Golf games
Parful runs thisVarious Pars
Also called Whack and Hack.
Various Pars, also called Whack and Hack, is a golf side game in which a player's best two par-3 scores, best five par-4 scores and best two par-5 scores from a full 18 holes are added to make a nine-hole total. The lowest total wins, gross or net. The nine holes are selected automatically once the card is complete.
- Players
- 2 or more, in any group of the outing
- Counts
- Best 2 par 3s, best 5 par 4s, best 2 par 5s
- Round
- A full 18 holes, every hole scored
- Course
- Needs at least 2 par 3s, 5 par 4s and 2 par 5s
- Scoring basis
- Gross or net, chosen when the game is created
- Wins
- Lowest nine-hole total; equal totals share the position
How Various Pars works
Various Pars builds a nine-hole card out of a player's best holes, sorted by par. When the round is over, each player's scores are grouped by the par of the hole. The two lowest par-3 scores, the five lowest par-4 scores and the two lowest par-5 scores are kept, and those nine numbers are added. The lowest total wins. Whack and Hack is the same game.
The selection is automatic and players are never asked which holes to keep. On a standard course with four par 3s, ten par 4s and four par 5s that means dropping two par 3s, five par 4s and two par 5s. Played net, each score is reduced by the strokes received on that hole from the player's Course Handicap™ before the sort; played gross the raw scores are sorted.
Because every category has to be filled, the course needs enough holes of each par. A course with only one par 5 cannot host the game as described, and there is no rule for substituting a different par to fill the gap.
Why the split by par
A plain best-nine game would let a strong iron player fill the card with par 3s and a long hitter fill it with par 5s. Splitting the quota by par makes every player keep a mix that looks like the course: five par 4s, two of each of the others. A bad day on the par 3s cannot decide the game on its own, because only the best two count.
A 15-handicapper who shoots 90 will often have a Various Pars total in the high 30s, and the game usually produces a tighter spread than the gross scores it came from.
Try it
Can we play Various Pars 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
How Parful scores it
Various Pars is a side game a member can start from the scorecard on a club outing, for two or more players from any groups. The person starting it chooses gross or net and can attach a stake, settled on the difference in totals between every pair of players and shown as who owes whom; Parful never moves money.
Parful takes the par of each hole from the course the outing is played on, groups each player's hole scores by par, sorts each group and keeps the best two, five and two. The standings recompute on every score entered. A player is ranked only when enough scores exist in every category; if a pickup or a missing hole leaves fewer than two par 3s, five par 4s or two par 5s recorded, that player is unranked rather than guessed. Equal totals share a position and a correction reruns the selection from scratch.
If the course itself is short of a category, Parful reports the game as an invalid configuration and names the par it could not fill. It never substitutes a hole of a different par. The game needs each player's own hole scores, so it is available on individual rounds, four-ball and counted-score formats and shamble-style rounds, but not on a scramble or any format with one score per team.
Worked example
A worked example: a par 72 with four par 3s, ten par 4s and four par 5s
Ana and Ben play gross. The bottom rows show the best two par 3s, best five par 4s and best two par 5s picked from each card.
| Hole | Par | Ana | Ben |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 7 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 9 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 10 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 12 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 13 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 14 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 15 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 16 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 17 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 18 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 18-hole total | 72 | 81 | 82 |
| Best 2 par 3s | Holes 3, 7, 11, 16 | 2 + 3 = 5 | 3 + 4 = 7 |
| Best 5 par 4s | 10 holes | 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 5 = 21 | 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 20 |
| Best 2 par 5s | Holes 4, 9, 13, 18 | 5 + 5 = 10 | 5 + 5 = 10 |
| Various Pars total | 5 + 21 + 10 = 36 | 7 + 20 + 10 = 37 |
- Ben's 7 on the ninth and Ana's 6s on the fourth and thirteenth never entered the total; the par-5 category keeps only the best two.
- Ana's fifth par 4 could be any of her five 5s, since they all give 21.
Common variants
- Best nine, any par
- The simpler game: keep the best nine holes on the card regardless of par. Parful does not score it; the quota by par is what makes Various Pars.
- Different quotas
- Some clubs play 3, 3 and 3, or match the quota to a course with five par 5s. Parful scores the 2, 5 and 2 split only.
- Money per stroke
- Players attach a stake per stroke of difference in the totals. Parful can carry the stake as a wager on the game, shows who owes whom at the end and never moves money.