The 'Battle Golf' Game Explained

Battle Golf is the name of a game in which the golfer who wins a hole gets to make it even harder for his opponent to come back in the match. That's because when you lose a hole in Battle Golf, you also lose a club.

Battle Golf is a match-play format for one-vs.-one or two-vs.-two matches. When a golfer or side wins a hole, that golfer/side gets to do one of two things:

• Reach into the opponent's bag and remove a club (that club cannot be used again during the match, except in the case of the next provision)
• Or add one of their own clubs back into play that had previously been removed.

To reiterate, the winner of a hole gets to take away a club from the hole's loser (or add back one of their own clubs that was previously removed). This contrasts with the very similar game called Bag Raid or Pick Up Sticks, in which the loser of a hole gets to take one of the winner's clubs out of play. (Although some golfers play Bag Raid/Pick Up Sticks the same as Battle Golf.)

We actually prefer that, because it helps to level the playing field and protect against one golfer running away with a match and ending it early. That is always a threat in Battle Golf (hole winner removes club from hole loser's bag): Imagine you get off to a lousy start and lose the first three holes, and now you are also missing three of your favorite or most-used clubs. It will be very hard for you to stage a comeback — it's more likely the match will wind up ending very early. But you and your golf buddies can try both versions and see what works best for you.

Note that the putter is usually protected from removal, but that is up to you and your opponent(s) to decide. Also, no clubs are removed when a hole is tied.

More formats:

• How to play Criers and Whiners
• Three Club Monte (3-Club Challenge) explained
• How to play the Bridge game