Junk is the collection of little side bets that get called out on the green rather than written on the card. A birdie, an up and down from the sand, a chip that goes in, a par made after hitting a tree. Each one is worth a point, and they are settled at the end alongside whatever else you are playing.
It is the easiest game in golf to add, because you are already doing the hard part: noticing. Junk just puts a price on it.
This is a simulation, not a live round. Tap the green Start Simulation button to learn the game and watch this made up match unfold one hole at a time. Just like in our app, you'll see a summary of the drama below the holes and a leaderboard.
The scores above are invented, but the scoring is not: this is the same card and the same live leaderboard your group sees on Big Fairways while you play.
Play JUNK Now! Tap them in on the hole results while everyone is still on the greenJunk, sometimes called garbage or trash, is a points game that runs alongside your main bet. Nothing about it depends on your score for the hole, which is why it works for a group with mixed handicaps: a player who is out of the main game all afternoon can still take four or five points of junk off the rest of you.
The usual list is:
Junk needs no teams and no setup beyond agreeing the list and the price. Any number of players can be in it.
The one procedural rule worth keeping is that junk must be claimed on the hole. If you remember your barkie on the fourteenth tee, you have lost it. That rule keeps the round moving and keeps the arguments short.
Say four players are playing junk at a dollar a point on a par 5.
Four players, seven points, and not one of them decided who won the hole.
Junk keeps a round alive when the main bet is dead. A player four down with five to play has nothing left in a match, but he still has something to shoot at on every hole, and a good up and down still pays.
It also rewards the parts of the game that a scorecard hides. Nobody gets credit for a bunker shot to two feet on a hole where they made bogey, except in junk.
Before teeing off, agree on:
If your group has never played junk, start with four items:
Add barkies, polies and nasties once everyone has the hang of it.
Junk is the cheapest way to make an ordinary round matter on every hole. It costs nothing to set up, it suits any size of group, and it gives the man having a bad day something to win.
The only hard part is the bookkeeping, which is exactly the part worth handing to an app.
Keep score automatically and settle up in the app Every sandie, barkie and greenie, settled with the rest of the moneyJunk is the set of small side bets called out on the green rather than written on the card: a birdie, a sandie, a chippie, a barkie, a polie, a nasty, a greenie. Each is worth a point, and they are settled alongside whatever main game you are playing.
A sandie is getting up and down out of a bunker for par or better. Ball in the sand, one shot out, one putt. Some groups pay it for a bogey on a hard hole, but the standard is par or better.
A barkie is making par on a hole where your ball hit a tree. It has to be a real strike that everybody heard, and the par still has to be made. It is the most argued about item on the list, which is most of its appeal.
A polie is holing a putt longer than the flagstick. Lay the pin down next to the putt if there is a dispute, which there will be. Some groups only pay it for par or better.
Whatever you agree, but keep it small. A busy foursome can generate twenty or more points in a round, so a dollar a point is plenty. Big Fairways settles junk into the same tally as your main game so nobody works it out in the car park.