Golf games
Rules and explanation onlyString It Out
Also called String game, String golf.
String It Out is a stroke play game in which each player receives a length of string in place of handicap strokes, commonly one foot per stroke of Course Handicap™. A player may move the ball by hand any distance, cutting off the length used, and a ball moved into the hole counts as holed. The round is scored gross.
- Players
- 2 or more, any groups
- Allowance
- One foot of string per stroke of Course Handicap, in the common form
- Use
- Move the ball any distance, cut off that much string
- The hole
- A ball moved into the hole is holed; no stroke is added
- Scoring basis
- Gross strokes; lowest total wins
How String It Out works
Before the round each player is handed a piece of string cut to their allowance. The common form is one foot for every stroke of Course Handicap, so a 15 handicap gets 15 feet and a scratch player gets nothing. Each player carries scissors, or the group shares a pair.
At any point in the round a player may pick the ball up and move it, by hand, to a better spot, as long as the distance moved is measured and that length of string is cut off and thrown away. Out of a divot to the fairway, from behind a tree to a clear line, from the fringe onto the green, or from two feet into the hole. No stroke is added for the move. When the string is gone the player finishes the round without it.
The round is scored gross, because the string is the handicap. Lowest 18-hole total wins, with the string used or unused making no difference to the score.
Where the string is worth most
A foot of string moving the ball out of a hazard saves a penalty stroke and a difficult shot. A foot moving a ball into the hole saves exactly one stroke. Players who spend their string on the first nine holes getting out of trouble usually watch their opponents hole two-footers on the back nine.
The single most valuable use is a short putt, because a putt from eighteen inches that is moved into the hole converts a stroke into nothing at all, with no risk. Most experienced players save the string for exactly that.
House rules that matter
Measure honestly, along the ground, with a partner watching. String cannot be used to move the ball across a boundary or out of bounds back into play; it moves a ball in play to a better place in play. A ball moved into the hole is holed out and the next player putts. Ties are settled on countback of gross scores.
What Parful does
Parful does not score String It Out. The gross total is trivial, but every use of the string is a change to the physical round: a ball moved by hand is not a stroke, and the card cannot show where or how far the string was used. Parful will not offer that as a side game over an official round.
This page describes the common form of the game. Parful has not ratified a version.
Worked example
A worked example: one player over six holes
Cal plays off a Course Handicap of 10 and starts with 10 feet of string. Each row shows how the string was used and the gross score for the hole.
| Hole | String used for | Feet used | Feet left | Strokes saved | Hole score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (par 4) | Nothing | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 (par 4) | Out of a fairway bunker lip | 2 | 8 | About 1 | 4 |
| 3 (par 3) | Putt from 18 inches into the hole | 1.5 | 6.5 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 (par 5) | Nothing | 0 | 6.5 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 (par 4) | Putt from 3 feet into the hole | 3 | 3.5 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 (par 3) | Off the fringe onto the green | 2 | 1.5 | Perhaps 1 | 3 |
- Three feet on hole 5 bought exactly one stroke; the same three feet out of a hazard on hole 2 might have bought two. Certainty against value is the whole game.
- With 18 inches left, Cal has one more tap-in to move over the last twelve holes.
Common variants
- Different lengths
- Two feet per stroke for a generous game, or six inches per stroke for a fast one. Some clubs give every player the same length regardless of handicap and play it as a novelty.
- No string on the green
- The string may not be used to hole a putt, only to improve a lie off the green. It stops the game becoming a tap-in contest and makes the string worth less.
- Team string
- A pair or a scramble team shares one length. Whoever needs it most gets it, which produces the best arguments of the day.