Mulligans is the format where your handicap strokes stop being net scores and turn into do overs. Wherever the card gives you a stroke, you get to play any shot on that hole again. Two strokes on the hole is two do overs. Nothing carries to the next tee, and your gross score is your score, so every game running that day goes gross with it. Turn it on at setup and it rides along with Skins, Banker, Vegas or whatever else the group is playing. Big Fairways tells you when you have a do over in hand and counts them, so you just play golf.
On any hole where the card gives you a stroke, you may replay one shot. Two strokes is two replays. The app tells you on the tee.
No net scores in Mulligans. The do over already spent the stroke, so every game running that day scores gross too.
A do over you do not use dies on the hole. This walk scores a gross Stableford: bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 5.
This is a simulated round, not a live game. Four made up players, eighteen made up holes. The badges on the card are do overs, dim while in hand and bright once spent, and under every name on the board you will see what that player made and whether the do over was used.
Mulligans is a golf format in which your handicap strokes become do overs. On any hole where the card gives you a stroke, you may play one shot on that hole again, any shot, from the tee to the last putt. Two strokes on a hole is two do overs. A do over you do not use dies on the hole and nothing carries to the next tee. Your gross score is your score, because the stroke has already been spent on the replay, and so every other game running that day is scored gross too.
It is not a scoring game of its own. It is a stroke layer you switch on at setup, and it changes what a handicap does. Instead of a number coming off at the end, the stroke is a second chance on the course, in front of everybody, on the shot you choose. That is why groups love it: the high handicap is not getting a discount, they are getting another swing.
| Players | Two or more. It is a round switch, so everybody in the round plays it. |
|---|---|
| The do over | Wherever the card gives you a stroke, replay any one shot on that hole. Two strokes is two replays. |
| Carrying | Never. An unused do over dies on the hole. |
| Scoring | Every score is gross. Every game running that day goes gross with it. |
| Which shot | Any shot on the hole: the drive, the approach, a chip, a putt. |
| Scored by | The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, which shows the do over on your row and records when you use it. |
You play a normal round, and on your stroke holes you carry a second chance. Here is the whole game in six steps.
Because a stroke can only be spent once. If you replay a shot on your stroke hole and then also take the stroke off your score, you have used the same handicap twice, and the low handicaps in the group would be right to complain. So in Mulligans the stroke is the do over and nothing else. Your gross score is your score, and Skins, Banker, Vegas or whatever else is running that day reads the gross card too. The app switches all of it for you when Mulligans is on.
Because a do over you can save is a different game. If unused ones carried, a player would hoard them for the closing holes and the format would turn into a puzzle about when to spend. Tying each do over to its own hole keeps it simple: the stroke hole is where the second chance lives, use it there or lose it. The app records when a do over is used, hole by hole, so a later version of the game could give you the choice between the do over and a net score. For now the do over is the rule.
A twelve handicap has a stroke on the hardest twelve holes on the card. On the hardest par four they tee off into the trees, take the do over, and put the second drive in the fairway. They make a five, a gross bogey, and that five is their score for every game that day. On an easy par three with no stroke there is no do over, so the tee shot in the water costs what it costs. Over eighteen holes the do overs are worth roughly what the strokes were, but they are spent in front of the group on the shots that mattered.
Yes, that is the point of it. Mulligans is a stroke layer, not a game tile, so you turn it on at setup and then pick whatever games the group wants. The app scores all of them gross while Mulligans is on, shows the do over badge on your scoring row, and keeps the count. A game that only works net, like Train or TILT, plays gross that day like everything else.
A do over is worth more on some shots than others, and it is only worth anything if you use it. A few things win Mulligans days more often than good golf does.
Mulligans is a stroke layer rather than a game: it changes what a handicap does and rides under whatever games the group is playing. Here is how it lines up against the rest. Every one of them is scored in the app, and you can run several at once on one card.
| Game | Players | In one line |
|---|---|---|
| Mulligans | Any | Your handicap strokes become do overs, then everybody plays gross. |
| Midnight | Any | Twelve holes count, your best eleven plus the last. Lowest card wins. |
| Elevens | Any | Eleven holes count, your best ten plus the last. Seven throwaways. |
| Skins | Any | Win the hole outright to take the skin. Ties carry over or die, your call. |
| Nassau | 2 or 4 | Three matches in one: front nine, back nine and the full eighteen, with presses. |
| Wolf | 4 | The Wolf picks a partner after the tee shots or goes alone for double. |
| Vegas | 4 | Two teams, scores paired into a number, low number wins the difference. |
| Banker | 3 or more | One player takes on everybody else each hole. Presses allowed. |
| Junk | Any | Points for the little things: sandies, greenies, woodies and more. |
| Match Play | 2 | Head to head, hole by hole, up or down. |
| TILT | Any | Points on the net score with a multiplier that climbs on birdies and resets on a par. |
| Train | Any | A net par puts you aboard and every hole after it pays until two bogeys in a row. |
| Gridiron Golf | 4 | Two on two played like football. Win the hole to march the ball, reach the end zone to score. |
| Hammer | 2 or 4 | Either side can double the hole while it is being played. |
| Nines | 3 | Three players, nine points a hole, split five, three and one. |
| Hi Lo | 4 | Two on two. A point for the best ball and a point for the worst. |
| Snake | Any | Three putt and the snake is yours until somebody else does. No points. |
| Bingo Bango Bongo | Any | First on, closest, first in. Three points a hole, played gross. |
| Stableford | Any | Points for every hole, most points wins, a blow up costs you nothing. |
Looking for the full list? Every side game the app scores, each with rules and a demo round, is on the golf side games page.
The rule that never changes is gross scoring. The stroke is spent on the course and nowhere else, and the app holds everybody to it.
Mulligans turns a handicap into a moment. Instead of a number nobody sees, the high handicap gets a second swing in front of everybody, on the shot they choose, and the whole group watches to see whether the do over goes in the fairway or follows the first one into the trees. It is the fairest way to play gross with a mixed group, and the most fun way to play a handicap.
Switch Mulligans on when you set up the round and pick whatever games the group is playing. The app puts a do over badge on your row on every stroke hole, two badges for two strokes, tells you on the tee that you have one, and records when you use it. Every game that day scores gross, the same stroke is never spent twice, and nobody has to remember whose do over is whose.
Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end you get one clean total per player, one Settle Up list, and every round posts to your own lifetime scorecard, which only you can see. Send one link and the whole group follows the leaderboard live from their own phones.
Big Fairways walks you through every step, hole by hole. No rule sheet in your back pocket and nobody keeping a tally on a napkin.
Your group can scan the QR code to join in the fun, keep their stats, and see the live scoreboard. Send a text link to let your fans, friends and family get updates when you birdie 18 for the win.
Whether you are playing as teams, groups or individually, or all of the above, the points tally correctly no matter how many side games you have going.
No matter how many games you have going at once, or how complex the PRESS math gets, Big Fairways provides a clean scorecard, point total and leaderboard throughout the round, with simplified Settle Up totals at the end.
It is easy to set up tournaments of all sizes and formats with Big Fairways. A three day golf trip with four players, or 144 players in a local charity event, we have you covered. And groups inside your tournament can still play their own side games while the competition runs.
Your handicap strokes become do overs. On any hole where the card gives you a stroke, you may replay one shot on that hole. Two strokes is two replays. Unused do overs die on the hole, and every score is gross.
Yes. A do over works on any shot on the hole, from the drive to the last putt. The new shot stands, better or worse.
No. A do over you do not use dies on the hole. Nothing carries.
Because the stroke has already been spent on the replay. Taking it off the score as well would use the same handicap twice, so every game running that day is scored gross.
Yes. It is a round switch, not a game of its own. Turn it on at setup and it rides under Skins, Banker, Vegas or whatever the group is playing, all of them scored gross that day.
Two do overs on that hole. Replay two different shots, or the same shot twice.
Yes, free while we build it. Every side game, the live leaderboard, the Settle Up totals and your lifetime scorecards are all included, and there is nothing to install because it runs in any phone browser.
Switch it on at setup, send the link to the group, and let the app count every do over.
START A MULLIGANS GAME, FREE
Skins
Banker
Vegas
Junk
Nassau
Midnight