Golf games
Parful runs thisHonest John
Also called Predict your score, Guess your score.
Honest John is a side game in which every player predicts their own 18-hole total before the round and the closest prediction wins. An exact prediction beats any near-miss, over and under count the same, and a player whose round is not finished is not ranked until it is.
- Players
- 2 or more, anyone in the outing
- Scoring basis
- Gross or net total, chosen when the game is created; net by default
- The prediction
- Your own 18-hole total, entered before the start and locked when the game begins
- Winner
- Smallest difference between prediction and actual; exact beats every near-miss
- Ties
- Shared position
- Wagers
- None. Parful runs Honest John for the score only
How Honest John works
Before the round every player names the total they expect to shoot. The number goes into the game when it is created and locks when the game starts; there is no revising it after a good front nine. The round is then played normally and the finished total is compared with the prediction.
The winner is the player with the smallest difference between prediction and actual. Over and under count the same: shooting 86 against a prediction of 88 is a difference of 2, and so is shooting 90. A player who hits the number exactly has a difference of 0 and beats every other prediction, which is the whole reason for the name. The prize is for self-knowledge, not for a low score.
Because the target is your own number, a 24 handicap and a 6 handicap compete on level terms. The only skill being tested is whether you know your game.
Gross or net
Whoever creates the game chooses gross or net for everyone, and the choice stays for the round. Gross compares the prediction with the raw strokes; net compares it with the total after Playing Handicap™ strokes. Many groups play gross, because the number a golfer carries in their head is the gross score, but a net game puts everyone's prediction near par and makes the misses easier to compare.
Parful accepts any whole-number prediction from 18 to 300 when the game is created, one per player, entered against each name.
Try it
Can we play Honest John 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
Unfinished rounds
A total is only final when every hole carries a real score. Until then the player's difference is provisional: the standings list them after every finished player, unranked, showing the running total and the number of holes played against the prediction. A missing hole is a missing hole, never a zero and never a guess.
A pickup has no eligible score, so a player who picks up on any hole never reaches a final total and is not ranked. Honest John is a game for holing out on all eighteen.
How Parful scores it
Start Honest John from the group scorecard, or a manager can run it as a club pool for the outing. When the game is created every participant's prediction is entered against their name, and the predictions lock when the game begins. Anyone in the outing can play, in any group, because the total comes from the card and needs no witness.
The standings rank finished players by difference, exact predictions first, and then list everyone still playing. Ties share a position. Parful recomputes on every score, so each row reads as the actual against the prediction, for example 84 vs 86, all the way round.
Honest John is score only. Parful does not attach a stake or a settlement ledger to it: the standings say who was closest and the group settles anything else between themselves. Like every game that reads hole scores, it runs on own-ball rounds, four-ball style outings and shambles, not on a scramble or an alternate-shot format.
Worked example
A worked example: four players, gross
Ana, Ben, Cal and Dee each predicted their gross total before the round. Three have finished; Dee is on the 17th tee.
| Player | Prediction | Front 9 | Back 9 | Actual | Difference | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana | 88 | 44 | 44 | 88 | 0, exact | 1st |
| Ben | 92 | 46 | 44 | 90 | 2 under | Tied 2nd |
| Cal | 79 | 39 | 42 | 81 | 2 over | Tied 2nd |
| Dee | 95 | 47 | 37 through 7 holes | 84 after 16 holes | Not final | Unranked |
- If Ana had shot 89, her difference of 1 would still lead. Exact is special only because 0 is the smallest possible difference; there is no bonus on top of it.
- If Dee finishes 6, 5 her actual is 95, her difference is 0 and she moves into a share of first with Ana.
- Had Cal shot 79 exactly on the front nine and then picked up on the 14th, his round would never become final and he would stay unranked however good the rest of the card was.
Common variants
- Nearest without going over
- Shooting under your prediction wins; shooting over it eliminates you, in the style of a price-guessing game. Parful counts over and under the same and does not score this variant.
- A unit per stroke
- Everyone pays the winner one unit for each stroke their own prediction missed by. Parful does not attach wagers to Honest John; the standings show the differences and the group settles by hand.
- Predict each nine
- Separate predictions for the front and back nines, with two winners. Parful scores one prediction for the whole round.
- Net Honest John
- The prediction is a net total and the comparison is with the net score after strokes. Parful scores this: choose net when the game is created, which is the default.