OTHER GAMES
PEOPLE PLAY
Though exchanging cash is the
norm when playing side games
with friends, using an app is a
safe alternative while adhering to
COVID-19 restrictions.
NOTE: VARIATIONS ON THESE
GAMES ARE VIRTUALLY ENDLESS.
NASSAU: A golf staple. Players or
teams compete for best front, back and
18 hole score. Played in virtually any format:
i.e.: stroke, scramble or match play.
BINGO, BANGO, BONGO for two or
more players. Players collect points on
each hole depending upon:
• Bingo – First ball on the green
• Bango – Closest to the pin once all
balls are on the green
• Bongo – First to hole out
Golfer with most points at the end of the
round wins.
COURTESY PHOTO
spiced with Wolf and 9-point competition.
When among friends, Shingler says the
stakes tend to be small.
“It doesn’t matter if we are playing for
a couple of bucks or dinner. We have fun
talking smack so you better have thick
skin. I’ve gotten better over the years but
I have to admit, Keith is the best at it. He’s
about as quick witted as they come.”
Alexandria resident Jimmy Delp has a
+2.5 Handicap Index at Laurel Hill Golf Club
in Lorton and plays in 12-13 tournaments per
year. As a college golfer at George Mason,
he recalled always playing for something.
Today, even in formal competitions, he’ll
often find himself playing a best ball tournament
within a tournament with his opponent.
“It’s fun to play for bragging rights or
dinner, whatever the stakes may be,” he says.
Regarding Wolf, “I’ve learned I don’t
want to play that game with Keith Decker.
The rule is if you are on Keith’s team you
have a 90 percent chance of winning. He’s
a great winner. And if he wins and you were
on the losing team he will buy you lunch,
dinner and/or drinks,” says Delp.
He also recalls a time when he and
Jon Hurst ended up in a $5-a-point Wolf
game with Decker, and the pair ended up
owing $275 at round’s end. That setback
notwithstanding, “It’s a lot of fun to play
different games,” Delp says. “Doing so
brings us all a little closer together and
helps develop friendships.”
Whether a skins game with a partner or
as a single, Ballyhack’s Justin Young plays
for “stakes as much as I can.” Holding a +3.5
handicap index and twice low amateur in the
Delta Dental State Open of Virginia, Young
says “it brings pressure. The better you can
play under pressure, the better you’ll play in
tournaments. I just love going out and competing.
Yes, I want the friendship afterward,
but I also like to have something in my pocket
or a cold drink in my hand when I go home.”
When going solo Shingler sharpens his
tournament preparation by playing nine
holes worst ball. “It is a really difficult
format that exposes any weaknesses you
have. Play two balls, go to the worst one.
Play two from there and go to the worst
one. Finish the hole out like that with
every shot including chips and putts. If I
can shoot even par for those nine holes, I
know my game is pretty sharp.
“It gives me accurate feedback on how
close I am to where I want to be going into
a big event.”
Virginia’s finest agree that in a big event
such as the Virginia-West Virginia Team
Matches all bets are off. “In those competitions,”
says Decker, “there is no money
on the line. It is more about pride, fighting
it out and bragging rights.”
A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE
By her own admission VSGA board member
and multi-time champion Boodie McGurn
is “a gamer from the word go! I play lots
of different games—some women are very
game (she counts Natalie Easterly and
Amy Ellertson as two among others) and
some are not,” she says. At Country Club of
Virginia, “we play a regular $2 Nassau with
trash, i.e.: extra money for sandies, birdies
and greenies on the par 3s. Sometimes we
RABBIT. Ideal three-person game.
Stakes are decided in advance. The
first player to win a hole captures the
rabbit. Depending on game variation
the other players must 1) win a hole
to set the rabbit free or 2) next person
to win the hole takes possession of
the rabbit. Payouts are made to rabbit
holders after nine and 18 holes.
SKINS. Contested in a match play format
with the winner of each hole earning
a skin (amount determined in advance).
Tied holes are carried over. At round’s
end player with the most skins wins
and collects.
add polies (money for putts outside the
length of flagstick and gorillas (closest to
the pins after three shots on par 5s).
“I will play whatever someone suggests,
but I always like to have something on the
line. In our Saturday group everyone usually
puts in $5 to start and the pot is paid
to the team with best of 2 low net—or 1 low
net and 1 low gross or whatever the game is
that day. Lots of options,” she says.
WANT MORE?
The Internet offers a wealth of quick references
on golf game side action. Players
looking for a deeper dive via traditional
methods will do well to consult:
• Golf Digest’s Complete Book of Golf Betting
Games by Ron Kaspriskie
• The Complete Book of Golf Games by
Scott Johnston
• The Golfer’s Game Book: A Manual of Golf
Games & Side Bets by Bridget Logan
vsga.org
M AY/J UNE 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
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