How does Sixes work in golf?

Four players play three six-hole four-ball matches, changing partners at hole 7 and hole 13 so everyone partners everyone once. Two points for winning a segment, one for halving it; most points wins.

What is 6-6-6 in golf?

Either the rotating-partner Sixes game above, or a team day where the format changes every six holes: usually scramble, then alternate shot, then four-ball. Ask which one is meant.

Does Parful score Sixes?

Yes, as a side game from the group scorecard on a four-player own-ball round. It sets the partnerships, scores each segment as four-ball match play and keeps the points.

Does Parful run a 6-6-6 mixed-format day?

No. Two of the three segments use one team ball and cannot be scored from individual cards, and no Parful competition type changes format mid-round. The rules are here for reference.

Competition formats

Rules and explanation only

Sixes, 666 and Round the Horn as a format

Also called 6-6-6, Six six six, Round the Horn, Hollywood format, Rotating partners.

Sixes is a four-player card format in which the round is split into three six-hole matches and the partnerships rotate so each player partners each of the others once. The name 6-6-6 also means a day where the format changes every six holes. Parful scores Sixes as a side game; the mixed-format day is rules only.

Players: Exactly 4, in one group
Segments: Holes 1 to 6, 7 to 12, 13 to 18
Partners: Rotate so each player partners each of the others once
Each segment: A four-ball match: better net per side, holes up
Points: 2 for a segment win, 1 for a half
On Parful: Sixes is a side game; the mixed-format day is not scored

How Sixes works

Four players, one group. The round is three separate six-hole matches. In the first, Ana and Ben play Cal and Dee; in the second, Ana and Cal play Ben and Dee; in the third, Ana and Dee play Ben and Cal. Every player has partnered every other player once and played against every other player twice. Each match is scored as four-ball match play: on each hole the better net score on each side is compared and the hole is won, lost or halved, and the side that is more holes up after six wins the match.

Each player collects points from the three matches they were part of: 2 for a win, 1 for a half, 0 for a loss. The most points after eighteen holes wins. Because partnerships change every six holes, there is no such thing as a bad draw; a weak player is everyone's partner for exactly six holes and everyone's opponent for twelve.

6-6-6 as a mixed-format day

The other thing clubs mean by 6-6-6 is a team day where the format changes every six holes: a scramble on the first six, foursomes or greensomes on the next six, and four-ball or a shamble on the last six is the common pattern. The team keeps one card and the three segments are added into one team score.

Because two of the three segments are played with one team ball, this kind of day cannot be scored from individual cards: the scramble and alternate-shot holes were never played as individual rounds. It is a physical-play format, not an overlay on a normal round, which is why it sits with the rules-only formats here.

What Parful does

Parful scores the rotating-partner Sixes as a side game. A member starts it from the group scorecard on a four-player own-ball round, and the app splits the round at holes 7 and 13, sets the three partnerships automatically, scores each segment with the same four-ball match play engine club matches use, and awards 2 points a win and 1 a half.

Parful does not run Sixes as a competition format for a field and does not run a mixed-format 6-6-6 day at all: no competition type changes format at hole 7 and 13, and no scorecard captures a team ball for six holes and individual balls for the next six. A club that wants a 6-6-6 day keeps a paper card for the shared-ball segments, and the rules on this page are recorded for a future build.

Worked example

A worked example: three six-hole matches

Ana, Ben, Cal and Dee play Sixes net. Each row is one segment, scored as four-ball match play on the better net per side.

Segment	Holes	Side A	Side B	Holes won A	Holes won B	Halved	Result	Points
1	1 to 6	Ana and Ben	Cal and Dee	3	1	2	Side A wins 2 up	Ana 2, Ben 2
2	7 to 12	Ana and Cal	Ben and Dee	2	2	2	Halved	All four 1
3	13 to 18	Ana and Dee	Ben and Cal	1	3	2	Side B wins 2 up	Ben 2, Cal 2

Totals: Ben 2 + 1 + 2 = 5, Ana 2 + 1 + 0 = 3, Cal 0 + 1 + 2 = 3, Dee 0 + 1 + 0 = 1. Ben wins.

Ben and Ana were on the same side for six holes and opposite sides for twelve; Ben's two wins came with two different partners.