Gary Baker will be at Valleybrook this weekend stressing about every shot and agonizing over every missed putt.
He enjoys competitive golf where every stroke counts. But even more, he enjoys playing games within the game with friends during the week or on a beautiful weekend.
“When you’re with your friends, you drink a beer, shoot the bull and if you don’t play good, it’s no big deal,” Baker said. “We try to make it fun for everybody.”
Enjoyment for many golfers is derived from not only traditional stroke play but wagers or games played outside the USGA rules — including traditional side games such as Nassau and Wolf or odd-ball games like 3 Blind Mice and Pick-up Sticks. Chi-Chi Rodriguez even co-authored a book about golf games in 2002.
“Sometimes we’ll even play a scramble so everybody gets involved,” Baker said. “I want everybody to be happy and comfortable and having a good time even if they’re a 20 handicap.”
Heath Pendergraft, an assistant professional at Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, overhears a lot of conversations when golfers make the turn or finish a round. He hears the bragging about being one up or the complaining about somebody else being down five bucks.
“The last thing you want to do is get out there and the game isn’t any fun,” Pendergraft said. “Whether you’re playing for bragging rights or a couple bucks, play for something, make it count and you’ll have a lot more fun. I teach that.
“As long as you’re having fun with golf somehow, that’s what matters.”
Here are two common games and two off-the-wall contests worth trying once.
n Nassau: The team or golfer who wins the front nine, the back nine and the low 18 holes each get a prize. There are no official rules, but stroke play seems to work best.
“It’s not about winning the money,” amateur golfer John Lambert said. “It’s about getting the W and having fun.”
n Wolf: Players in a group rotate being the wolf on each hole. The wolf chooses whether to play the hole 1-on-3 or 2-on-2. The best hole score wins, and if the wolf wins 1-on-3, he or she gets double points.
“I’m not a big Wolf fan because the best player can get thumped,” Lambert said. “So that doesn’t appeal to me.”
n Bag raid: Lose the hole and lose a club, except the putter — for the rest of the round. When a golfer wins a hole, he reaches in his opponent’s bag and removes any club for the rest of the day. Love your driver? It could be gone after one hole, and the same applies to wedges, short irons and hybrids.
n Zoo card game: The monkey card is for hitting in the woods, the camel for a bunker, the frog for water and a snake for a three-putt. Golfers are given the appropriate card after the error, and whoever is holding the card at the end owes a predetermined prize to the others.
“It can put a lot of pressure on you at the end,” Pendergraft said. “You don’t want a 40-foot putt on the last hole.”