How to Play the Golf Game Named 'On In Two'

What do you want to do on a par-5 hole? Well, among other things, every golfer wishes they can get "on in two." That means reaching the green with your second shot, setting up a putt for eagle and the expectation of, at least, birdie. The golf game called "On In Two" rewards golfers who hit the green with their second shot on a par-5 — and it requires golfers to use their longest club for those second strokes, regardless of how good (or bad) their tee ball was.

Example: A group playing On In Two comes to a par-5 hole. All golfers hit their tee shots. Now comes the second shot, and each golfer in the group — regardless of how the tee shots turned out — must pull the longest club they have in the bag, excluding driver. If your longest club other than driver is a 5-wood, then that's what you are playing for the second shots on all the par-5 holes in On In Two. If it's a 2-hybrid or a 3-iron or 3-wood, then that's what you are playing. If you have no hope of hitting the green, you still have to use that longest club; if you crushed your drive and would normally play a 5-iron into the green, you still have to use that longest club.

So: Each golfer plays a tee ball, then uses their longest club to hit the second strokes. After that, points are awarded based on whether anyone gets that second stroke onto the putting green.

If you are part of a group of scratch golfers or low-handicappers, then you might award points like this:

• Hitting the green gets you 2 points from each of the other golfers in your group (6 points total if you are playing in a foursome).
• If you then birdie the hole, the points are doubled — now you get four points from each of the others (12 points total).
• If you eagle the hole, it's double again — eight points from each of the others in your group (24 points total).

If your group consists of mid-handicappers or higher, golfers who don't regularly hit greens in two on par-5 holes, then On In Two is not a game you want to overweight. You'll probably play it in combination with many other points-based betting games as part of those catch-all games that go by names such as Dots or Junk or Trash or Garbarge or Supplemental Bets.

Mid- and high-handicappers probably want to use a different point system so as not to overweight On In Two:

• 2 points total (not from each other golfer) if you hit the green.
• 4 points total if you make a birdie after hitting the green.
• 8 points total if you make an eagle after hitting the green.

Something important to note about On In Two is that, although the game requires you to use your longest club for the second strokes on par-5 holes, it does not require to go for the green. If you hit a terrible drive and have zero chance of getting on the green, you'll still have to use that 3-wood (or whatever your longest non-driver is). But you can bunt the ball back into the fairway, or choke way down and just try to advance the ball up the fairway, etc. This is important to keep in mind if you are also competing on gross or net score, or other types of betting games are running concurrently.

More golf games:

• Threesomes in golf: fun! (but not like that)
• How to play 'Odds and Evens'
• The Money Ball format explained