How to Play Golf Tic-Tac-Toe
The children's game tic-tac-toe has been around for a very long time. And almost everyone knows how to play it: Draw a grid to create nine squares; two players alternate placing X's and O's in those squares trying to get three across, three up-and-down, or three diagonally. In the golf version of tic-tac-toe, two golfers are putting or chipping to those nine squares, trying to place balls into three boxes across, up-and-down or diagonally.
To play golf's tic-tac-toe, you need either a putting green or an area of short grass to set up the grid. You can lay down string, tape or some such to create the grid. Or, if you are on your own property or have permission from a golf facility to do so, you can snap a chalk line to create the grid. You can also buy a ready-made tic-tac-toe grid for golf, such as the one pictured above that sells on Amazon.com (affiliate link, commissions earned).
If you are creating the grid, you can make it smaller for putting or larger for chipping. (By the way, this game is sometimes called Putt Tac Toe when putting, and Chip Tac Toe when chipping.)
The hardest thing about playing this game is simply getting a good grid set up. Once you have the grid, though, you're just playing the same old tic-tac-toe game you've always played. Except instead of writing X's and O's on paper, you are putting or chipping golf balls into the boxes of the grid.
In order for golfers to keep track of whose balls are in which boxes, you need golf balls that are easily identifiable at a glance. That could mean the golfers playing the game use differently colored balls, or that you draw large, obvious marks on them.
Rope is a good material if you are creating the Chip Tac Toe grid yourself, because it provides some height that a ball has to clear. For Putt Tac Toe, obviously, your grid must be flat to the ground so the ball can roll unobstructed into the grid.
The golf tic-tac-toe is sometimes encountered in charity tournaments, company outings and the like, where tournament organizers can paint the lines onto the practice green. In those situations, the game can also be used to break ties.
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