'Throws' do NOT count as a stroke. For example, if your ball lands in a bunker or in an unplayable spot in the rough (like next to a tree) you may throw it out and not count the throw as a stroke.
This is a great game when you want your players to challenge their game. Imagine a bunker (or water) that they try to avoid because they are afraid of landing in it. Now you can encourage them to 'go for it' and if they don't make it, no penalty, just throw it out. They may discover that they can really get over the bunker or water and thus increase their 'golf' confidence.
Lucky 3s
This is a great tournament to play with spouses/significant others/guests and works well for either shot-gun or tee times. You play as a foursome with two teams (teams remain the same throughout the game). However, the total score is the score for the foursome.
Holes 1, 2, 3
(actual holes - not where you tee off)
'BEST BALL'
All players play their own ball. Score two best net balls of the foursome using your 'pops'.
Holes 4, 5, 6
(actual hole numbers)
'ALTERNATE SHOT'
Each 'pair' hits one ball, alternating the shot through the green. Must use a woman's drive on two of the three holes. If two or more women are playing together, alternate drives. At end of each hole, you will have two scores (one for each pair). Add the two and this is your total for the hole.
Holes 7, 8, 9
'STEP-ASIDE SCRAMBLE (also known as FLORIDA SCRAMBLE)'
Only the women will hit the tee shots - alternate the player teeing off. If the group is all women, no woman should tee off more than once during the scramble. After choosing the best shot with every hit, the golfer whose ball is chosen may not hit the next shot but must 'step-aside'. Thus, with each hit, there are only three players hitting balls. At the end of each hole you will have one score for your team.
HOW TO HANDICAP:
Best Ball: Using the 9-hole course handicap of each player, assign the 'pops' just as you would in a normal 'better ball' tournament. And use those 'pops' for the holes you play. Add the player's score after subtracting the 'pops' for the score for each hole. Do this for all four players and then choose the two best net ball scores for each hole.
Alternate Shot: Add the handicaps of both golfers and multiply by 0.5 then multiple that by 0.333 for a three-hole handicap. (Example: a 9 handicap player and a 24 handicap player would have a handicap of 5.5 (9 24x0.5x0.33=5.5) Add the scores for the three holes together and subtract the team's 3-hole handicap for their alternate shot score.
Scramble: Calculate the handicap for the foursome:
Depending on your tournament, you could award one over-all prize plus a prize for the winners of the 'Best Ball', the 'Akterbate Shot', and the 'Scramble'. Or you could have one over-all winner and a second and third prize.
Monkey Tournament
A Monkey Tournament begins by placing the name of each club (driver, five wood, etc) from a full bag in a hat. Each Player from each team (teams of 2) then selects a club from the hat. That's the only club she can use for the entire round.
The players on each team alternate shots for 9 or 18 holes. When it is her turn to hit, she must use her chosen club, regardless of the situation. (To handicap this game, add the handicaps of the two players together and multiply by .5 to give you the team handicap.
One Club or Tin Cup
This is as simple as it sounds. Play the entire game with one club. Variations would be two- three- and four-club games. Though One Club format seems gimmicky, it tends to reward intelligent, creative golfers. Use net handicap scores to calculate the winner.
Obstacle Tournament
This is especially good for a fun tournament at Halloween. Each hole presents some obstacle, such as a stake off to one side of the fairway that must be played around, or a barrel just short of the green that must be played through, or even a hollowed out pumpkin placed over the hole on the green with openings through which the player must putt.
Remorseful Golf
In this contest each player has the privilege of making the opponent play over any two shots during the round. For example, a player may hole out a 20 foot putt at which her opponent can say "I respectfully request you to replay that shot" and she must play the shot over again, nullifying the first shot.
Scramble
Each player tees off and the team's best ball is chosen. Each player then hits her own ball from this chosen lie. For the next shot, the best ball is again chosen and each player hits from that lie. This continues until the ball is holed out. This is an excellent tournament for Big and Little Sisters that involves both nine-hole and eighteen-hole players on the same team. In computing the winning score, the team's handicap is totaled and divided by the number of players. A variation of the Scramble is to require that at least one tee shot from each player be used.
String Me Along
Each team is given a length of string equal in feet to the number of handicap strokes allowed each player on the team. For example, a team has four players with the following handicaps: 8, 12, 16, 28 for a total o f64 strokes. That team is given a 64-foot length of string.
During the round, players may move the ball by hand to a more favorable spot at any time... including on the putting green and into the hole. Each time, they must measure with the string the distance the ball was moved and then cut off the equivalent length of string. When the string is used up, the team is on its own.
the movement of the ball does NOT count as a stroke. Thus, if you were on the green in four and 10 feet from the cup, you could cut ten feet of string and put your ball in the hole for a score of four for that hole.