Golf games
Rules and explanation onlyLas Vegas scramble
Also called Vegas scramble, Dice scramble.
A Las Vegas scramble is a four-player scramble in which a die roll after the tee shots decides whose drive the team plays. In the common form a roll of 1 to 4 picks that player's drive, a 5 lets the team choose and a 6 forces the worst drive. From the chosen drive the hole is a normal scramble.
- Players
- Teams of 4, numbered 1 to 4
- The roll
- After all four drives, before anyone walks forward
- 1 to 4
- That player's drive is used
- 5 and 6
- Team choice on a 5; worst drive on a 6, in the common form
- Kind of thing
- An outing format, not an overlay
How a Las Vegas scramble works
Before the round each player on the team takes a number from 1 to 4. On every hole all four players drive, and then one of them rolls a die. If the die shows 1, 2, 3 or 4 the team plays from that player's drive, however good or bad it was. This is the common form; the meaning of 5 and 6 is where clubs differ.
The usual reading is that a 5 lets the team choose its best drive, as in a normal scramble, and a 6 forces the team to play from its worst drive. Some clubs make 5 and 6 both team choice, and some make 6 a re-roll. Whichever rule is used, once the drive is settled the rest of the hole is a plain scramble: everyone plays from the chosen spot, the best ball is picked, and so on to the hole.
Because the roll can pick any drive, every player has to hit a real tee shot on every hole. A player who would have coasted in a normal scramble is one roll from being the team's drive.
Why it is not a side game
The die changes which ball is in play. That is a change to the physical round, not a way of scoring a round that was played anyway, so it cannot be layered onto a stroke play or four-ball outing. It belongs to the same family as the Florida and reverse scrambles: an outing format that has to be chosen before anyone tees off.
Handicaps and scoring
Teams are handicapped as in any scramble, with a weighted percentage of each Course Handicap™, or the round is simply played gross. The team score is one gross or net score per hole and the lowest 18-hole total wins. Ties are settled on countback in the usual way.
What Parful does
Parful does not score the Las Vegas scramble, and it is not a candidate for a side game because it changes the round rather than scoring it. A club that wants to run one can set the outing up as a scramble on Parful and manage the die on the course; the app will score the team's hole totals like any scramble without knowing about the roll.
The rules on this page are the common form. Parful has not ratified a version of this format.
Worked example
A worked example: six holes
Ana is 1, Ben is 2, Cal is 3, Dee is 4. A 5 is team choice and a 6 is worst drive. The table shows the roll, the drive played and the team's gross score for the hole.
| Hole | Roll | Drive used | Where it was | Team score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (par 4) | 3 | Cal | 230 yards, rough | 4 |
| 2 (par 5) | 5 | Team choice: Ben | 270 yards, fairway | 4 |
| 3 (par 3) | 6 | Worst: Dee | Short, in the bunker | 4 |
| 4 (par 4) | 1 | Ana | 245 yards, fairway | 3 |
| 5 (par 4) | 4 | Dee | 200 yards, fairway | 4 |
| 6 (par 5) | 2 | Ben | 255 yards, trees | 6 |
- On hole 2 the team chose Ben's drive because the roll was a 5. On hole 6 Ben's drive was in the trees and the roll gave the team no choice.
- Dee's 200-yard drive on hole 5 would never be used in a normal scramble; here it was, and the team still made par.
Common variants
- 5 and 6 are both team choice
- The gentler version. One third of the holes become a normal scramble and there is no forced worst drive. Scores are lower and the luck is smaller.
- Roll before the drive
- The die is rolled on the tee so the team knows whose drive counts before anyone hits. Only that player really needs to drive, which loses most of the fun; it is uncommon.
- Every shot rolled
- The die is rolled after every stroke rather than only the drive, so approach shots and chips are picked by chance too. Rounds take a long time.