The fourth texts at 6:40 a.m.: kid’s sick, sorry, next week. The tee time is at 7:30 and the plan was Wolf. Wolf, as most groups play it, needs four. So does any game built on two pairs. Three players can still have a good game; it just has to be one that works with an odd number, and somebody has to pick it in the parking lot.
What changes with three
Partner games stop working. Nobody can play two against two, and a game that rotates partners needs a fourth to rotate through. In GoLo, Wolf takes exactly four players and Team Play takes exactly four, so both are off.
Most other games are fine with three, and some get better. Skins has one fewer score on each hole that can tie the low one, so a hole is a little more likely to be won outright. And every player has only two opponents, so each hole moves less money than it would in a foursome.
Pick by the group you actually have
The Bingo Bango Bongo post explains why the order of play matters more than length. If the handicaps are far apart and you choose Best Score, skins or a Nassau, play it net. GoLo gives each player their full course handicap and places the strokes by the card’s stroke index, so a 6, a 14 and a 24 can share a game that is still decided on the course.
What each one can cost
Three players means two opponents each, which changes the numbers. Here is the most one player can lose at some ordinary amounts, as GoLo scores each game.
| Game | Amount | Most you can lose |
|---|---|---|
| Best Score | $5 each | $5 |
| Skins | $2 a skin | $36 |
| Nassau | $2 a match | $12 |
Best Score here pays one place. The skins are standard skins with carryovers on: each of the other two pays the winner $2, so a skin is worth $4 to whoever takes it, and losing all eighteen costs $36. Extra skin types add to that. The Nassau is head to head: each player has two opponents and three matches against each, so losing all six costs $12, and GoLo’s Nassau doesn’t take presses, so that is its ceiling in the app. Best Score can only cost the amount you put in. Bingo Bango Bongo depends on how your group pays its points, so it isn’t in the table.
With three, the top-two split means don’t finish last
Best Score in GoLo can pay one place, or split between the top two or three. With three players, the top-two split does something useful: first and second share the total equally, so the round comes down to not finishing last.
At $5 each, the total is $15. Winner takes all: the lowest score finishes $10 up and the other two $5 down. Top two split: first and second each get $7.50, so both finish $2.50 up and last place is $5 down. GoLo splits tied places evenly: if the two players behind the leader tie under the top-two split, they share second place’s $7.50, $3.75 each, so each finishes $1.25 down and the leader $2.50 up. A top-three split with three players just hands everyone their $5 back.
With three players, “don’t finish last” is a perfectly good game.
One round, from setup to settled
Here is an invented threesome in GoLo. Mike sets up the round, picks the course and tees, adds Jess and Tom, and chooses two games: $2 net standard skins with carryovers on, and $5 Best Score, net, top two split. One scorer enters the gross scores after each hole, and GoLo applies the strokes for both games.
By the 18th all eighteen skins have been won: Mike seven, Jess six, Tom five. On net totals Jess is lowest, Tom second and Mike last.
| Player | Skins | Best Score | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike | +$6.00 | −$5.00 | +$1.00 |
| Jess | $0.00 | +$2.50 | +$2.50 |
| Tom | −$6.00 | +$2.50 | −$3.50 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Mike’s seven skins are worth $28 and he pays $2 for each of the other eleven, so he’s $6 up in skins. Jess’s six skins and Tom’s five work the same way. Mike also finished last in Best Score, so the two games nearly cancel for him. Tom pays Jess $2.50 and Mike $1.00, and the round is settled. GoLo shows that list at the end; the money moves outside the app.
Nines, the threesome game GoLo doesn’t score
Nines, also called 5-3-1, was made for three. Each hole is worth nine points: five to the low score, three to the middle, one to the high. Ties share: two tied for low take four each and the third gets one; two tied for high take two each behind the five; all three tied take three each. At the end, players settle the difference in points at an agreed amount a point.
It’s a good game, and GoLo doesn’t score it. If your group wants Nines, keep it on paper and run Best Score or skins in GoLo beside it, or keep the whole round on paper. Don’t expect the settle-up list to include a game the app didn’t score.
When the fourth comes back
Next week the foursome is back, and Wolf is available again. Until then, pick one game, say the amount and the scoring basis out loud, and play. Games for two covers the regular twosome, and the game guides have the rules for each format.
When you’ve chosen, see one round from setup to settle-up or get GoLo for the next one.
