Closest to the Pin Golf Game Rules

Closest to the Pin (a.k.a. KP, or "greenie") is the cleanest side bet in golf: on every par 3, the player whose tee shot finishes nearest the hole wins. No scoring, no handicaps — just whose ball is closest to the cup.

The setup

1. Agree on a stake per hole — say $1, $5, whatever the group likes.
2. The game runs on par 3s only. A standard course gives you four of them, so there are four KP holes in a round.
3. Nothing to set up on the other holes — par 4s and par 5s are simply ignored.

How to win it

On a par 3, hit the green and get your tee shot closer to the hole than everyone else. The nearest ball wins the hole — full stop. It doesn't matter what you eventually score; KP is decided on the tee shot, by distance to the cup, and handicaps don't apply. That's what makes it the great equalizer: the highest handicapper in the group can stiff one to a foot and take the whole pot.

How it plays

1. Everyone tees off on the par 3. The group eyeballs (or paces, or laser-measures) which ball came to rest closest to the pin.
2. The closest player wins the hole and is awarded one point.
3. Each par 3 stands on its own. There are no carryovers — winning one greenie has no effect on the next.
4. If no closest call gets recorded on a par 3 (nobody hit the green, or the group waves it off), no money moves on that hole.

The payouts

Each par 3 is a winner-take-the-pot affair. The closest player collects one stake from every other player in the group; everyone else is out one stake.

A worked example

Foursome, $5 per hole, four par 3s on the card. Here's how the greenies fall:

• Hole 4 (par 3): Amy is closest. She collects $5 from each of the other three — +$15 — and Ben, Cole, and Dee are each down $5.
• Hole 8 (par 3): Cole stuffs it. +$15 for Cole; the other three each pay $5.
• Hole 12 (par 3): Amy again. +$15, the field pays.
• Hole 16 (par 3): Nobody finds the green and the group waves it off — push, no money moves.

Tally for the round: Amy wins two greenies for +$30, Cole wins one (+$15 from the field, −$10 on his two losing holes) for +$5, while Ben and Dee each lose three holes at $5 for −$15 apiece. Two great swings can pay for the round.

Strategy

KP is all about the par 3s, so club up or down to that pin, not just the green. The percentage play is to take dead aim only when the number fits your stock yardage — a green-in-regulation that lands 30 feet out still beats three balls in the bunker. Because there's no handicap and no carryover, every par 3 is a fresh, even-money shootout: stay aggressive, since a single tight one wins the whole pot regardless of how the rest of your round is going.

Who it's for

Closest to the Pin is the easiest side game to add to any round — perfect for groups who want a little action without tracking a full match. It works for any group size, asks nothing of the non-par-3 holes, and stacks beautifully alongside Skins, Wolf, or Banker running at the same time.

Keeping the books straight

KP sounds simple until you're four par 3s deep trying to remember who won which greenie and what everyone owes. SideAction Saloon spots the par 3s for you, lets you tap the closest player on each one, and settles every pot automatically — then ends the round with one screen: who owes who.