How to Play '58' (the Furyk Game)

The first golfer in PGA Tour history to score 58 in tournament play was Jim Furyk, and the side game known as 58 (Fifty-Eight) is named after him. That's why it is also called Furyk or the Furyk Game. And it's a very simple game that revolves around when in your round you and your golf buddies hit 58 strokes played.

You can play 58 one of two ways. Either way is very simple, and in both ways this game is usually played in conjunction with many other side games or bets that are running concurrently. These are the two ways to play 58:

• Most commonly, in the style of the nearly identical named 59 (or Geiberger), the object is to not be the first golfer in your group to reach 58 strokes. If you are the first to hit 58 strokes, you just lost the game and owe your playing partners the bet amount (money or points, as you decided before the round).
• Alternatively, some groups play 58 so that the winner of the bet is the last golfer to reach 58 strokes played. That golfer wins the agreed-upon value of the wager (money or points) from each other other members of the group.

Whether playing 58 for money or points, the golfers in the group can agree on a set amount for the bet, or can calculate the value by the difference in stroke totals at the time the first golfer hits 58 (first example above) or the last golfer plays his 58th (second example).

It is also possible to use 58/Furyk as a tournament add-on, a honey pot in which the winner(s) earns a bonus prize. In a tournament setting, each golfer notes on his or her scorecard exactly where they were on the golf course when they played their 58th stroke. A high-handicapper, for example, might play his 58th stroke as a pitching wedge from 60 yards into the 10th green. For a low-handicapper, it might come as an approach shot from 170 yards into the 15th green. The golfer who is farthest around the course at the time of her 58th stroke, in this tournament setting, wins the 58 bonus prize.

More golf games:

• How to play the Patsomes format
• The 6-Point Game explained
• How the Canadian Foursomes format works