Golf Games: Football

Here’s a golf version of (American) football.

Before teeing off, randomly decide who starts the game with the ball. That player keeps the ball as long as he doesn’t turn over the ball on downs and doesn’t get intercepted.

A player turns over the ball on downs (punts) if he fails to make par on the hole (you can use handicaps for this). Following a punt, the ball belongs to the player who shot the lowest score on that hole. If two players tie for lowest, the ball belongs to the one who had the honors.

A player is intercepted if he makes par, but another player has a birdie (or better). The player with the bird intercepts and has the ball for the next hole. If two players have a birdie, the ball belongs to the one who had the honors.

Players score a point for every hole that they start and finish with possession of the ball.

Here’s an example. Player A starts with the ball and on the first hole, everyone makes a par. Player A keeps the ball and scores a point. On the second hole, A makes another par, but B gets a birdie. Player B now has the ball. After that, player B reels off five straight pars, and no one betters that, so he keeps the ball and scores five points. On the next hole, however, Player B makes a mistake and cards a bogey. Player A and C both had pars, but C had the honors, so C now has the ball. B doesn’t score a point since he didn’t finish the hole with possession (and C doesn’t score because he didn’t start with possession). Player C can score a point on the next hole if he doesn’t fumble or get intercepted.

The player with the most points at the end of the round wins the agreed upon bet. Payouts could be based on point differentials.