Train

What is the Train golf game?

Train is a golf side game in which you have to get aboard before anything pays. One net par or better puts you on the train. From the next hole on, every hole pays Stableford points on your net score: bogey one, par two, birdie three, eagle four, albatross five. Two net bogeys in a row throw you off, and so does one net double bogey or worse. You keep every point you earned, and the next net par gets you back on. Most points at the end wins.

It is the streak game for the player who makes a lot of pars and the odd mess. One bad hole is a warning. Two in a row is the platform. And because a net bogey aboard still pays a point, the train is a comfortable place to be right up until it is not.

Players	Two or more. Everybody plays against the table, so it scales to a whole group.
Getting on	A net par or better. The hole you board pays nothing.
Aboard	Every hole pays Stableford points on the net score: bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4, albatross 5.
Getting thrown off	Two net bogeys in a row, or one net double bogey or worse. You keep your points.
Getting back on	The next net par or better.
Handicaps	Yes. Train is a net game, strokes by stroke index.
Scored by	The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, and it shows who is aboard on every tee.

How do you play Train?

You play a normal round and the train picks you up when you make a par. Here is the whole game in six steps.

1. Every player starts off the train. Nothing pays until you are on.
2. Make a net par or better and you are aboard. That hole pays nothing.
3. From the next hole on, every hole pays Stableford points on your net score: bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4.
4. A net bogey aboard pays one and is a warning. A second net bogey in a row throws you off.
5. A net double bogey or worse throws you off on the spot. Either way you keep every point you earned.
6. Make a net par and you are back on. Most points at the end wins.

Why does the hole you board pay nothing?

Because the train has to be moving before you can collect. The par that gets you aboard is the ticket, and the points start on the next hole. That one rule is what makes Train a streak game instead of plain Stableford: a player who pars and bogeys alternately never earns much, because every par is spent getting back on. A player who strings pars together is the one who collects.

Why do two bogeys in a row throw you off but one does not?

Because one bad hole happens to everybody and the game would be all platform and no train if it counted. A net bogey aboard still pays a point, it just puts you on notice. The second one in a row is the one that costs you, and the double bogey is the one that costs you straight away. The app shows the warning on your row so the whole group knows who is one bogey from the platform.

What is an example of Train scoring?

A player bogeys the first, off the train, nothing. Pars the second, aboard, still nothing. Birdies the third, three points. Pars the fourth, two. Bogeys the fifth, one and a warning. Bogeys the sixth, off the train, and the six points stay. Pars the seventh, back aboard, nothing. Pars the eighth, two more. Doubles the ninth, off again. Nine holes, eight points, and every one of them earned while the train was moving.

What is the difference between Train and TILT?

Both are streak games on the net score, and both live in the app. In Train the streak is being aboard, and a bogey aboard still pays a point. Points only ever go up, and you keep everything when you are thrown off. In TILT the streak is a multiplier that climbs on birdies, a par ends it, and a double bogey on a high multiplier takes points away. Train is the kinder ride. TILT is the one with the swings.

What is the best Train strategy?

Train pays for staying aboard, so it rewards steady golf more than heroics. A few things win Train more often than a low round does.

• Get on early. Nothing pays until you board, so the first par matters more than any birdie. Play the opening holes for par.
• Aboard, play for par. A par pays two and keeps you on. A birdie pays three. The difference is one point, and a double bogey going at a flag throws you off.
• After a bogey, play safe. One net bogey is a warning. The next hole is the one that decides whether you keep collecting, so take the middle of the green.
• Know your stroke holes. It is a net game. A bogey with a stroke is a net par, so your stroke holes are where you get on and stay on.
• Off the train is not the end. You keep every point. Make the next par and you are collecting again.

What are the wrinkles in Train?

• The boarding hole pays nothing. The par that gets you on is the ticket, not a fare.
• A bogey aboard pays one. It is a warning, not a fall. The second in a row is the fall.
• A double throws you off at once. Net double bogey or worse, aboard, and you are on the platform, whatever the hole before was.
• You keep your points. Nothing is ever taken away. Train only ever counts up.
• Back on with a par. Getting back aboard costs the same as getting on the first time: one net par, and that hole pays nothing.

How does Train compare with other golf side games?

Train is a streak game: every player plays against the table and their own run. 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
Train	Any	A net par puts you aboard and every hole after it pays until two bogeys in a row.
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.
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 Train words mean?

Aboard

On the train. You got there with a net par or better, and every hole now pays.

Off the train

Not collecting. Where everybody starts, and where two bogeys in a row or a double put you.

The warning

One net bogey aboard. It pays a point, and one more in a row throws you off.

Stableford points

Net bogey 1, par 2, birdie 3, eagle 4, albatross 5.

Back on

Aboard again after being thrown off, with a net par or better.

What should a group agree on before playing Train?

• What a point is worth.
• Net or gross. Train is a net game in the app.
• Whether a picked up hole counts as a double bogey. It does in the app.

The rules are fixed in the app: a par boards, a bogey warns, two bogeys or a double throw you off, and you keep your points. The only thing to settle on the first tee is the value of a point.

Why do golfers love Train?

Train makes a run of pars feel like something, and it gives a bad hole a second chance. The player who is aboard with a warning on the board is the most watched player on the tee, the player who just got thrown off is one par from being back in it, and the whole group knows exactly where everybody stands. CHOO CHOO!

How does Big Fairways score Train for you?

Pick Train when you set up the round and start playing. The app shows who is aboard on every tee, pays the Stableford points on every hole for everybody on the train, puts the warning on a row after one bogey, and throws a player off after two in a row or a double. Everybody is in by default. Nobody argues about who is on.

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.

Common questions

More golf side games