do you play for money?

[square]

My regular game is 16 to 20 guys, $25 buy-in, $400 to $500 pot. Half the pot is a two man best ball game, the other half is for skins. Handicaps range from +3 to 5.

Every guy plays with whatever clubs and, or, bag make-up he thinks will help them make the most birdies. There are guys playing regular shafts, high lofted drivers, bags full of hybrids, whatever...

Another skins oriented game I play in has a $20 buy-in with sometimes as many as 36 players, $700 pot, handicaps ranging from scratch to about 14. Again, every player wants to use whatever might help him make birdies, and does not care whether or not his looks like a "players bag".

I write this post because I think some of the guys posting here, the ones focused on the image of their bag, may not be playing for any money. All it takes is a couple of skins games where a player "donates" to the pot rather than collects winnings, and the concept of "bag image" goes out the window. That's my guess, anyway.

Please post here to this thread if you play for money and give a little description of your playing group.

[SadTrombone]

Money?

 

Against people?'

 

[lumberman2462]

Yes I do....and it's been an expensive month since I've been hacking my way around the course. I've had two $100 loss days in the last few weeks.

That hasn't happened since the 90s.

[Free swingr]

I'm either playing in a stroke play tournament or playing for money. It's sad I know but it's the truth.

[jmvargas]

in my younger days i played for money 100% of the time.....

nowadays my regular groups are old fogies and we play mostly for exercise and enjoyment and sometimes have a little bit on the side but never more than $20...

[Rhythm&TempoRenzo]

Yuuup!! - I often invest "risk capital" for an opportunity to compete for "recreational funding" a few times a month. My bag only contains the clubs I'm most accurate with. Distance is not necessarily a major concern (see signature), for example: I don't carry a driver - I have two 3-woods, I like the dispersion of my long irons instead of hybrids (they also keep me under the wind - personal preference) and everyone I play with hates my choice of wedge lofts - what they don't understand is I use the 64 for shots in situations where there's just not a lot of green to work with, everything else is either a pitching wedge or the 54. My setup might be a mash up of old school golf & Phil's infamous U.S. Open bag, but It works for me.

[tbarlow11]

Just because someone has a "traditional" or "players" bag make up, doesn't mean they don't play for money or go out there to make the most birdies. That seems a little outrageous to say.

My bag is made up the way it is because that's going to enable me to play my best and make the most birdies. It could change from course to course or maybe even day to day, but that certainly doesn't mean I'm going out to play with a bag that's "traditional" or "standard" just because I want to be that way. My bag sets me up for success.

At my home course, I play my "normal" make up, 3 wedges (52-56-60), 4-PW, D, 3W, 3Hy. I'm long enough at my home course that I'd rather close my gaps with the wedges and shorter clubs. If I'm going out to a longer course, I'll probably swap out for my 54-58 and throw in another hybrid to close my gaps down with the longer clubs. I'll do this whether I'm playing a big stakes game, doing a $2 nassau with some buddies, or messing around at 5pm.

I play for money most of my 18 hole rounds.

[double or triple?]

My bag is D, 3w (15*), 5w (18.5*), 5-pw, GW, SW, lw, putter. My game stays te same every round. $.25 per hole, carry overs. Must win par or better, 2 tie all tie. Par saved out of the bunker is a $.25. Putts made for par or better outside the length of the flag stick is a $.25 and birdies and eagles pay double/triple respectively. All three putts and dbl bogies or worse pay out a $.25 to everyone

[GWD]

You didn't ask but, over 50 years of golfing, I played for money only once. I was a single and the threesome wanted to play some sort of money game involving four players. It had something to do with "the rabbit is running" and playing with a different partner for 6 holes is all I remember.

In the clubhouse afterward they figured out that I was the big money winner of the day. Mostly from happenstance IIRC. I told them to split the winnings among themselves. They were shocked.

I guess that is the antithesis of "playing for money".

[Mike_C]

Don't you know that gambling is ILLEGAL at Bushwood sir....


And I NEVER slice.....

[smeech8000]

Gary... that is sad. Not that you don't play for money as that is your prerogative, of course; but that you donated the money back!

Rabbit is a fun game whose main advantage is that it can be played by less than 4 players and may be won by a player who doesn't necessarily have a great day but finishes well or manages to put together a hot streak somewhere in the round.

http://www.myscorecard.com/cgi-bin/knowledgecenter.pl?mode=article&category=golf_games&file=rabbit&article=

I typically play for something large enough to care about; it really adds competitive value in my opinion.

That being said I won't play a net match for anything over $5 Nassau (one press a side... definitely no two-down-autos). I like to play a $20 walkoff since it requires much less math and status-checking during the course of the match is a LOT easier for all involved.

[teejaywhy]

[quote name='square' timestamp='1404701563' post='9649695']
... I write this post because I think some of the guys posting here, the ones focused on the image of their bag, may not be playing for any money...
[/quote]

There are golfers and there are people who own golf clubs.

[RickK]

Don't always play for money but probably more times than not I do. I know guys who are perfectly content to play for 50cents a hole and others who will play for $50 or more per hole. I guess it is like going to Vegas, you have to know how much you are willing to lose if it goes badly.

[GWD]

[quote name='smeech8000' timestamp='1404747328' post='9651917']
Gary... that is sad. Not that you don't play for money as that is your prerogative, of course; but that you donated the money back!

Rabbit is a fun game whose main advantage is that it can be played by less than 4 players and may be won by a player who doesn't necessarily have a great day but finishes well or manages to put together a hot streak somewhere in the round.

[url="http://www.myscorecard.com/cgi-bin/knowledgecenter.pl?mode=article&category=golf_games&file=rabbit&article="]http://www.myscoreca...rabbit&article=[/url]

I typically play for something large enough to care about; it really adds competitive value in my opinion.

That being said I won't play a net match for anything over $5 Nassau (one press a side... definitely no two-down-autos). I like to play a $20 walkoff since it requires much less math and status-checking during the course of the match is a LOT easier for all involved.
[/quote]

Thanks for the link. It was read but the game was still not well understood. The rest of your post might as well have been written in Swahili.

I guess the game itself is competitive enough for me. Playing most often as a single probably is a factor as well. I don't mind winning or losing my own money. It goes from one pocket to the other.

[SNIPERBBB]

The weekend game at my course is as follows:

$20 buy-in(5 front/5 back/10 total)
$4 dollar closest to the pin buy-in(par 3's)
Handicaps..scratch to 25

Captains draft thier teams.
Stableford scoring for the lowest 3 scores on each hole.
No Gimmies. You can pick up if your out of the hole(double bogey or worse)
Most points wins the side. Ditto total.
Any ties on side or total are split by the tieing teams.

[edwjmcgrath]

If I'm playing in a club competition (championship or inter club match), I don't play for money. Otherwise, ALWAYS.

[Augster]

If I don't play for money, or trophies, my rounds turn into "practice rounds" really, really quickly. Playing practice rounds won't prepare you for tournament golf IMO. Only tournament golf and playing for money will do that.

To me, the beauty of golf is the fact that diseparate skill levels can have a level game through the handicap system. It's nice to shoot a good round, but it's even nicer to shoot a good round and collect $6 while doing it. And the stakes go up from there. Just playing your basic $2 nassau puts enough on the round for me to focus and care about each shot and weigh every possibility for shooting the lowest score possible the highest percentage of the time.

Our basic weekend game is $15 buy-in gross skins/nearies/rabbits. 15-35 guys depending on weather. Plus you can get as many group games and side games with others that you'd like. Lots of negotiating on the first tee.

Even when I play with my kids (10 and 12), I put money on the line for them to take from me. If they make a par, 10 cents, birdies are 25 cents and tying me on a hole is a dime and beating on a hole is a quarter. They play red tees, I play whites. They usually take a buck or two off me each time we play 9. They supplement their allowance by playing golf, and I have to focus on almost every hole because one of them is usually in position to at least tie me on a hole. (brag. today I only got out with them for 4 holes and I only had a sand wedge and played with only that club from tee to cup, putting with it also, from the reds. 2 bogies and 2 pars and I skunked them. I was shocked. /brag)

So I always try to play for some money.

[Bingo1976]

We always start the round playing for money, but rarely does anyone pay up at the end. Usually it's a round of beers after the game at most, and bragging rights until the next game. I'm far more interested in shooting below my handicap than taking someone's money (or giving mine away) but I thnk that's more common to UK golf than US from what I have seen over the years.

[HoffTTM]

Not usually for anything more than a round of drinks, suppose 20 dollars maximum.

[kekoa]

Fwiw, ive come to the point where i have to play for money. My normal game is a friendly 10/10/10 nassau. Nobody gets butt hurt over $30. For me, the added pressure gives me more of a tournament feel on casual rounds, which i love.