Got a group of guys I play with a few times a year. Usually it's a foursome, and we play some form of Wolf. A guy is bringing his future brother-in-law.. clubhouse said fivesomes are fine so long as we keep pace of play.

I'm about a 8 handicap, one guy is a 7.5, another is 10, the other two are pretty lucky to break 100 on any given day.

Any ideas? I'm usually a play your own ball guy but wanna have options, just in case.

I used to take a golf trip with 4 other guys. We would go 2 v 2 and let the 5 guy play on each team for nine holes. The 2 v 2 was very even and the 5 guy only played once a year. So he was definitely the outlier.

Then we started a new game. Everyone flips a coin on each tee box, heads are on the same team and tails are on the same team. Bets doubled if someone had to go solo. That was a lot of fun and you'd be surprised at how many times someone had to go solo. It was cool mixing up the teams every tee box, and exciting everytime we flipped coins.

If you're trying to play money games, banker is king

Wolf and the other two high handicappers play as a team and scramble.

Wolf

Left right

I'd say Wolf and give the two high handicaps .5 or 1 shot a hole. Normally wolf with 5 favors the worst two players bc they will normally be in the team of 3. But that's normally if there's not a huge (15+) difference in handicaps. Your two high handicaps may be high enough to where giving them strikes will make it much more fun.

I don't ever bet or play anything on the course other than golf. I'm not against it - I just think there are a lot of us out there who just didn't come up playing that way so it's not our thing.

Just like Austin seems weird to you for not wanting to play wolf, your friends hating playing without some other game going seems weird to me.

mavsfan4ever said:

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Yes you are literally the only person I've ever heard complain about wolf. I get wanting to play your own ball and not scramble. But I don't get not wanting to play wolf (where you play your own ball) bc you just want to focus on your own game. No offense but you sound like a wet blanket who I'd never want to play with.

Im just a 8-9 (so you are likely better than me) but most of my friends are scratch or better and they hate playing if we don't have a wolf game or some other type of team game going. They definitely would never refuse a wolf game bc they want to focus on other own ball.

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Add me to the non-Wolf list. It's just the betting angle of it I don't like I think. I don't play it much at all, but low handicaps never seem to win the times I've played it. Betting doubling and tripling on the last 3 holes and some higher handicap gets strokes and gets hot. Kinda negates the first 15 holes. To me that's like letting somebody who's 6 down press on the last hole to get even. I'll play it, but it's definitely not my favorite game.

Yea I get not liking the game and thinking it's not fair to the better players. We don't give pops and don't double or triple on the last few holes and the worst players do still tend to win bc they are usually on the team of 3 which is an advantage.

To each his own. We all play some without a game or money on the line. So when the 5 of us are all able to get together (which happens less often now with kids, etc), we are definitely going to have some type of game going. So if there was someone who was adamantly against playing some sort of game, we likely wouldn't play with them very often. Kinda weird for 3-4 guys to play a game and 1 guy refusing to play the game bc he wanted to focus on his own ball in my opinion. Like is said, most of my friends are plus handicaps and they don't take it that seriously. They certainly wouldn't refuse to play wolf or some sort of low ball game if the other guys wanted to.

I've played a wolf scramble type when I have guys who can't break 100 playing so first guy tees off, you end up picking one partner and play a scramble and make the hole 2v3.

FWIW I wouldn't refuse to play wolf or other games if the group wants to. I just don't enjoy them unless it's like a special golf trip or something of that nature. I can see them being fun then if playing multiple rounds over a few days just to mix it up.

Wolf is ok, but in general, I am not a fan of any games that require a certain order of play. But given it's off the tee only, not a big deal. Enjoy games that just play off your own ball and order doesn't matter.

TecRecAg said:

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If you're trying to play money games, banker is king

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This, it's a lot of fun and you don't have to bet much if you don't want. I was playing like dog crap for most of a round and was betting like a buck or two on each hole. I got hot late and two other guys were getting sauced and I went from down $15 to up $50 by the end

Gotcha. I misinterpreted your post. Thought you were saying you'd refuse to play any sort of game even if others wanted to.

And I'm not stuck on wolf. Any game is fine. As rarely as I get to play with my good friends, I'd just rather have some sort of game going to keep it competitive and keep the **** talking at a good level, rather than just all playing against the course. But I'm definitely not going to try and get a game going if it's just 2 of us or if I don't know the people well.

DallasAggie89 said:

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I feel bad for the groups playing behind a fivesome.

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As always, it depends on the five. Play in fivesome frequently and rarely have a gap in front of us. Will be done in 4 hours and 15 minutes.

One slow player in a threesome can back up an entire course.

Poot said:

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I don't play golf… for money… against people…

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All seriousness, wolf is a great game. We never played with scrambles or presses or any of that stuff. Simple teams in a fivesome 2v3. It works a lot better when you know the other 4 you are playing with and know there games. A group of 5 experienced and mid to low hcp players can play just as fast as a regular group. We did it for years.

Good guys bad guys and Nassau are fun as well.

I always either play a side game or try to get a side game going when I play. Golf is all about ball breaking, teasing and having fun for me now. More social than serious, with a group of guys who are pretty good players.

Wolf with an 8-point scotch game is the only five man game I play.

Stableford is always great

Or do skins, add in Greenies, Sandies, Polies, and Snakes

DallasAggie89 said:

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I feel bad for the groups playing behind a fivesome.

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If the group gets pace of play and ready golf, and don't spend more than 30 seconds getting everyone to help find a lost ball, you can move just as quickly.

We have started to play flip wolf with my group. You flip a coin before you tee off to determine teams. If you are lone wolf you automatically have par as your partner.

DallasAggie89 said:

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I feel bad for the groups playing behind a fivesome.

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We played coin flip. Everybody flips a coin each hole to determine teams, then best ball. If it ends up being 4v1 then the solo guy gets a stroke or double money if he plays straight up.

We finished in 3:59 so suck it.

How in the WORLD does it take longer than 3:30? Unbearable.