Wolf golf: how the game works

Format type: A golf side game, not a form of play in the Rules of Golf. Each hole is played under the Rules of Golf and decided on the better ball of each side, as in four-ball; the rotation, the partner pick and the points are the group's own conventions.

Free tools: match play handicap calculator → for the strokes, and the skins calculator if you run skins alongside.

How Wolf works

• Set the order on the first tee. Draw or agree a tee order for the four players. That order never changes during the round, whoever wins the previous hole.
• The Wolf rotates. The first player in the order is the Wolf on the 1st, the second on the 2nd, and so on. Each player is the Wolf every fourth hole: the 1st-hole Wolf is Wolf again on the 5th, 9th and 13th. Holes 17 and 18 have their own rule, covered below.
• The Wolf tees off first and then watches the other three drive, one at a time, in the fixed order.
• Pick or pass, one drive at a time. After each drive the Wolf must decide immediately: take that player as a partner, or pass. Once the next player has hit, the previous one is gone. A Wolf who passes on all three plays the hole alone.
• The hole is better ball. With a partner it is two against two; the lower score on each side counts and the lower side score wins the hole. Alone, the lone wolf's score plays the better ball of the other three.
• Points go on the card, not money. Each hole pays points to the winners by the scheme the group agreed. A halved hole scores nothing. The points are converted to money once at the end.

Sources: there is no official rule for Wolf, so this page follows the conventions described by Australian Golf Digest (fixed tee order, the Wolf hits first, pick or pass after each drive, lone wolf 2 points for a win and 1 to each opponent for a loss, blind wolf doubles), the SwingU clubhouse guide (the Wolf every fourth hole, the lowest-points player as Wolf on 17 and 18, blind wolf for more) and the 18Birdies Wolf rules (a passed player cannot be chosen later on the same hole). Play on each hole follows the Rules of Golf.

The Wolf's choice: partner, lone wolf or blind wolf

The whole game sits in the few seconds after each tee shot. The Wolf has three ways to play a hole:

• Take a partner. The Wolf likes a drive and claims that player on the spot. The hole becomes two against two, better ball, and the Wolf and partner share the result. A safe pick after a good drive from a strong player is the bread and butter of the game.
• Lone wolf. The Wolf passes on all three drives, or declares after a good drive of their own, and plays one against three. The lone wolf's own score must beat the better ball of the other three. The reward is doubled points; the cost of losing is a point to each of the other three.
• Blind wolf. The Wolf declares lone wolf on the tee before anyone, including the Wolf, has hit. The points on the hole are doubled again, so a blind wolf win is worth 4 points by the simple scheme and a blind wolf loss gives 2 points to each opponent. Some groups triple a blind wolf instead; agree which.

Two timing rules keep the game honest. The pick must be made before the next player tees off, so the Wolf cannot wait to see all three drives and then choose the best. And a passed player cannot be chosen later on the same hole, so a Wolf who passes on the third drive is a lone wolf whether they like it or not.

The points scheme

There is no single official scheme, so the table below gives the simplest one, which is the one the worked round uses. The weighted alternative that several scoring apps use is listed under variants.

Notice that the lone wolf risks three points to win two. That is deliberate: it makes going alone a genuine gamble rather than the default, and it is why the total points in the game grow fastest when lone wolves lose.

A worked round

Alex, Ben, Chris and Dana draw that tee order and play Wolf for $2 a point with the simple scheme. The table shows who was Wolf, what they called, who won the hole, the points scored and the running totals in tee order (Alex · Ben · Chris · Dana).

Front nine: Chris goes lone wolf on the 3rd and wins it for 2 points. Ben tries the same on the 6th, loses to the other three's better ball and gives a point to each of them. Dana calls a blind wolf on the 8th tee before anyone has hit, wins the hole alone and scores 4 points, which turns a 1-point deficit into a share of the lead. After nine: Alex 6, Ben 3, Chris 5, Dana 5.

Back nine: Alex's lone wolf on the 13th fails and squares three players at 7. The four-hole rotation finishes on the 16th with Ben last on 6 points, so Ben is the Wolf on the 17th, takes Chris and wins a point, and is still last on 7 going to the 18th. Ben's lone wolf on the last loses, and each of the other three takes a point.

Final points: Alex 9, Ben 7, Chris 9, Dana 10. Dana wins the game.

Settling up: who pays whom

Wolf settles on the differences in points between every pair of players, at the agreed value per point. Each row below shows a player's point total, the difference against each other player, and the net result at $2 a point.

The four net amounts (+$2, −$14, +$2, +$10) add up to zero, which is the check that the sums are right. The quickest way to find a player's net is to multiply their points by the number of players and subtract the group's total points: Dana has 10 points, 4 × 10 = 40, the group total is 35, so Dana is +5 points, or +$10.

Pair by pair, Ben owes Alex $4, Chris $4 and Dana $6, Alex owes Dana $2 and Chris owes Dana $2. Netted to the fewest payments: Ben pays Dana $10, Ben pays Alex $2 and Ben pays Chris $2, and everyone is square. Three transfers instead of five, and nobody is paying and collecting at the same time.

Holes 17 and 18, and who is Wolf when

Four players rotating in turn cover 16 holes exactly, which leaves the last two. The common convention, and the one the worked round uses, is that the player with the fewest points is the Wolf on the 17th, and the player with the fewest points after the 17th is the Wolf on the 18th, which may be the same person. It gives the player furthest behind two chances to go lone wolf and catch up, which keeps the last two holes alive for everyone.

Agree a tie-break for the fewest points before the round: the earlier player in the original tee order is the simplest. Some groups instead continue the rotation to the 17th and 18th and give the last two holes to whoever is next, which is simpler but means two players get five Wolf holes and two get four.

Wolf with handicaps

Most groups play Wolf net so that a lone wolf is a fair bet whoever calls it. The Rules of Handicapping, Appendix C lists allowances for the recognised formats and none for Wolf, so the group chooses:

• Play off the lowest at 100%. The lowest Course Handicap plays off scratch and each other player receives the full difference on the lowest stroke index holes, as in singles match play. Course Handicaps of 8, 12, 18 and 24 give 0, 4, 10 and 16 strokes.
• Apply the four-ball allowance first. Because most holes are two against two, some groups take 90% of each Course Handicap, as four-ball match play does, before playing off the lowest. The same four players become 7, 11, 16 and 22, so the strokes are 0, 4, 9 and 15.
• Strokes stay with the hole. A player's stroke on stroke index 3 counts on that hole whether they are the Wolf, a partner or one of the three, and whether the hole is two against two or one against three.

The match play handicap calculator works out the strokes for either approach and, if you enter the course's stroke index, lists exactly which holes each player gets one on. Score each hole net and the points are scored exactly as above.

Variants groups play

Weighted points

Several scoring apps and groups weight the points to reward the harder results: 2 points each when the Wolf and partner win, 3 points each when the other pair beat them, 4 points for a lone wolf win and 1 point each to the other three when a lone wolf loses, with a blind wolf doubled. The structure of the game is identical; only the numbers change, so write the scheme on the card before the first tee.

A point from each opponent

Some groups score a lone wolf win as 3 points, one taken from each of the three opponents, rather than 2. It makes a lone wolf win and a lone wolf loss symmetrical (three points either way) and settles cleanly, because every point can be traced to the player it came from.

The Wolf tees off last

In the reverse version the Wolf hits last and chooses a partner after seeing all three drives but before hitting their own. It makes the partner pick easier and the lone wolf call harder, since the Wolf has not yet seen their own drive, so these groups often require the lone wolf call to be made before the Wolf tees off.

Carryovers

A halved hole normally scores nothing. Groups that want more swing carry the halved hole's points to the next hole, as in skins, so the next hole is worth double for whichever side wins it. It raises the stakes of a lone wolf call on a carried hole considerably.

Three players

With three players the Wolf always plays alone against the better ball of the other two, scoring 2 points for a win and giving 1 point to each opponent for a loss, and the rotation covers 18 holes exactly. Australian Golf Digest also describes a version in which the player with the second-best drive on each hole becomes the Wolf. Either way, say which before the round.

Five players

Five players rotate through 15 holes and the last three go to the players with the fewest points, or the group simply continues the rotation. A lone wolf plays one against the better ball of four, so most five-player groups give the lone wolf 3 or 4 points for a win rather than 2.

Agree these before the first tee

• The tee order, drawn or agreed, and that it stays fixed all round.
• The points scheme: simple or weighted, how much a lone wolf wins and loses, and whether a blind wolf doubles or triples.
• The value per point, kept small, because lone wolf losses pay three players at once.
• Gross or net, and if net, whether you play off the lowest at 100% or apply 90% first.
• Holes 17 and 18: fewest points takes the Wolf, and the tie-break.
• Halved holes: nothing, or carried to the next hole.
• Timing: the pick is made before the next player hits, a passed player is gone, and a blind wolf is called before the Wolf's own drive.
• Who keeps the card. Wolf, call, result and running points on one shared record beats four memories at the bar.

Keep it social: the value per point should be one the whole group is comfortable with, remembering that a lone wolf loss pays three people. 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), Nassau (three matches in one round, with presses), Vegas (paired scores and the birdie flip), Bingo Bango Bongo (three points a hole, none for the score), 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