How to Play the 'Appearances' Side Game in Golf
And teeing off first is also known as "having the honors," which is why Appearances is also known by the name Honors.
The first hole of the round is not included in the Appearances game, because order of play off the first tee is determined randomly. But on that first hole, let's say that Golfer A makes a 4 and Golfer B makes a 5. That means that Golfer A tees off first on Hole 2, and, therefore, wins the Appearances bet.
On Hole 2, Golfer A scores 5 and Golfer B scores 4. Now Golfer B tees off first on Hole 3, and, therefore, B wins the Appearances bet this time.
And so it goes throughout the round. What if the golfers tie on a give hole? Once a golfer earns the honors, that golfer keeps them until he or she is beaten on a hole. So, in our example above Golfer B has the honors on the third hole. Let's say on Hole 3 Golfers A and B tied with scores of five. That means B keeps the honor of teeing off first, which means that B wins another Appearances bet on Hole 4.
So once you have the Appearances bet in your pocket, you keep piling up the wins until another golfer in your group wins a hole to take it away.
How do you bet Appearances? You can make each win worth a set amount of money. Or the golfers in your group can pay into a pot at the start of the round, then award a point to each golfer who tees off first on a hole and award the pot to the overall winner.
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