Bingo Bango Bongo: how the game works

Format type: A golf side game, not a form of play in the Rules of Golf. The round itself is played under the Rules of Golf, usually as stroke play; the three points, the strict order of play and the settlement are the group's own conventions.

Free tools: the skins calculator → if you run skins alongside, and the match play handicap calculator if the group plays the low-score variant with strokes.

How Bingo Bango Bongo works

• Three points on every hole. One each for bingo, bango and bongo, so 54 points in an 18-hole round. Every point is won by somebody; there is nothing to carry over.
• Bingo: first ball on the green. It does not matter how many strokes it took to get there. The shortest hitter is farthest away after the tee shots, plays first, and can take the point before the long hitters have played their approaches.
• Bango: nearest the hole once every ball is on the green. The point is not awarded until the last ball is on the putting surface, so a player who chips to a foot while another player is still in a bunker has to wait and see.
• Bongo: first ball in the hole. The farthest ball putts first, so bongo often goes to a long putt holed from the back of the green rather than to the player lying nearest.
• Farthest from the hole plays first, every time. On the tee the honour goes to the lowest score on the previous hole. No ready golf, and no gimmies, because two of the three points depend on who does something first.
• Most points wins. Agree a value per point before the round and settle the differences at the end. The game is normally played on top of an ordinary stroke-play round, and often alongside another game.

Sources: there is no official rule for Bingo Bango Bongo, so this page follows the conventions described by Australian Golf Digest (three points, whoever is away always plays next, honour to the lowest score, no gimmies, value per point agreed before the round, the longest-drive and low-score variants), GOLF.com (a point taken out of turn goes to the next player to achieve it, par-3 caution, $1 a point), National Club Golfer (54 points, farthest first, the bango tie-break) and Golf News Net (the winner-only settlement). Play on each hole follows the Rules of Golf, Rule 6.4.

Order of play is the whole game

Bingo and bongo are both "first to" points, so the game only means something if everyone plays in turn. The convention is the traditional one: on the tee, the player with the lowest score on the previous hole has the honour; after that, the ball farthest from the hole is played first, through the green and on it, until every ball is holed.

That is stricter than the Rules of Golf require. In stroke play, Rule 6.4b says the ball farthest from the hole should be played first, but there is no penalty for playing out of turn and players are "allowed and encouraged" to play ready golf. So the order rule in Bingo Bango Bongo is a condition the group agrees to, not a Rule, and it needs a penalty of its own. The usual one is that a point taken out of turn goes to the next player to achieve it: reach the green before it was your turn and the bingo point goes to the next ball on. Groups that want it sterner award no point for that act on that hole.

Par 3s are where it goes wrong. One player can take bingo and be lining up for bongo before the others have teed off, so the group must play the tee shots in honour order and then walk to the green and putt in order from the farthest ball. GOLF.com's description of the game as one "for rule followers" is about exactly this. In a match rather than a stroke-play round, Rule 6.4a lets the opponent cancel a stroke played out of turn, which is another reason the game usually sits on top of stroke play.

Points, ties and sweeps

Bingo and bongo cannot tie, because the balls are played one at a time and one of them is always on the green, or in the hole, before the next is played. Bango can tie, so settle the tie-break in advance. A ball holed from off the green takes bongo and never counts for bango, because it was never on the green when the others were.

A worked round

Alex, Ben, Chris and Dana play Bingo Bango Bongo for $1 a point on top of their usual Saturday round. Alex plays off 6 and Dana off 24, so in a straight stroke-play bet Dana would need 18 shots. Here nobody gets a stroke. The table shows who won each point, what happened, and the running totals in the order Alex · Ben · Chris · Dana.

Front nine: Dana, the shortest hitter, is farthest from the hole after every drive, plays first, and takes bingo on the 1st, 4th and 8th, the last of them by laying up on the par 5 and pitching on in three before the long hitters have played their thirds. On the 7th Ben hits out of turn onto the par 3, so the bingo point goes to Chris, the next ball on. After nine: Alex 9, Ben 5, Chris 7, Dana 6.

Back nine: the 11th has a bango tie between Ben and Alex, settled by the tie-break the group agreed on the first tee, first ball on the green, so Ben takes it. Dana holes a 20-footer putting first on the 10th, a 3-footer nobody was allowed to concede on the 12th and a putt from the back edge on the 16th for three more bongos. Alex sweeps the 17th, on in two, nearest and the eagle putt holed first, for 3 points.

Final points: Alex 17, Ben 12, Chris 12, Dana 13. The 24-handicapper finishes second, five of her 13 points being bingos she took by playing first. The totals add up to 54, which is the check.

Settling up: two conventions

There are two common ways to turn the points into money, and they give different amounts, so agree which before the round.

Every pair settles the difference

Each player settles with every other player on the difference in their points, at the value per point. The quick way to find a player's net is to multiply their points by the number of players and subtract the total points in the round: Alex has 17, 4 × 17 = 68, less 54 is +14. The four nets must add up to zero.

Pair by pair, Ben owes Alex $5, Chris owes Alex $5, Dana owes Alex $4, and Dana collects $1 each from Ben and Chris. Netted to the fewest payments: Ben pays Alex $6, Chris pays Alex $6 and Dana pays Alex $2. The nets (+$14, −$6, −$6, −$2) sum to zero.

Only the winner is paid

The simpler convention is that the player with the most points is paid by each other player for the gap between the winner's total and their own, and nobody else settles with anybody. Here Alex collects $5 from Ben, $5 from Chris and $4 from Dana, $14 in all. Alex ends up with the same $14 under both conventions only because Alex won every pairing; Dana's second place is worth $2 to her under the first convention and nothing under the second.

Bingo Bango Bongo with handicaps

Most groups play it without strokes, and the worked round shows why: bango and bongo have nothing to do with how many strokes a player has taken, and bingo favours whoever is farthest from the hole, which is usually the shortest hitter. The Rules of Handicapping, Appendix C lists allowances for the recognised formats and none for Bingo Bango Bongo.

The one place strokes come in is the low-score variant, where the bongo point goes to the lowest score on the hole instead of the first ball holed. Groups that play it net use the singles match-play approach: the lowest Course Handicap plays off scratch and each other player receives the full difference on the lowest stroke index holes, so Course Handicaps of 6, 12, 16 and 24 give 0, 6, 10 and 18 strokes. The match play handicap calculator works out the strokes and, with the course's stroke index, lists which holes each player gets one on.

Variants groups play

Longest drive for bingo

Groups of long hitters sometimes give the bingo point to the longest drive instead of the first ball on the green, usually the longest drive in the fairway. It removes the game's main equaliser, so it suits groups of similar standard, and it needs a referee on every tee.

Fewest strokes for bingo

For strong players, bingo goes to the player who reaches the green in the fewest strokes, with the first ball on breaking a tie. Order of play matters less in this version, which is why some groups prefer it.

Low score for bongo

Bongo goes to the lowest score on the hole rather than the first ball holed, with no point if two players tie. This is the version that can use handicaps, as above. It also removes the par-3 scramble for first in.

Weighted points and doubled sweeps

Some groups make one point worth more than the others, for example two for bango, or double the hole when one player takes all three. The total points in the round then vary, so the "multiply by players and subtract the total" check still works but the total has to be counted first.

Teams and two players

In teams of two the point goes to the side whose ball earned it and the sides settle on the difference. With two players the game is identical and the settlement is the difference in points. Three players works as written, with 54 points shared three ways.

Alongside another game

Because it is scored on where the balls finish rather than on the score, Bingo Bango Bongo runs comfortably on top of a Nassau or skins. The only clash is order of play: a Nassau is match play, where Rule 6.4a lets an opponent cancel a stroke played out of turn, so keep the order strict for both games.

Agree these before the first tee

• The three points as standard, or with a variant (longest drive, fewest strokes, low score), and whether any point is weighted.
• Order of play: honour to the lowest score, farthest from the hole first everywhere else, no ready golf.
• The out-of-turn penalty: the point goes to the next player to achieve it, or to nobody.
• No gimmies. Every putt is holed.
• The bango tie-break: first on the green, or split the point.
• Sweeps: 3 points or doubled.
• The settlement: every pair settles the difference, or only the winner is paid, and the value per point.
• Who keeps the card. Three ticks per hole on one shared record beats four memories at the bar.

Keep it social: a dollar a point is plenty, because the most anyone can lose in a four-ball is the gap to the winner across 54 points. More ideas for the group in the golf betting games guide.

Related golf formats

Explore the complete golf match-play format library, or compare Wolf (teams that change on every tee), Vegas (paired scores and the birdie flip), skins (one skin per hole, with carryovers), Nassau (three matches in one round, with presses), four-ball, foursomes, better ball, individual match play and scramble. Brush up on match-play scoring, and use the skins calculator and Nassau calculator for the other big money games.

Common questions