Nines is the game for three players. Nine points on every hole: the winner gets five, second gets three, and the worst score gets one participation point. Two tie for the lead and they each get four. All three tie and they each get three. Two tie for second and the winner gets five and the ties get two each. Every hole hands out all nine, so the totals can never be wrong and nobody has to keep a number in their head. Big Fairways keeps the count and the live leaderboard, so you just play golf.
Low net takes five, the middle takes three, the high takes one. Nine every hole.
The five and the three go in together and they take four each. The high still takes one.
The winner takes five and the two behind take two each. All three level is three each.
This is a simulated round, not a live game. Three made up players, eighteen made up holes. Under every name on the board you will see the points that player took on the hole and why, tie splits included.
Nines is a golf side game for exactly three players in which every hole is worth nine points. The low net score on the hole takes five, the middle score takes three and the high score takes one. When players tie, the points for the places they cover go in together and split: two tie for the lead and they take four each, all three tie and they take three each, two tie for second and the winner takes five and the ties take two each. Most points at the end wins.
It is the answer to the oldest problem in golf side games, the threesome. Two on one never works and most games need four. Nines gives all three players something on every hole, the worst score still gets a point, and because every hole hands out exactly nine, the card audits itself.
| Players | Three, exactly. It is a three player game and nothing else. |
|---|---|
| Points a hole | Nine. Five to the low net, three to the middle, one to the high. |
| Two tie for the lead | Four each, the high takes one. |
| Two tie for second | The winner takes five, the ties take two each. |
| All three tie | Three each. |
| Handicaps | Yes. Strokes fall by stroke index and the places are decided on net score. |
| Scored by | The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, with the split worked out on every hole. |
Three players, a normal round, and nine points on every hole. Here is the whole game in five steps.
Because a game whose total is fixed is a game nobody can argue about. Five plus three plus one is nine, and every tie split keeps it at nine: four and four and one, five and two and two, three and three and three. So the front nine always adds up to eighty one and the round always adds up to a hundred and sixty two, and if the totals on the card do not, somebody wrote a hole down wrong. The app shows the check at the turn and at the end.
Because the player having a bad day is still in the game. One point for the high score means every hole gives everybody something, and it means the gap between the leader and the last player grows by four a hole at most. A player who is a long way back can make it up with a run of fives, and a player who is well ahead cannot coast. It is what keeps three players talking for eighteen holes.
Three players on a par four. One makes a net three, one a net four, one a net five: five, three and one. On the next hole two make a net four and the third makes a net five: the two tie for the lead, so the five and the three go in together and they take four each, and the third takes one. On the hole after that one player makes a net three and the other two make net fours: the winner takes five and the two behind split the three and the one, two each. Three holes, twenty seven points handed out.
No. Nines is built for three, and the split only works for three. With four, play Skins, Wolf or Vegas. With three, Nines is the best game there is, which is why it exists.
Nines pays for the place you finish on the hole, not the margin. A few things win Nines more often than good golf does.
Nines is the three player game, and the only one on this list built for exactly three. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nines | 3 | Three players, nine points a hole, split five, three and one. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 split is fixed, so there is nothing else to argue about. That is the point of Nines.
Nines solves the threesome. Every hole gives all three players something, the worst score still gets a point, the leader cannot coast, and the card adds up to a number everybody can check. It is the game three friends play when the fourth cancels, and plenty of groups keep playing it when the fourth turns up.
Pick Nines when you set up the round with three names on the card and start playing. After every hole the app works out the split, ties included, says who took what and why, and keeps the running totals. At the turn and at the end it shows the check, so the card is always right.
Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end every pair settles the difference in their points, you get 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.
Three players, nine points a hole. The low net score takes five, the middle takes three, the high takes one. Ties split the places they cover. Most points at the end wins.
Two tie for the lead and they take four each, with the high score taking one. Two tie for second and the winner takes five and the ties take two each. All three tie and they take three each.
No. Nines is built for exactly three. With four, play Skins, Wolf or Vegas.
Nine a hole, so eighty one for a nine and a hundred and sixty two for eighteen. Every hole hands out all nine, so the totals always add up.
Yes. Strokes fall by stroke index and the places on every hole are decided on net score.
An option at setup that makes the last hole worth eighteen points instead of nine, so the round can turn on the last green.
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.
Three names, four taps, and the app hands out every point.
START A NINES GAME, FREE
Skins
Wolf
Vegas
Banker
Junk
Midnight