Golf games
Parful runs thisArnies
Also called Arnie, Arnold Palmer par.
An Arnie is a par or better on a par 4 or par 5 made without hitting the fairway. Arnies is the side game that counts them: one Arnie per qualifying hole, and the most Arnies at the end of the round wins. Par 3s are excluded because there is no fairway to miss.
- Players
- 2 or more, in one group
- Scoring basis
- Gross score against par
- Qualifies
- Fairway missed and gross par or better, on a par 4 or par 5
- Excluded
- Par 3s, and any hole where the fairway was not recorded
- Winner
- Most Arnies; ties share
- Needs
- Each player's own tee shot and own ball
How Arnies works
The game is named for Arnold Palmer, who made a career of hitting it into the trees and walking off with par. On every par 4 and par 5 the group notes whether each player's tee shot found the fairway. Miss the fairway, then make par or better anyway, and that is an Arnie. Hit the fairway and make par, and that is just golf.
The score is gross. A net par with the help of a stroke does not count; the ball has to be in the hole in par or fewer actual strokes. A birdie from the rough is still one Arnie, not two.
Par 3s never count, because there is no fairway to miss. The game is played over the fourteen or so par 4s and par 5s on the course, and a typical winning total is three or four.
Recording the miss
The fairway is a game fact recorded once per player per hole on the group scorecard and shared with every game that reads it, so Fairways and Greens and Arnies use the same answer. It is a two-way call, hit or miss, and it can only be recorded once the player's score for the hole is in.
An Arnie needs an observed miss. A hole where the fairway was not recorded is not a miss, it is unknown, and it contributes nothing. Parful never turns a blank into a point, in either direction.
Try it
Can we play Arnies 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
Needs each player's own tee shot and ball
Scramble, foursomes, greensomes, chapman
Needs each player's own tee shot and ball
How Parful scores it
Start Arnies from the group scorecard as a private challenge or as a club pool run by a manager. The roster is one group, because an Arnie is witnessed, not reported. Two or more players.
The count updates as scores and fairway facts arrive, and re-entering a hole replaces the earlier facts. Standings sort on Arnies, most first, with ties sharing a position. With a stake attached, each Arnie of margin over each opponent is one unit: a player's units are their Arnies multiplied by the number of players, minus the field's total. Parful shows the ledger and never moves money.
Arnies depends on each player's own tee shot, so it runs on own-ball rounds and four-ball style outings only. It is unavailable on a shamble, where the group plays from a chosen drive and nobody's fairway is their own, and on scramble and alternate-shot formats.
Worked example
A worked example: three players, nine holes
Ana, Ben and Cal record the fairway and the gross score on every hole. Each cell reads fairway, then score.
| Hole | Par | Ana | Ben | Cal | Arnies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Miss, 4 | Hit, 4 | Miss, 5 | Ana |
| 2 | 5 | Hit, 5 | Miss, 5 | Miss, 6 | Ben |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Par 3, excluded |
| 4 | 4 | Miss, 3 | Miss, 4 | Hit, 4 | Ana and Ben |
| 5 | 4 | Hit, 4 | Not recorded, 4 | Miss, 4 | Cal |
| 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | Par 3, excluded |
| 7 | 5 | Miss, 6 | Hit, 4 | Miss, 4 | Cal |
| 8 | 4 | Miss, 4 | Miss, 5 | Hit, 3 | Ana |
| 9 | 4 | Hit, 3 | Hit, 4 | Hit, 4 | None |
- Ben's par on hole 5 is not an Arnie because his fairway was never recorded. If the group later records it as a miss, the hole becomes his third Arnie and the game recomputes.
- Ana's birdie from the rough on hole 4 is one Arnie, the same as her pars on holes 1 and 8. Ben's birdie on hole 7 is not an Arnie because he hit the fairway.
- Settlement at one unit an Arnie: the field total is 7 and there are three players. Ana is 3 times 3 minus 7, plus 2; Ben and Cal are each 2 times 3 minus 7, minus 1.
Common variants
- Birdie Arnie counts double
- A birdie after a missed fairway is worth two. Parful scores one Arnie per hole whatever the score under par.
- Seve
- A par made after missing both the fairway and the green, which is a harder feat. Parful does not score it; Arnies asks only about the fairway.
- Net Arnies
- A net par after a missed fairway counts, which brings higher handicaps into the game. Parful scores Arnies gross only.
- Arnies on par 3s
- Some groups count a par after missing the green on a par 3. Parful excludes par 3s; there is no fairway to record.