The Chuck Wagon Side Bet Explained
When the Chuck Wagon bet is in place, the golfer who loses the hole just prior to the golfers' reaching the snack bar has to pay for everyone's snacks. That's it. If there is a tie for worst score on that hole (or holes), the golfers who tied for high score split the bill.
Let's say your regular group plays a golf course with a traditional parkland routing in which the front nine leads back to the clubhouse. And the course's snack bar is inside the clubhouse. And your group always visits that clubhouse for mid-round snacks after finishing the ninth hole and before teeing off on No. 10. (Just make sure you aren't holding up any groups behind you. This is a wager your group might have to skip on a busy day at the course.)
In this example, the ninth hole is your Chuck Wagon hole. If Golfer A scores 5 on No. 9, Golfer B has a 4, Golfer C scores 7 and Golfer D makes 6, then Golfer C just lost the Chuck Wagon bet. When the group hits the snack bar, Golfer C is buying. (Your group can decide before adding Chuck Wagon to your other games whether the the loser of this bet is also responsible for drinks.)
Some golf courses have one or more snack shacks set up out on the golf course, so that golfers aren't tempted to interrupt their round by visiting the clubhouse before making the turn. If you play a course with snack shacks near the tees at No. 6 and No. 13, or in-between the greens of the 5th/12th holes and tees of the 6th/13th holes, then the fifth and 12th holes are both Chuck Wagon holes.
The Chuck Wagon wager goes by many different names, including Snacks, Snack Bar and Goodies. Some people play it for drinks rather than snacks, and that version is also called by many different names, including Drinks, Drinks on Me, and Drinks on You.
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Sources:(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Bohn, Michael K. Money Golf: 600 Years of Bettin' on Birdies, Potomac Books Inc., 2007.
