Golf games
Parful runs thisAmigo
Amigo is a three-player game with an imaginary fourth partner, Amigo, who makes par on every hole. The round is split into three six-hole four-ball matches; in each segment a different player partners Amigo against the other two. A segment win is worth 2 points and a half 1.
- Players
- Exactly 3, in one group, plus the imaginary Amigo
- Amigo's score
- Gross par on every hole, no handicap strokes
- Structure
- Three six-hole four-ball matches: holes 1 to 6, 7 to 12, 13 to 18
- Rotation
- Player one partners Amigo first, then player two, then player three
- Points
- 2 for a segment win, 1 for a half, 0 for a loss
- Scoring basis
- Net by default, gross as an option
How Amigo works
Three players want to play a four-ball match, so they invent the fourth. Amigo is a partner who never plays a shot and is written down for par on every hole. Each six-hole segment of the round is a two-against-two better ball match: one real player plus Amigo against the other two, and the partner changes at the seventh and thirteenth holes so every player has Amigo once.
With the players listed as A, B and C, holes 1 to 6 are A and Amigo against B and C, holes 7 to 12 are B and Amigo against A and C, and holes 13 to 18 are C and Amigo against A and B.
Because Amigo always makes par, the Amigo side's better ball on a hole is the lower of par and the real partner's score. The real partner only matters on holes where they beat par; on every other hole the pair scores par and the two opponents need a birdie to win the hole. That is the tension: two chances at a birdie against a guaranteed par.
How the points work
Each segment is a match. It ends when one side leads by more holes than remain in the six, or after the sixth hole, and a level segment after six holes is halved.
- Win a segment: 2 points to each real player on the winning side. Amigo scores nothing.
- Halve a segment: 1 point to each real player.
- Lose a segment: 0 points.
- Each player has Amigo once and faces Amigo twice, so a player who wins with Amigo and wins both segments against Amigo scores the maximum 6.
Try it
Can we play Amigo in our format?
Derived from the same compatibility rules the scorecard uses, so it cannot drift from the product.
Own ball, individual
Available
Four-ball, best ball, counted scores
Available
Shamble, bramble, cha cha cha
Available
Scramble, foursomes, greensomes, chapman
Needs a score per player; this format keeps one per side
Playing with and against Amigo
When Amigo is your partner, par is already banked, so you can attack every pin: a bogey costs the side nothing and a birdie wins the hole unless an opponent matches it. Facing Amigo, you and your partner need a birdie to win a hole and a par only halves it, which makes the two-player side favorites on short par fives and underdogs on long par threes.
Net scoring changes the balance. A player receiving a stroke on a hole can make a net birdie with a gross par, so on stroke holes the two-player side often has the edge. Amigo never receives a stroke.
How Parful scores it
A member starts Amigo from the group scorecard and picks exactly three players from the same group. The order they are listed in sets the rotation: the first listed partners Amigo on holes 1 to 6. Net is the default, using each real player's net score from the outing card, and gross can be chosen instead.
Amigo is a synthetic input, not a person. Parful does not create a player, a scorecard or a member record; it simply adds gross par for the hole to the Amigo side inside the match calculation, even when the game is scored net. Each segment is then scored by the same four-ball match play engine used for club matches, so a segment can close early at 3 and 2 and a level segment is halved.
Standings show each real player's wins, halves and losses and the points they convert to, recomputed on every score. A segment missing a real player's score on a hole stops at that hole until the score arrives. A wager can be attached; Parful shows the settlement and never moves money.
Amigo needs every player recording their own hole score, so it is available on individual, four-ball and shamble outings, not on a scramble or alternate shot format.
Worked example
A worked example: all 18 holes
Rosa, Sam and Tom are listed in that order. Rosa partners Amigo on holes 1 to 6, Sam on 7 to 12, Tom on 13 to 18. Net scores, and Amigo is written down for par. The Amigo side's better ball is the lower of par and the partner's score.
| Hole | Par | Rosa | Sam | Tom | Amigo side | Better balls | Match state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | Rosa+Amigo | 4 v 4, halved | All square |
| 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rosa+Amigo | 4 v 5, Rosa+Amigo | Rosa+Amigo 1 up |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Rosa+Amigo | 3 v 3, halved | Rosa+Amigo 1 up |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Rosa+Amigo | 4 v 5, Rosa+Amigo | Rosa+Amigo 2 up |
| 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Rosa+Amigo | 4 v 3, Sam+Tom | Rosa+Amigo 1 up |
| 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | Rosa+Amigo | 4 v 4, halved | Rosa+Amigo win 1 up: Rosa 2 |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | Sam+Amigo | 4 v 4, halved | All square |
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | Sam+Amigo | 3 v 3, halved | All square |
| 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | Sam+Amigo | 5 v 4, Rosa+Tom | Rosa+Tom 1 up |
| 10 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Sam+Amigo | 4 v 5, Sam+Amigo | All square |
| 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Sam+Amigo | 3 v 4, Sam+Amigo | Sam+Amigo 1 up |
| 12 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | Sam+Amigo | 4 v 4, halved | Sam+Amigo win 1 up: Sam 2 |
| 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | Tom+Amigo | 4 v 4, halved | All square |
| 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Tom+Amigo | 5 v 4, Rosa+Sam | Rosa+Sam 1 up |
| 15 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Tom+Amigo | 3 v 4, Tom+Amigo | All square |
| 16 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | Tom+Amigo | 4 v 3, Rosa+Sam | Rosa+Sam 1 up |
| 17 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | Tom+Amigo | 4 v 4, halved | Rosa+Sam 1 up |
| 18 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | Tom+Amigo | 3 v 4, Tom+Amigo | Halved: 1 point each |
- On hole 6 Rosa made 6 but the side still scored par 4 through Amigo, which halved the hole and won the segment.
- On hole 9 Sam made 6 on the par five, so the Amigo side's better ball was par 5, and Tom's 4 won the hole for the two-player side.
- Tom's birdie on 18 rescued a half in the last segment; without it Rosa and Sam would have won 1 up and Tom would have finished on 0.
Common variants
- Amigo makes net par
- Some groups give Amigo a handicap, usually the average of the three players, so Amigo makes net par rather than gross par. Parful scores Amigo at gross par with no strokes, so this variant is not scored as such.
- Amigo makes bogey
- A gentler version for higher-handicap groups where Amigo is written down for bogey on every hole. Parful does not score this variant.
- Full 18-hole match with Amigo
- One player takes Amigo for the whole round rather than rotating. Parful always rotates the partner every six holes.