G A M E S
Golfers Play
SIDE GAMES KEEP VIRGINA GOLFERS COMPETITIVE
AND PLAYING THEIR BEST
by MICHAEL J. STOTT
MY HIGH HANDICAP GROUP PLAYS
ONLY ONE MONEY GAME ON THE
COURSE—Greenies. One buck each on
the par 3s for closest to the hole, provided
the player makes par or better. Turns out
those stakes are peanuts—and unimaginative—compared
to what really good
Virginia golfers do.
One “player” is 29-time VSGA tournament
champion Keith Decker whose
home course is Chatmoss Country Club in
Martinsville. His motivation for games is
the same as ours—for fun and to add a little
pressure to the proceedings. Decker plays
in 25 tournaments and 200 rounds annually.
“At Chatmoss we are always playing for
a little something,” he says. “To be honest,
it makes you a better player.”
Recently games of choice at his level are
Wolf and 9-point. Here’s a rundown of each:
WOLF
Decker normally plays with five people,
but says Wolf is also a great game for four.
Stakes are set per point. The game is played
as follows: the order of play is decided on
the first tee with the ‘Wolf’ always teeing
off first. The teeing order rotates on every
hole so that each player becomes the Wolf
once every five holes.
Once each player in the group hits his
tee shot, the Wolf decides whether or not
to take any of the players on his team for
the hole. If not, the Wolf plays the hole as
the ‘Lone Wolf’—whereby he tries to beat
the other players by carding lowest gross
score on the hole. Every hole is played as a
gross best ball with only the best score of
each team being used.
Scoring—assuming $3 per hole:
• If the Wolf plays by himself, the point
values are doubled (he wins $12 x 2 = $24
per hole)
• If the Wolf and his partner win the hole,
they split the winning take ($3 x 3 = $9
or $4.50 each)
• If the Wolf and his partner lose the hole,
they split the $9 loss ($4.50 each)
“There is a tremendous amount of
trash talking in this game. You want to let
“It’s a lot of fun to play different games, doing so brings us
all a little closer together and helps develop friendships.”
—Jimmy Delp, VSGA championship competitor and member at Laurel Hill GC
that guy know how important that putt is
and how much it might be worth to him.
In our game,” says Decker, “whomever is
down after 16 holes becomes the Wolf and
can set the stakes up to the amount of his
loss. It can get really expensive if someone
is down as much as $150. Not many people
play for that amount of money, but I
remember one game where the amount
after 16 holes was set at $450.”
9-POINT
This is a good game for three people.
Point values are assigned in advance
and awarded per hole: five to the winner,
three for second and one for third. If two
players tie for low score on a hole, they get
four each—low man gets one. If one player
wins the hole, he gets five and the others,
if tied, get two each. The player with most
points after 18 holes wins.
TOURNAMENT TESTED
Games are a way to make golf fun when
playing with those of unequal abilities,
notes Scott Shingler, who plays out of
Dominion Valley Country Club in Haymarket.
His accolades include VSGA’s
Men’s Golfer of the Year (3x), member of
the USGA Virginia State team (5x) and
State Mid-Am and State Amateur champion.
His tourney practice rounds are also
28 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY/J UNE 2020
vsga.org