Nines Golf Game Rules

Nines (a.k.a. the 9-point game) is the perfect bet for a threesome: every single hole, nine points go up for grabs and get split three ways. Low score grabs 5, the middle man takes 3, and the high score salvages 1 — nine points, every hole, all round long.

The setup

1. You need exactly three players. Nine points divides cleanly across a threesome, which is why this is the go-to when your fourth bails.
2. Agree on a value per point — 50 cents, a dollar, whatever your group likes.
3. Every hole is worth a fixed nine points, settled on net score (handicaps count). Nobody is ever out of a hole.

How the 9 points are split

Rank the three net scores on the hole. With no ties, the points fall 5-3-1: five to the low score, three to the middle, one to the high score. That always adds up to nine. When players tie, they pool the points those finishing positions would have earned and split them evenly — so the hole still hands out exactly nine points, never more, never less.

How a hole plays

1. All three play out the hole and the net scores are compared.
2. Lowest net score takes the most points; highest takes the fewest. Everyone scores something — even last place picks up a point.
3. Ties are resolved by pooling and splitting the tied positions' points (see the table).
4. Points bank hole by hole. At the end of the round, the highest total wins the money.

The payouts

Notice the math always lands on nine. A two-way tie for first is 4-4-1; a two-way tie for last is 5-2-2; an all-square hole is a flat 3-3-3.

A worked example

Three players, $1 per point. On this par 4 (net scores):

• Amy nets a 4 — the low score. She takes 5 points.
• Ben nets a 5 — the middle. He takes 3 points.
• Cole nets a 6 — the high score. He takes 1 point.

Next hole, Amy and Ben both net a 4 to Cole's 5. Amy and Ben tie for the top two spots, so they share 5 + 3 = 8 for 4 points each, and Cole gets the lone 1 point. After two holes Amy has 9, Ben has 7, Cole has 2. At settle-up, Amy is +2 on Ben and +7 on Cole (collecting $9 total), Ben is +5 on Cole — every point you finish ahead is worth a buck from that opponent.

Strategy

Nines rewards consistency over heroics. The gap between 5 points and 3 points is only two, but the gap between winning a hole and dumping it into the trees is the whole round — bogeys still bank a point, so steady par-golf grinds out a winning total. Watch the tie lines, too: when you're in the middle, sneaking into a tie for first turns your 3 into a 4, and dragging a leader back into a tie costs them a full point. Because last place still scores, there's no such thing as picking up — fight for that single point on every hole.

Who Nines is for

This one is purpose-built for threesomes. If your foursome lost a player or you're a natural three-ball, Nines keeps all three of you invested on every hole with no byes and no sitting out. It runs happily alongside Skins for a side pot, and groups who like the head-to-head bite of Wolf or Banker will feel right at home in the points race.

Keeping the books straight

Nine points a hole sounds simple until you're tracking three running totals, applying handicaps to every net score, and untangling 4-4-1 and 5-2-2 ties for eighteen holes. By the back nine, nobody remembers who's leading by how much. SideAction Saloon splits the nine points correctly every hole — ties and all — keeps each player's total live, and ends the round with one clean screen: who owes who.