Golf games
Rules and explanation only6-6-6
Also called Six Six Six, Three-format sixes, Triple six.
6-6-6 is a pairs format in which the 18 holes are split into three six-hole segments, each played in a different format. The common form is scramble for holes 1 to 6, alternate shot for 7 to 12 and best ball for 13 to 18, with one team score per hole added across all three segments.
- Players
- Teams of 2
- Segments
- Holes 1 to 6, 7 to 12, 13 to 18
- Common formats
- Scramble, then alternate shot, then best ball
- Scoring basis
- Net, with a different allowance per segment
- Not the same as
- Sixes, the side game where four players rotate partners every six holes
How 6-6-6 works
A pair plays 18 holes and changes format twice. In the common form the first six holes are a scramble, where both players hit and the better ball is chosen for every shot. Holes 7 to 12 are alternate shot, where the pair plays one ball and takes turns, with the tee shot alternating by hole. Holes 13 to 18 are best ball, where both play their own ball and the better net score counts.
Each hole produces one team score and the 18 are added for the round total. Lowest wins. The segments can be played in any order and with any three formats; scramble, alternate shot and best ball is the most common set because each one asks something different of the pair, and the order runs from the easiest format to the hardest for most club golfers.
The name is sometimes used for a version that changes the counting rule rather than the format, for example best ball, then aggregate, then worst ball.
Handicapping three formats at once
Each segment uses the allowance its format normally carries, applied to that segment's six holes. A scramble segment takes the pair's scramble allowance, an alternate-shot segment takes the foursomes allowance, and a best ball segment takes the four-ball allowance. Because six holes hold a third of the stroke index, a segment allowance is divided by three, rounded, and given on the lowest stroke indexes within the segment.
Clubs that find this too fiddly play the scramble and alternate-shot segments gross and give strokes only in the best ball segment, where individual play makes them fair.
How it differs from Sixes
Sixes, also called COD, Round Robin or Hollywood, is a four-player side game where the partners change every six holes and each segment is a four-ball match worth points. The format stays the same throughout; only the pairings change. 6-6-6 keeps the pair and changes the format. Parful scores Sixes from the group scorecard and does not score 6-6-6.
What Parful does
Parful does not score 6-6-6. It is not a side game, because the scramble and alternate-shot segments change which ball is played and who plays it; the round underneath is not a stroke play round with a game on top. A club could set up the three segments as three separate six-hole outings in the matching formats, but the single 18-hole card the game wants is not something Parful runs today.
This page describes the common form. Parful has not ratified a version. The Sixes side game is supported and has its own page.
Worked example
A worked example: the segment totals
Ana and Ben play one hole from each segment. Net scores are shown; in the scramble and alternate-shot segments there is one ball and one score.
| Hole | Segment | Format | Ana | Ben | Team score | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 (par 4) | 1 to 6 | Scramble | 4 | One ball, best shot chosen each time | ||
| 9 (par 5) | 7 to 12 | Alternate shot | 6 | One ball, Ana drives, Ben plays the second, and so on | ||
| 15 (par 4) | 13 to 18 | Best ball | 5 | 4 | 4 | Ben's 4 is the better net score |
| 18 (par 4) | 13 to 18 | Best ball | 4 | 6 | 4 | Ana's 4 is the better net score |
- The alternate-shot segment is where most pairs lose strokes, which is why it sits in the middle: the scramble builds confidence and the best ball lets each player recover.
- In the best ball holes the individual scores matter; in the other two segments there is only the team ball.
Common variants
- Best ball, aggregate, worst ball
- The format stays own ball throughout and the counting rule changes: better net score, then both scores added, then the worse score. Every player plays every shot and only the arithmetic moves.
- Scramble, shamble, best ball
- The middle segment is a shamble, where the best drive is chosen and each player plays their own ball from there. It is easier than alternate shot and keeps the middle six friendly.
- Different order
- Best ball first and scramble last, so the round finishes with the most forgiving format. The scoring is identical.