Threeball golf - best format?

[MarkT]

We're putting together a load of explainer pieces which will try and inspire people to try some new formats.

What are some good ways to play golf as a threeball? Other than the usual Stableford what are good games to play and can you explain in a tiny bit of detail how they work - and the pros and cons. Thanks, Mark

 

[wjemather]

This probably covers all the ones I can remember having played.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Split 6s as a good match play alternative.

4 points for hole winner
2 for second place
0 for third

If scores are tied, points are shared.

Total points allocated always adds up to 6.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Skins; simple enough, all playing against each other. 1 skin per hole, if any two of you tie the skin carries over the next hole until someone wins the hole outright and all the skins to that point. Can have additional skins for nearest the pin, oozlums, ferrets, golden ferrets, etc.

Chairman; similar to skins but you can only win a hole if you are in the chair. If A, B & C are playing, if A wins the first hole he is then in the chair. If he wins the second hole he then has one win; if A & either B or C tie the second hole, A wins nothing but remains in the chair; if B wins the second hole he is then in the chair, etc. Can also be played carrying over skins instead of holes won.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Skins; simple enough, all playing against each other. 1 skin per hole, if any two of you tie the skin carries over the next hole until someone wins the hole outright and all the skins to that point. Can have additional skins for nearest the pin, oozlums, ferrets, golden ferrets, etc.

Chairman; similar to skins but you can only win a hole if you are in the chair. If A, B & C are playing, if A wins the first hole he is then in the chair. If he wins the second hole he then has one win; if A & either B or C tie the second hole, A wins nothing but remains in the chair; if B wins the second hole he is then in the chair, etc. Can also be played carrying over skins instead of holes won.

Chairman is a good & simple way to play.
We also play 6's but invariably it ends up in arguments about the score carried over etc

 

[peld]

Chairman; similar to skins but you can only win a hole if you are in the chair. If A, B & C are playing, if A wins the first hole he is then in the chair. If he wins the second hole he then has one win; if A & either B or C tie the second hole, A wins nothing but remains in the chair; if B wins the second hole he is then in the chair, etc. Can also be played carrying over skins instead of holes won.

Similar to that, if A wins a hole, he is in the chair, but then B&C are now a betterball team - if B or C then wins the next hole, everyone is all square again. Person in chair at the end wins

 

[Troymcclure]

Ghost. 4BBB, single plays with the ghost who’s off scratch and pars every hole. Only played it once after reading about it somewhere but it was something different. Pair the highest handicapper with the ghost.

 

[BubbaP]

Have played the 6s one, was called cricket at that game.

Have enjoyed chairperson ??
Only thing is I'm sure the rules followed were slightly different each time.
BiM has had a good go at explaining it, but if A is in the chair, B&C tie with A last then what happens?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Russian Stableford or 6’s as some call it

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Skins; simple enough, all playing against each other. 1 skin per hole, if any two of you tie the skin carries over the next hole until someone wins the hole outright and all the skins to that point. Can have additional skins for nearest the pin, oozlums, ferrets, golden ferrets, etc.

Chairman; similar to skins but you can only win a hole if you are in the chair. If A, B & C are playing, if A wins the first hole he is then in the chair. If he wins the second hole he then has one win; if A & either B or C tie the second hole, A wins nothing but remains in the chair; if B wins the second hole he is then in the chair, etc. Can also be played carrying over skins instead of holes won.

Our variant of The Char is that once you are in the Chair you win a point if you win the next hole, but you have to win a hole to stay in the chair. Say A is in the Chair but does not win the hole, then A is out of the Chair. B may win the hole but B is NOT in the chair. The Chair is empty. It's tough. Points are very, very tough to accumulate. This means that in general all players have an involvement to the very end.

 

[RRidges]

Barricuda is popular here in US. 6 points per hole divvied up 4/2/0, 4/1/1, 3/3/1 or 2/2/2 according to scores. May be called something else in UK as never played it there.
Chairman is called The Perch or On The Perch here.

 

[IanM]

Barricuda is popular here in US. 6 points per hole divvied up 4/2/0, 4/1/1, 3/3/1 or 2/2/2 according to scores. May be called something else in UK as never played it there.
Chairman is called The Perch or On The Perch here.

Barracuda is the 6s mentioned above, or "split 6" as it was known where I used to play.

Chairman was known as "on the perch" in Gloucestershire when I played there

 

[Maninblack4612]

Split 6s as a good match play alternative.

4 points for hole winner
2 for second place
0 for third

If scores are tied, points are shared.

Total points allocated always adds up to 6.

When we play that we deduct the lowest scoring player's score from the other two so the lowest scorer is always zero.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Have played the 6s one, was called cricket at that game.

Have enjoyed chairperson ??
Only thing is I'm sure the rules followed were slightly different each time.
BiM has had a good go at explaining it, but if A is in the chair, B&C tie with A last then what happens?

In one of the variants some of us play, A is out of the Chair and the Chair is empty. In another variant played by others, A is out of the chair but if B or C wins the hole then they are in it.

 

[Slab]

Lets see if I can remember this correctly. It was called Wolf, its stableford format:

Each player in turn controls the tee (so 6 tees each in the round) starting in handicap order from 1st tee, second lowest handicap on 2nd tee etc etc

When its your 6 tee(s) you have to nominate a player you think will score well and you get their points for the hole added to your own points for the hole, fairly simple, but… you don’t have to nominate until after the tee shots have been taken

However, on at least one hole of the 6 tees you control you must cry Wolf. Now you have to beat both the other players and you’ll collect their points to add to you own, however if either of them beat or equal your score you’ll lose any points you scored on that hole and get a zero

The strategy (fun) is in looking at the 6 holes you control, to figure out which gives you the best chance of beating the other two players
(n.b the only other rule is that if its your tee and after seeing the tee shots, if you fail (forget) to nominate who’ll win the hole by the time you leave the teeing area you are automatically crying wolf on that hole)

Tally up the points at the end

 

[Sats]

As said before I normally suggest Skins or Split 6's for 3 balls

 

[TigerBear]

Split 6s as a good match play alternative.

4 points for hole winner
2 for second place
0 for third

If scores are tied, points are shared.

Total points allocated always adds up to 6.

Seen this a few times from different groups.

Do you just keep adding up the points or do you work out the difference after each hole and try and keep the total points figures for each player as low as possible but keep the difference the same...if that makes sense lol

 

[nickh]

For us, highest points win.

We also play a variation, that if you win a hole by 2 strokes, you get all 6

 

[Swango1980]

Split 6s as a good match play alternative.

4 points for hole winner
2 for second place
0 for third

If scores are tied, points are shared.

Total points allocated always adds up to 6.

Yeah, I enjoy this format. It is almost like match-play in a 3 ball. As you sort of said, if 2 people two for 1st, 3 points each (and 0 for the other guy), and if 2 tie for 2nd/3rd they get 1 point each (4 for the 1st guy). The other good thing about it is, even if you are having a stinker hole, you still have a chance to get something out of it if one of the other guys is having a stinker. Probably good for tricky AWAY courses as well.

The 4-ball equivalent is 6 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd and 0 for 4th. Always 12 points dished out per hole, so points shared accordingly based on the various combinations of ties (e.g. 5,5,1,1 -tied 1st and tied 3rd; or 6,3,3,0 -tied 2nd 3rd; or 4,4,4,0 -tied 1st 2nd & 3rd; or 6,2,2,2 - tied 2nd 3rd & 4th)

Scores can change quite rapidly as well. A player might seem out of it, and then get on a run of 2 or 3 good holes and suddenly be right back up there.

My biggest annoyance was, when playing it once one of the guys got a good lead, whilst I fell back in second. The other guy, who was last, managed to beat me on a few holes, or tie with me early on, thus robbing points off me and allowing the other guy to build the lead. I then made a surge at the end. However, the guy who was last just sort of gave up, and didn't bother finishing the last few holes, even though he could have tied or even beat the guy who was first and rob points off him. So, the guy who was leading was gifted 2 points in the last few holes, when I needed him to get 1's and 0's. Thankfully we played loser buys the drinks, so winning was only one for the ego

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Yeah, I enjoy this format. It is almost like match-play in a 3 ball. As you sort of said, if 2 people two for 1st, 3 points each (and 0 for the other guy), and if 2 tie for 2nd/3rd they get 1 point each (4 for the 1st guy). The other good thing about it is, even if you are having a stinker hole, you still have a chance to get something out of it if one of the other guys is having a stinker. Probably good for tricky AWAY courses as well.

The 4-ball equivalent is 6 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd and 0 for 4th. Always 12 points dished out per hole, so points shared accordingly based on the various combinations of ties (e.g. 5,5,1,1 -tied 1st and tied 3rd; or 6,3,3,0 -tied 2nd 3rd; or 4,4,4,0 -tied 1st 2nd & 3rd; or 6,2,2,2 - tied 2nd 3rd & 4th)

Scores can change quite rapidly as well. A player might seem out of it, and then get on a run of 2 or 3 good holes and suddenly be right back up there.

My biggest annoyance was, when playing it once one of the guys got a good lead, whilst I fell back in second. The other guy, who was last, managed to beat me on a few holes, or tie with me early on, thus robbing points off me and allowing the other guy to build the lead. I then made a surge at the end. However, the guy who was last just sort of gave up, and didn't bother finishing the last few holes, even though he could have tied or even beat the guy who was first and rob points off him. So, the guy who was leading was gifted 2 points in the last few holes, when I needed him to get 1's and 0's. Thankfully we played loser buys the drinks, so winning was only one for the ego

I've always found that all it takes is a streak of a two or three holes and things turn around very quickly. I've never had the situation where someone has run away with it and not had a close finish!