Nassau golf: how the bet works

Format type: A golf side game, not a form of play in the Rules of Golf. Each bet is normally scored as match play under Rule 3.2; the Nassau structure and the press conventions are the group's own.

Free tool: Nassau calculator with presses and settlement →

How a Nassau works

• Three bets, one round. The front nine (holes 1 to 9), the back nine (holes 10 to 18) and the overall 18 are three separate games. A 5-5-5 Nassau is three $5 bets; the three numbers are the stakes on the front, the back and the overall, in that order.
• Each bet is a match. Within each bet the side that wins a hole goes 1 up, a halved hole changes nothing, and the bet is decided as soon as a side is more holes up than there are holes left in it. Three up with two to play on the front nine wins the front 3&2.
• The overall is its own match. It runs across all eighteen holes and is scored on holes won over the whole round, not by adding the front result to the back. A side can lose both nines narrowly and still halve the overall, or win it, depending on the holes.
• Decided bets stop, the round does not. Once the front nine is won 3&2, holes 8 and 9 no longer affect it, but they still count for the overall and for any press running over them.
• Presses add bets. The side that is behind can open a press, a fresh bet for the same stake over the remaining holes of the nine. The original bet keeps running. Presses are covered in full below.
• Settle at the end. Count the bets each side won, including presses, net them off and the loser pays the difference times the stake. A halved bet pays nothing.

The Nassau takes its name from the Nassau Country Club on Long Island, New York, where it is said to have been invented in 1900 by the club captain, John B. Coles Tappan. Splitting the round into three games meant a heavy defeat only ever showed as a loss of one or two points rather than a lopsided score, which kept members willing to play the club's best golfers. It is still the default clubhouse bet for exactly that reason: three short games keep both sides interested to the last hole.

Rules sources: the USGA describes the Nassau as three bets over the front nine, back nine and full 18, originating at Nassau Country Club. Match-play scoring within each bet follows Rule 3.2 of the Rules of Golf. The press conventions on this page (the trailing side presses when 2 or more down, for the same stake, over the remaining holes, and a press can itself be pressed) follow the summary in Wikipedia's Nassau (bet) article; they are group conventions, not official rules.

Presses: how they open and run

A press is what makes a Nassau a Nassau. It is a new bet, for the same stake as the bet it presses, that runs from the hole it is called to the end of that nine. The original bet continues alongside it, so a press adds a bet rather than doubling the existing one. The side that opened the press can win it, lose it or halve it independently of the original.

• Who can press. By convention only the side that is behind, and usually only once it is 2 or more down in that bet. A side that is 1 down has no press to call.
• Automatic presses. Many groups agree that a press opens automatically whenever a side goes 2 down in any bet, starting from the next hole, so nobody has to ask and nobody can be accused of pressing only when the wind changes. The Nassau calculator models this when its automatic option is ticked.
• Called presses. Other groups leave it to the trailing side to decide. A called press should be announced on the tee of the hole it starts, before anyone hits, and cannot be opened once that hole is under way.
• Pressing a press. A press is a bet like any other, so if the side that opened it falls 2 down on it, that side can press the press. Three bets running on one nine is normal in a tight match.
• Presses stay in their nine. A front-nine press ends on the 9th whatever its state; it does not carry into the back. Some groups also allow a press on the overall 18 over the closing holes, which is a separate agreement.
• Late presses. A press called on the 9th tee is a one-hole bet, which is why some groups refuse presses with fewer than two or three holes left. Decide that before the round.

The money adds up quickly. A $5 Nassau with one press on each nine puts $25 in play: front, back, overall and two presses. With presses pressed, it can be more, which is the main reason to keep the base stake small.

A worked round

Alex and Ben play a $5 Nassau, one against one, with automatic presses at 2 down. The table shows who won each hole, the state of the nine's original bet, the presses, and the overall.

Front nine: Alex wins the 1st and 2nd, so Ben is 2 down and a press opens from the 3rd. Alex wins the 7th to go 3 up with 2 to play and takes the front 3&2. Ben wins the 8th and 9th, which decides nothing on the original bet but wins him the press 1 up. One bet each on the front.

Back nine: Ben wins the 10th and 11th, so Alex presses from the 12th. Alex wins the 12th and 13th, which squares the original and puts him 2 up on the press, so Ben presses that press from the 14th. Ben wins the 15th and 17th to take the original 2&1 and the second press 2&1, and the second press being decided at 2 down opens a third press for the 18th alone. The 18th is halved, so the first press (holes 12 to 18) and the third press (the 18th) are both halved. Ben wins two bets on the back.

Overall: Alex won six holes (1, 2, 4, 7, 12, 13), Ben won seven (5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17) and five were halved, so Ben wins the 18 by 1 up.

Settling up: who pays whom

Seven bets were in play in the round above. List them, mark the winner of each, and net the two columns:

Alex won one bet ($5) and Ben won four ($20). Ben is three bets ahead, so Alex pays Ben $15 and the game is square. The two halved presses pay nothing. The Nassau calculator has this exact round loaded as its worked example, so you can step through it hole by hole.

Three settlement details to agree in advance:

• Halved bets. Most groups treat a halved bet as void. Only the overall can still be level after 18, so decide whether a level overall is void or settled on one extra hole.
• Per side or per player. In a partner Nassau, such as four-ball, a $5 stake can mean $5 per side or $5 per player. Per player, each player on the losing side pays each player on the winning side.
• One payment. Net everything off and move one amount in one direction. Seven bets should never produce seven transfers.

Nassau with handicaps

Most Nassaus are played net, and because each bet is a match, the match-play allowances in the Rules of Handicapping, Appendix C apply:

• Singles. 100% of Course Handicap. The lower handicap plays off scratch and the other player receives the full difference on the holes with the lowest stroke index. An 8 handicap playing a 20 gives 12 strokes, one on each of stroke index 1 to 12.
• Four-ball. 90% of Course Handicap. Multiply each Course Handicap by 0.9, round, and the lowest Playing Handicap plays off scratch with the other three receiving the difference. Course Handicaps of 8, 12, 18 and 24 become 7, 11, 16 and 22, so the strokes given are 0, 4, 9 and 15.
• Strokes fall where the card puts them. The 12 strokes above land on stroke index 1 to 12 wherever those holes sit, so one nine may carry seven strokes and the other five. That is normal; the strokes are not re-split per nine.
• Presses use the same strokes. A press covers the remaining holes with whatever strokes those holes already carry. No extra strokes are given for a press.

The match play handicap calculator works out the strokes for singles and four-ball and, if you enter the course's stroke index, lists exactly which holes each player gets one on. With the net winner of each hole known, the Nassau is scored exactly as above.

Variants groups play

2-2-2, 5-5-5 and 5-5-10

Nassaus are often named by their stakes. The three figures are the front, the back and the overall, so a 5-5-10 Nassau doubles the stake on the overall 18. Presses are normally for the same amount as the bet they press, so a press on the front of a 5-5-10 is $5.

Partner Nassau (four-ball)

Two pairs play the three bets as four-ball: both partners play their own ball and the side's better score on each hole decides who wins it. The presses and the settlement work exactly as in singles, with the stake agreed per side or per player. This is the most common Nassau in a regular fourball.

Stroke-play Nassau (best nines)

Some groups score each nine on total strokes, gross or net, instead of holes won, and the overall on the 18-hole total. The three-bet structure and the settlement are the same, but presses sit awkwardly with stroke scoring, so these groups usually play without them.

Overall as the sum of the nines

A minority of groups score the overall by adding the front result to the back, so a side 2 up on the front and 1 down on the back is 1 up overall. The usual and more interesting convention, and the one the calculator uses, is to score the overall as its own 18-hole match on holes won. State which you are playing, because the two can give different winners.

Nassau with skins or junk

Groups often run skins or a junk game (points for sandies, greenies and the like) alongside a Nassau. Keep them on separate lines of the card and settle each on its own; mixing them into one running total is where most clubhouse arguments start.

Agree these before the first tee

• The stakes on the front, back and overall, and whether they are per side or per player.
• Match play or stroke play for each nine, and whether the overall is its own match or the sum of the nines.
• Gross or net, the allowance, and whose card holds the stroke index.
• Presses: automatic at 2 down, called by the trailing side, or none; whether a press can be pressed; whether there is a cut-off for late presses; and whether the overall can be pressed.
• Halved bets: void, or one extra hole for a level overall.
• Who keeps the card. One shared record of holes won and presses opened beats two memories at the bar.

Keep it social: the base stake should be one the whole group is comfortable with, remembering that presses can double or treble what is in play. More ideas for the group in the golf betting games guide.

Related golf formats

Explore the complete golf match-play format library, or compare skins (one skin per hole, with carryovers), four-ball, foursomes, better ball, individual match play and scramble. Brush up on match-play scoring and what dormie means, and use the skins calculator for the other big money game.

Common questions