Golf games
Parful runs thisFairways and Greens
Also called Fairways & Greens, Fairways and GIR, Greens in regulation game.
Fairways and Greens is a side game that scores one point for every fairway hit and one point for every green in regulation, and the most points wins. Parful records the fairway on the scorecard and derives the green from the score and the putts: a green is in regulation when strokes minus putts is at least two under par.
- Players
- 2 or more, anyone in the outing
- Scoring basis
- Gross, no handicap
- Fairway
- 1 point per hole recorded as hit
- Green in regulation
- 1 point when gross strokes minus putts is par minus 2 or less
- Unknown
- A hole with no fairway or no putts recorded scores nothing for that part
- Needs
- Each player's own tee shot
How Fairways and Greens works
Two points are available on every hole. One for finding the fairway with the tee shot, and one for reaching the green in regulation, which means being on the green with two putts in hand: in one shot on a par 3, two on a par 4, three on a par 5. Add them up over the round and the most points wins.
The game measures the part of golf the scorecard hides. A player who hits fourteen fairways and twelve greens has played well however many putts they took, and Fairways and Greens pays them for it. It suits players of different standards better than most stroke games because the tee shot and the approach are where the gap between them is easiest to see.
How the green is worked out
Parful never asks whether the green was hit. It works the green out from two things the group already records: the gross score and the putts. Strokes to reach the green are the gross minus the putts, and the green was in regulation when that number is no more than par minus 2. A 4 with 2 putts on a par 4 is 2 strokes to the green: in regulation. A 5 with 3 putts on the same hole is also 2 strokes to the green: in regulation, whatever the three-putt cost. A 4 with 1 putt is 3 strokes to the green: missed, chipped close, one putt.
The derivation says nothing when it does not know. If the putts are missing, or the score is a pickup, the green is unknown and scores nothing, rather than being marked as a miss. Entering the putts later adds the green and the game recomputes.
The fairway is a recorded fact, hit or miss, entered once per player per hole after the score is in. Parful does not tie the fairway to par, so a group that records a fairway hit on a par 3 gets the point; most groups leave the fairway blank on par 3s, and the hole then scores only its green.
Try it
Can we play Fairways and Greens 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 a fact (putts, fairway) a shared ball cannot supply
Scramble, foursomes, greensomes, chapman
Needs a fact (putts, fairway) a shared ball cannot supply
How Parful scores it
Start Fairways and Greens from the group scorecard or as a club pool run by a manager. Anyone in the outing can play, in any group, because a fairway and a putt count are each recorded by the player's own group and need no comparison across groups. Fairways and putts are asked in the scorer, strokes first.
Points accrue as facts arrive. The standings show fairways, greens and the total for each player, most first, with ties sharing a position. With a stake attached, each point of margin over each opponent is one unit: a player's units are their points multiplied by the number of players, minus the field's total. Parful shows the ledger and never moves money.
Fairways and Greens depends on each player's own tee shot, so it runs on own-ball rounds and four-ball style outings. It is unavailable on a shamble, a scramble or an alternate-shot format.
Worked example
A worked example: two players, nine holes
Ana and Ben record the fairway, the gross score and the putts on every hole. Strokes to the green is the gross minus the putts; the green is in regulation when that is par minus 2 or less.
| Hole | Par | Ana: fairway, score, putts | Ana to green | Ana points | Ben: fairway, score, putts | Ben to green | Ben points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Hit, 4, 2 | 2, on | 2 | Miss, 5, 2 | 3, missed | 0 |
| 2 | 5 | Miss, 5, 1 | 4, missed | 0 | Hit, 5, 2 | 3, on | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | Blank, 3, 2 | 1, on | 1 | Blank, 4, 2 | 2, missed | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Hit, 5, 3 | 2, on | 2 | Hit, 4, not entered | Unknown | 1 |
| 5 | 4 | Miss, 4, 1 | 3, missed | 0 | Miss, 6, 2 | 4, missed | 0 |
| 6 | 3 | Blank, 2, 1 | 1, on | 1 | Blank, 3, 1 | 2, missed | 0 |
| 7 | 5 | Hit, 4, 2 | 2, on | 2 | Hit, 6, 3 | 3, on | 2 |
| 8 | 4 | Miss, 6, 2 | 4, missed | 0 | Hit, 4, 2 | 2, on | 2 |
| 9 | 4 | Hit, 3, 1 | 2, on | 2 | Miss, 4, 2 | 2, on | 1 |
- Ana's three-putt on hole 4 does not cost her the green: 5 minus 3 is 2 strokes to the green on a par 4. Her 4 on hole 5 with one putt is 3 strokes to the green, a missed green and a chip, so no point.
- Ben's putts on hole 4 were never entered, so his green is unknown and he has only the fairway point. If he enters 2 putts the green counts, 4 minus 2 is 2, and he moves to 9.
- Settlement at one unit a point with two players: Ana is 10 times 2 minus 18, plus 2; Ben is 8 times 2 minus 18, minus 2.
Common variants
- Greens only
- A greens in regulation contest with no fairway point, the usual choice on a course with wide fairways. Parful scores fairways and greens together; a group can agree to leave the fairway blank on every hole.
- Weighted greens
- A green in regulation is worth 2 and a fairway 1, on the argument that the approach is the harder shot. Parful scores both at 1.
- Double for both
- A hole where the player hits the fairway and the green scores a bonus point. Parful scores the two points and no bonus.
- Up and down
- A point for getting up and down after a missed green, the scrambling stat. Parful does not score it.