You already have the tee time, the regular partner, and a reliable disagreement about whose turn it is to book. What you don't have is a game that survives the first bad hole. One of you says “five dollars on the round,” the other hears something about the back nine, and by the turn neither is entirely sure what's still alive. Two players should make this easier.
Start with $5-each Best Score
For your first round with something on it, choose Best Score: each player agrees the same $5 amount, one finishing place, and the lowest total wins. With two players, the winner finishes $5 up and the other player $5 down. You don't need to collect anything before the round; settle the difference afterwards.
Play net if you want handicap strokes to count, or gross if you both want the unadjusted total to decide it. Our net-versus-gross example shows why choosing that before the first tee matters. For this starter game, a tied total splits the combined amount equally: each player gets their own share back and neither owes anything.
These amounts and tie rules are editorial examples for a friendly round. They aren't a standard your partner somehow should have known. Say them out loud. If five dollars would spoil the afternoon, make the contest for bragging rights and keep exactly the same scoring.
Choose by what keeps both of you interested
All three formats below support two players in GoLo. The difference is what a bad hole costs you. In Best Score, every stroke stays in the total. In skins, it costs you that hole's skin. In a Nassau, it costs you one hole in whichever matches are running, however ugly the number was.
| Game | Example amount | What decides it | Suggested tie rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Score | $5 each | Lowest 18-hole total | Equal split; neither owes |
| Skins, no carries | $1 from the other player per skin | Outright low score on each hole | No skin; next hole starts fresh |
| Nassau, no presses | $2 for each of three matches | Holes won on front, back and overall | A tied match pushes |
Pick one row for the next round. Being able to explain the whole arrangement before somebody starts a practice swing is a useful test.
Choose skins when you want a fresh chance every hole
If one of you can shoot 81 and still include a nine, skins gives that round somewhere to go. The lower score on a hole wins its skin. Lose the 3rd by four shots and you can still win the 4th. You are counting skins, not the margin in strokes.
For a simple two-player version, use $1 per skin from the other player, turn carryover off, and leave tied holes unclaimed. Win seven holes, lose five and tie six, and you finish $2 up: seven dollars coming your way, five going back. A tied 18th adds nothing. The maximum either player can lose in this plain 18-hole version is $18.
Keep the extra skin types off for this example. Carryovers are a good second conversation, because they change the feel of a hole. With carries on, several quiet ties can leave you putting for several skins at once. If that's the point, read the carryover guide together and agree how an unfinished carry ends before you start.
Choose a Nassau when the turn should mean a new start
A Nassau is three match-play contests: front nine, back nine and overall eighteen. Each hole is won, lost or tied. Losing a hole by five shots still counts as losing one hole, so a blow-up doesn't drag five extra strokes through the afternoon.
Try $2 for each match, with no presses. Lose the front, win the back and tie the overall, and the two dollars cancel: neither player owes anything. Win all three and you collect $6. That is also the most either player can lose in this example, because no extra matches or other games are running.
The back-nine match starts level on 10 even if the overall match is going badly. That is the reason to choose a Nassau over one final score. For these suggested rules, tied holes don't change the standing, and a tied match pushes. GoLo's Nassau doesn't take presses, so this simple version also fits what the app scores today. The full Nassau post covers the house-rule conversation.
The best two-player game is the one you're both still playing on the back nine.
One scorecard feeds whichever game you chose
Set the course and tees in GoLo, add the two players, choose the game and amount, and agree the scoring basis. One scorer enters both gross scores after each hole. GoLo keeps gross and net, applies the handicap strokes, and uses the card to work out the supported game. A guest can be added with a name and an index, without an account.
The score entry is the same whether you chose Best Score, skins or Nassau. What changes is the question being asked of it: lowest total, lowest score on a hole, or which player won more holes in each match. You don't enter an extra set of scores just because you chose a different format.
GoLo uses one set of tees for the group and full course handicaps for individual play. It doesn't support mixed tees. It doesn't offer handicap allowances or playing off the low player. Check the current settings before agreeing a game that depends on those options. At the end, GoLo shows who owes whom; you settle outside the app.
Add a second game after the first one works
There is no prize for filling every line in setup. Play one format for a round or two. If Best Score keeps both of you interested, you have already solved the problem. If the total starts feeling settled by lunch, try skins or a Nassau next time before adding anything on top.
When you do want two games, agree both amounts and their combined exposure. A $5-each Best Score game plus the plain $1 skins example above can cost one player $23 if everything goes the wrong way. “Only a dollar a hole” does not include the five dollars you already agreed to.
GoLo can run several supported games from the same card and net their results together. That makes the tally easier, but the extra games still add to what the afternoon can cost. Start with one, see how it plays, then watch how one card handles a full round or get GoLo for your next tee time.
