The '16 Points' Format Explained

The golf game named "16 Points" is for a group of four golfers. On each hole, 16 points are divided among those four players based on their scores. (Note that this game is also sometimes called "Sixteen" or "Sixteens.")

The key question, obviously, in 16 Points is how those points are divvied up on each hole. Here is the answer:

• Low scorer on the hole — 7 points
• Second-lowest scorer — 5 points
• Third-best scorer — 3 points
• High scorer — 1 points

The next question also seems obvious: What about ties? Because in a group of four golfers there will be a lot of tie scores over the course of 18 holes.

For tie scores, add the points together and divide by the number of players. Example 1, a tie for low scorer: Golfer A makes 4, Golfer B also has 4, Golfer C scores 6 and D 5. In this case, Golfer C is the high scorer and gets one point; D is the third-best scorer and gets three points. A and B tied for best score, so take the 7 points the low scorer gets and add it to the 5 points for second-best score; divide by two players. Seven + 5 is 12, and 12 divided by 2 equals 6. In this example, Golfer A and B each get six points.

Example 2: Golfer B has the low score with a three. Golfers A, C and D tie with scores of five. So add together the points for second-low score (5), third-best score (3) and high score (1), and divide by three players. Each of them, therefore, gets three points (5+3+1 is 9, 9 divided by 3 is 3) on this hole.

More golf games:

• How to play the Nines game
• The Chicago format explained
• How to play the 4-Point Game