Nassau

What is the Nassau golf game?

Nassau is a golf side game in which one round holds three separate matches: the front nine, the back nine and the whole eighteen. Each match is played hole by hole, win the hole and you go one up, and each is worth the same points. A side that falls two down on a nine can press, which opens a fresh match from the next tee to the end of that nine, running alongside the original.

It is the reason nobody walks in after nine. You can lose the front badly, start the back level, win it, and still be talking about the overall on the last green. Three chances to win something in every round, and a press whenever you need one.

Players	Two head to head, or one player against everybody in the group, each pair its own Nassau. Two on two works too, best ball.
The three matches	Front nine, back nine and the full eighteen. Every hole counts on two of them.
What wins a hole	The low net score. A tie halves the hole and nothing moves.
The press	Two down on a nine and you can press: a new match from the next tee to the end of that nine, worth the same as the nine. Turn on auto press and the app opens it for you.
Points	Every match, presses included, is worth the same points. Nassau settles between the two players in it and never reaches a tournament total.
Scored by	The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, with a press book for every match.

How do you play Nassau?

You play a normal round and three matches run at once. Here is the whole game in six steps.

1. Before the round, agree who is playing whom and what each match is worth. Every match is worth the same.
2. Play the hole and post the scores. The low net wins the hole, a tie halves it.
3. Win the hole and you go one up on the nine you are playing and one up on the eighteen at the same time.
4. Fall two down on a nine and you can press. The press is a brand new match from the next tee to the end of that nine, worth the same as the nine, and the original match keeps running beside it.
5. The back nine starts level, whatever happened on the front. The eighteen carries on.
6. At the end every match is settled on its own: the front, the back, the eighteen and every press.

Why is a Nassau three matches and not one?

Because one eighteen hole match can be over by the twelfth, and then six holes are dead. Splitting the round into the front, the back and the overall means a player who loses the front still has two live matches, and a player who wins the front still has everything to play for. The back nine starts level every time. That one idea is why Nassau has been the standard golf side game for a century.

What is a press in Nassau?

A press is a brand new match, from the next tee to the end of the nine you are playing, worth the same points as the nine itself. The original match keeps running beside it. A player who is two down presses to get a fresh start on the holes that are left. Presses can stack, so a back nine can finish with the nine, a press from the twelfth and another from the fifteenth all settled on their own.

The press is worth the same as the original, not double. That is the traditional rule and it is the one Big Fairways plays, so a nine reads five, ten, fifteen, twenty as presses open, never five, ten, twenty, forty. In the app the player who is down calls the press from the hole results, and with auto press on the app opens one by itself whenever a side falls two down. Every press is written in the press book with the tee it was called from and where the match stood at that moment.

What is an example of Nassau scoring?

Two players, every match worth the same. One player wins the front nine two up. The back nine starts level. The other player goes two down on the back by the thirteenth and presses. The press runs from the fourteenth to the eighteenth, and they win it one up, while the back nine itself finishes all square. The eighteen finishes two up for the first player. So the first player collects the front and the eighteen, the second player collects the press, and the back nine pays nobody. Settle Up nets that down to one number.

Can you play Nassau against more than one player?

Yes. In Big Fairways a Nassau is one player against another, and you can switch on as many pairs as you like. Everybody against everybody is the default the moment you turn the game on, and each pairing is its own row you can switch off. Each pair has its own front, back, eighteen and press book. Two on two, best ball, works the same way with a side in place of a player. Because it settles between the two players in it, a Nassau never counts toward a tournament total.

What is the best Nassau strategy?

Nassau is match play three times over, so the hole in front of you is all that matters. A few things win a Nassau more often than good scoring does.

• Play the hole, not the card. A ten on a hole costs you one hole, the same as a bogey. When you are out of a hole, pick up and get to the next tee thinking about the match.
• Press when it helps, not when it hurts. Two down with six to play on a nine is a good press. Two down with one to play is a coin flip for the same points. Look at the holes left before you call it.
• Remember the eighteen. The overall is a whole match of its own. A player who loses the front and halves the back can still be one up on the eighteen, and that one pays the same as the other two.
• The back starts level. Whatever the front did, walk to the tenth tee like it is the first. The player who sulks about the front usually loses the back.
• Know where you stand. Three matches and a press or two is more than most people can hold in their head. The app shows every match on the hole results, so look before you tee off.

What are the wrinkles in Nassau?

• A press is worth the same, not double. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty as presses open, never five, ten, twenty, forty. The app plays it the traditional way.
• The press is frozen where it was called. The press book records where the match stood on the tee the press was called from, so a press entered a hole late still reads the way it was really called.
• Auto press. Turn it on at setup and the app opens a press for the side that goes two down, every time, without anybody having to ask.
• Everybody against everybody. Switch Nassau on and every pairing in the group is a match until you switch one off. Clear every pair and the app tells you nothing is running, so nothing can be pressed.
• Not a tournament game. A Nassau settles between the two players in it, so it never counts toward a tournament total, and neither do presses.

How does Nassau compare with other golf side games?

Nassau is a match game: you win or lose holes against one opponent, three matches at a time. Here is how it lines up against the other side games. Every one of them is scored in the app, and you can run several at once on one card.

Game	Players	In one line
Nassau	2 or 4	Three matches in one: front nine, back nine and the full eighteen, with presses.
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.
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.
Mulligans	Any	Your handicap strokes become do overs, then everybody plays gross.
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.

What do the Nassau words mean?

Front, back, overall

The three matches in every Nassau: holes one to nine, ten to eighteen, and all eighteen.

One up, two down

Where a match stands. Up means you have won more holes than your opponent in that match, down means fewer.

All square

Level. The match has no leader.

Press

A new match from the next tee to the end of the nine, worth the same as the nine. Called by the side that is down.

Auto press

A setup switch that opens a press by itself whenever a side goes two down.

Press book

The app's record of every press: who called it, from which tee, and where the match stood at that moment.

What should a group agree on before playing Nassau?

• Who is playing whom. Head to head, everybody against everybody, or two on two.
• What each match is worth. Every match, presses included, is worth the same.
• Whether presses are called by hand or opened automatically at two down.
• Net or gross, and which tees the strokes come off.

The press rule is the one that changes the day. Some groups press at any time, some only at two down, some never. Big Fairways lets the side that is down call one from the hole results, and auto press does it for you at two down.

Why do golfers love Nassau?

Nassau keeps every hole of a round alive. There is always a match you can still win, always a press you can call, and always a number to argue about walking off the green. It is the fairest way to keep a whole round interesting, and it works just as well between two friends as it does across a whole group.

How does Big Fairways score Nassau for you?

Pick Nassau when you set up the round, switch on the pairings you want, and start playing. After every hole the app shows each match, front, back and eighteen, and offers the side that is two down a press. Every press goes in the press book with the tee it was called from and where the match stood. Nobody keeps three matches and two presses in their head.

Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end you get every match settled on its own, one Settle Up list per pair, 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.

Common questions

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