How many players do you need for Nines?

Exactly three, in the same group. The nine-point split needs three scores to rank, so Parful will not start it for two or four players. Four players usually play Wolf or Vegas instead.

What happens when two players tie on a hole in Nines?

The points for the shared positions are pooled and split: two tied for low take 4 each and the third takes 1; two tied for high take 2 each and the winner takes 5; all three tied is 3 each.

Why does every hole add up to nine?

Because every outcome in the table totals 5 + 3 + 1. It is also the quickest check on the card: three numbers that do not add to nine mean a point has been missed.

Is Nines played gross or net?

Either. Playing net, each score is reduced by the strokes received on that hole before the three are ranked. Parful lets the person starting the game choose, and most mixed-handicap groups choose net.

What is a good score in Nines?

Over eighteen holes 162 points are awarded, so 54 is an even share. Anything over 60 usually wins a threesome.

Can we play Nines in a scramble?

No. Nines ranks each player's own hole score, and a scramble records one score for the team. It works on individual, four-ball and shamble-style rounds.

Golf games

Parful runs this

Nines

Also called 5-3-1, Nine Points.

Nines is a three-player points game in which every hole is worth nine points split by finishing order: 5 to the lowest score, 3 to the middle, 1 to the highest. Ties pool the points for the shared positions (4-4-1, 5-2-2 or 3-3-3), so every hole totals exactly nine. Most points after the round wins.

Players: Exactly 3, in one group
Points a hole: 9, split 5, 3, 1 by finishing order
Ties: Two tied low 4, 4, 1; two tied high 5, 2, 2; all tied 3, 3, 3
Scoring basis: Gross or net, chosen when the game is created
Carryover: None; every hole is settled on its own
Wins: Most points after the last hole

How Nines works

Nines, also called 5-3-1 or Nine Points, is the standard game for a threesome. Everyone plays their own ball and keeps a normal score. On each hole the three scores are ranked: the lowest score takes 5 points, the middle score takes 3 and the highest takes 1. Nine points are handed out on every hole, which is where the name comes from.

The points are the only thing that carries. Nothing rolls forward when players tie; a tie is resolved inside the hole by sharing the points, as the next section shows. After eighteen holes the points are added up and the highest total wins. Since 162 points are awarded over a full round, 54 is an even share and anything above 60 is usually a winning round.

The game works gross or net. Played net, each player's score on a hole is reduced by the strokes they receive there from their Course Handicap™ before the ranking is done, so a 12-handicapper's 5 on the hardest hole becomes a net 4. Most groups of mixed ability play net; a group of similar handicaps can play gross.

How ties are shared

Every line adds up to nine. That is the check to run if the card looks wrong: three numbers that do not total nine mean a point has been written twice or missed.

All three different: 5 to the low score, 3 to the middle, 1 to the high.
Two tied for low: the two tied players take 4 each and the third takes 1. The 5 and the 3 for the two positions they share are pooled (8) and split.
Two tied for high: the low player takes 5 and the two tied players take 2 each. The 3 and the 1 are pooled (4) and split.
All three tied: 3 each.

Try it

Can we play Nines 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

Where the game is won

Nines rewards steady play. The gap between first and second on a hole is 2 points and the gap between second and last is also 2, so a double bogey costs exactly as much as a birdie earns. A player who never finishes last collects at least 3 every hole and is hard to catch.

Ties are where the game turns. Matching the leader for low takes 4 rather than 3 and cuts the leader from 5 to 4; matching the third player for high costs a point against a clear middle. Those single points decide most games, which is why groups keep the points on the card hole by hole.

How Parful scores it

Nines is one of the side games a member can start from the group scorecard on a club outing. It needs exactly three players from one group, and Parful will not create it for two or four. The person starting it picks gross or net and can attach a stake per point; the hole scores the group is already keeping are the only input.

Parful ranks the three scores on each hole, applies the points table above and recomputes the standings on every score entered, so the running total is live on the card. A hole counts only when all three players have a recorded score; a hole where someone picked up or has not entered yet is skipped, and the standings show how many holes have been counted. Correcting a score reruns the whole game from hole one. Players on equal points share a position; Parful does not count back.

Because Nines only needs each player's own hole scores, it is available on individual rounds, four-ball and counted-score formats, and shamble-style rounds where everyone holes out their own ball. It is not available on a scramble, foursomes or any format that records one score per team.

Worked example

A worked example: six holes

Ana, Ben and Cal play net. On each hole the three net scores are ranked and the table splits nine points.

Hole	Ana	Ben	Cal	Ranking	Points (Ana, Ben, Cal)
1	4	5	6	All different	5, 3, 1
2	4	4	5	Ana and Ben tied low	4, 4, 1
3	5	4	5	Ana and Cal tied high	2, 5, 2
4	4	4	4	All tied	3, 3, 3
5	3	5	4	All different	5, 1, 3
6	5	5	4	Ana and Ben tied high	2, 2, 5

After six holes: Ana 21, Ben 18, Cal 15. Six holes, 54 points, and the three totals add to 54.

On hole 2 Ana and Ben pooled the 5 and the 3 for first and second and took 4 each; Cal still took the 1 for last.
On hole 6 Cal won the hole outright for 5 while Ana and Ben pooled the 3 and the 1 and took 2 each.

Common variants

English (6-Point): The same game with six points a hole: 4, 2, 0, with ties of 3, 3, 0 or 4, 1, 1 and 2, 2, 2 for a three-way tie. Parful scores English as its own game with a second points table.
Birdie bonus: Some groups double the points on a hole won with a birdie. Parful scores the standard table only; a group playing a bonus settles it between themselves.
Money per point: Groups attach a stake per point. Parful can carry the stake as a wager on the game, shows who owes whom at the end and never moves money.