How the Golf Game Named '30 Balls' Works
Note that 30 Balls is sometimes spelled Thirty Balls, and that "30 Scores" (or "30 Scores for 30 Balls") are alternate names. 30 Balls is the threesomes version of 40 Balls, which is played by groups of four.
After each golfer holes out on a given hole, team members must decide how many of those scores are going to count for the team's score. Teams can use as many scores as they want on a hole (as long as they use at least one): one, two, or all three. But at the end of the round, they must have used exactly 30.
Let's do an example. Let's say that on Hole 1, Golfer A scores 3, Golfer B scores 4 and Golfer C scores 8. Clearly you don't want that 8 to count, so throw it out. But the scores of 3 and 4 are good scores. Your team decides to use them both, making your team's score on the first hole 7. Now you have 28 scores to go.
Maybe another team on the first hole scores 4, 5 and 6. They decide to use only the 4, so on Hole 2 they have 29 scores left to use.
And that is how 30 Balls works. A team of three picks which scores to use on each hole, but must use at least one per hole, and must use exactly 30 overall.
There are a couple variations tournament organizers can use. They can throw out the rule that at least one score per hole has to count, giving teams the option to use zero scores on a given hole. Tournament organizers can also make the choices quite a bid harder by requiring that the 30 Balls be made up of 10 scores from each golfer on the team.
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