Wolf is a golf betting game that doesn’t just require a sharp golf game to take home the pot but also includes careful planning and taking risks when opportunities arise. On every hole, the wolf has the upper hand being able to control who their partner is for the hole if they decide to choose one. Even though you might have a partner on every hole, this is not a team game, there is only one winner at the end of the round, and that’s the player with the most points. In this blog post, I will explain how to play Wolf and give some tips and tricks to give you the best chances to take home the pot!
Table of Content
How To Play Wolf
Wolf is a four-person golf betting game best played when you have all four players at roughly the same skill level. If you want a fun golf betting game for all skill levels, check out my Three-Putt Poker blog post.
Wolf can initially seem complex to understand, and the best way to explain it is by walking you through it.
Before You Start
Before you start, set a buy-in price. Every player will pay the buy-in price, which will be the total pot, so if the buy-in price is $20, the pot will be $80. Once the buy-in price is set, you need to determine the order for the first hole, a good way to do this is by flipping a tee. The last player is the wolf on the first hole.
Playing Wolf
The wolf gets to watch everyone tee off and determine who their partner is for the hole, BUT once a player tees off, the wolf must decide if they are taking that player as a partner. So if player 1 has an ok shot and the wolf chooses not to take them, and players two and three hit it in the water, the wolf can not return and take player one as his partner. The wolf only has two options: take player three as his partner or go lone wolf.
If the wolf chooses to partner with player three, players one and two are partners for the hole. At the end of the whole, the partners will add their scores together, and the pairing with the lowest score wins that hole, and both players get one point.
If the wolf decides to go lone wolf, then player one, two, and three are all against the wolf for that hole. The wolf must shoot better than all three players to get the points if any player beats the wolf, all three players get awarded one point, and the wolf gets none. If, however, the wolf wins the hole, they get awarded two points.
Keeping Track of Points
At the end of each hole, keep track of each player’s points because there is only one winner ( unless there is a tie). Once the round is over, add up each player’s points, and the player with the most points takes home the pot.
- Lone Wolf Wins The Hole = 2 Points
- Partners Win The Hole = 1 Point Each
- Tie = No Points on That Hole
Rotating The Wolf
The wolf never stays the same person on the next hole and will continuously be rotated out. Since the wolf always goes last, the player who was the wolf on the last hole will tee off first on the next hole, and the person who teed off third on the previous hole will be the wolf on the next hole. This is confusing, so I made a fake scorecard showing how the rotation works.
Tips and Tricks
Just like in a regular game of golf, you want to take calculated risks. This also applies when you are playing Wolf, you want to take risks, but you need to make sure the risks are worth taking.
For example, if you are the wolf and all three players shank it into the woods, this would be an excellent time to take the risk of going lone wolf to try and get some extra points, rather than trying to go lone wolf when all three players have a good tee shot. Make sure you give yourself the best opportunity possible when you risk going lone wolf.
Keep tabs on other players’ points. If you know someone is winning, and you are the wolf, you might have an opportunity to gain some points on them. If you can pair them with the player who has the worst tee shot, you can give yourself a slight advantage on that hole to make up some points. Even if the winning player has the best tee shot, it might not be worth partnering up with them; you might be better off going against them to try and gain some points while you have the advantage of being the wolf.
Conclusion
Overall, Wolf is one of my favourite golf betting games to play with my friends; it always leads to a competitive game and fun trash talk. It’s a game that brings out the best competition in everyone, and I highly recommend playing it next time you go golfing with your friends.
