Golf games
Parful runs thisDots
Also called Dots game, Garbage, Junk.
Dots is a golf side game that awards points, called dots, for feats during the round rather than for the score: a birdie, an eagle, a sandie (par or better after being in a bunker) and a greenie (closest to the pin on a par 3). Each feat is worth a set number of dots and the most dots wins.
- Players
- 2 or more, anyone in the outing, any group
- Scoring basis
- Gross only; handicap strokes are not applied
- Dots
- Birdie, eagle, sandie, greenie; any of the four can be switched off
- Values
- Each dot type is worth 1 by default and can be set from 1 to 10
- Winner
- Most dots; equal totals share a position
- Needs
- Own ball; bunker marks and closest-to-the-pin winners recorded on the day
How Dots works
Dots turns the round into a collection of small achievements. Instead of asking who scored lowest, it asks who did the memorable things: made a birdie, holed out from the sand for par, hit the green closest on a par 3. Each of those earns a dot, and the dots are totaled at the end. A player who shoots the worst score of the day can still win Dots with two birdies and a sandie.
The four dots Parful scores are the ones almost every group plays. A birdie is a gross score one under par on the hole. An eagle is two or more under par, and it is counted as an eagle rather than as a birdie plus an eagle. A sandie is a par or better on a hole where the player was in a bunker. A greenie is a closest-to-the-pin win on a par 3, taken from the outing's skill prizes.
Dots is a gross game. Handicap strokes are not applied, so a net birdie is not a birdie. That keeps the feats honest: a dot is something you actually did on the course.
Setting the values
Each dot type is worth one point by default. The creator can set any type to a value from 1 to 10, so an eagle can be worth three birdies and a sandie can be worth two. Any of the four types can be switched off; at least one must stay on. A group that does not measure closest-to-the-pin simply turns greenies off.
- Birdie: gross score exactly one under par. Default 1 dot.
- Eagle: gross score two or more under par, including an albatross. Default 1 dot. A hole is either a birdie or an eagle, never both.
- Sandie: in a bunker on the hole and a gross score of par or better. Default 1 dot.
- Greenie: recorded as the closest-to-the-pin winner on a par 3 in the outing's skill prizes. Default 1 dot.
Try it
Can we play Dots 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 a fact (putts, fairway) a shared ball cannot supply
Where the game is won
Dots rewards the aggressive line. A player going for a par 5 in two is chasing an eagle, and a bunker shot that finishes close is worth a sandie if the putt drops. Because bad holes cost nothing, Dots pairs well with a score-based game like skins or a Nassau: one punishes the double bogey and the other rewards the birdie.
How Parful scores it
A member starts Dots from the group scorecard for anyone in the outing, in any group, and picks which dots count and what each is worth. Those settings lock when the game is created.
Birdies and eagles are read straight from the gross scores on the card against the hole's par. Sandies need one extra fact: the scorer marks that a player was in a bunker on the hole, and Parful pairs that mark with the player's gross score. Greenies come from the outing's closest-to-the-pin skill prizes, which the organizer records for each par 3 as part of the outing, so a greenie counts as soon as the winner is entered there. Bunker marks and prize winners never change the official scores; they are facts alongside the card.
Standings recompute on every score, bunker mark and prize entry, and a corrected score reruns the game. Dots depends on each player playing their own ball from the tee, so it is available on individual formats and four-ball but not on a shamble, scramble or alternate-shot format.
Worked example
A worked example: nine holes, three players
Ana, Ben and Cal play Dots with birdie 1, eagle 3, sandie 2 and greenie 2. Gross scores are shown with the bunker marks and closest-to-the-pin winners recorded on the day.
| Hole | Par | Ana | Ben | Cal | Recorded | Dots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | Cal in bunker | Cal sandie 2 |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Ben closest to the pin | Ben birdie 1 and greenie 2 |
| 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | Ana birdie 1, Cal eagle 3 | |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | Ben in bunker | Ben sandie 2 |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | Ana birdie 1 | |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Ana closest to the pin | Ana greenie 2 |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | Ben birdie 1 | |
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | Ana in bunker, Cal in bunker | Ana sandie 2; Cal bogey, no sandie |
| 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | Ana birdie 1 |
- Cal's 3 on the par-5 third is two under par, so it is an eagle worth 3 dots and not also a birdie.
- On hole 8 both Ana and Cal were in a bunker. Ana made par and earns a sandie; Cal made bogey and earns nothing.
- Ana has the lowest gross over the nine holes, 34 to Ben's 36 and Cal's 38, and wins Dots as well, but the two do not have to match. Cal's single eagle is worth 3 dots, the same as three birdies, and the score of the round itself is never a dot.
Common variants
- Garbage, or Junk
- The same game with a longer menu: barkies (par after hitting a tree), Arnies (par without touching the fairway), polies (a long putt) and more. Parful scores the four core dots; Arnies is available as its own game.
- Negative dots
- Points are taken away for a three-putt, a water ball or a lost ball. Parful does not score negative dots; the Snake and Trouble games cover those penalties separately.
- Net dots
- Some groups count a net birdie as a birdie. Parful scores Dots gross only.
- Money per dot
- A stake per dot is the usual way to settle. Parful can carry the stake on the game, shows who owes whom at the end and never moves money.