2) Tee shots are (mostly) irrelevant
When you’re playing short, everything that happens between the tee and your allotted distance is irrelevant. Hit two consecutive tee shots on a par-5 into the water? You won’t be punished. But once the game begins, all bets are off.
Let’s take our 10-handicap, we’ll call him Joe. Joe tees off out of bounds on the first hole, a par-4, while the rest of his foursome finds the fairway. On his second tee shot, Joe finds the fairway and has only 125 yards left to the pin. His game begins on his fourth shot (since he’s within his “Short” distance of 150 yards), while the rest of his teammates begin the game on their second shot. Normally, Joe would almost certainly lose money on the hole for his errant tee shot, but in Short, Joe and his buddies haven’t begun their game until they hit their approaches.
3) Scoring
Short’s scoring is remarkably simple. Once each player has reached their target distance, the game begins. From there, each player hits their approach into the hole. If for any reason, their shot does not go past (or into) the hole, they are administered a point. For every successive shot in which they do not hit it past the hole or finish the hole, they are given one more point.
If Joe chunks his wedge, while the rest of his buddies all pure their approaches to five feet past the hole, Joe picks up a point, while the rest of his friends do not.
4) Absolution
While playing Short, you may be absolved of your lay-ups (or any other shots short of the hole) by scoring par or better. In other words, any points accumulated on a hole that ends in a score of par or better do not count.
5) Money
The goal of Short is to finish your round with the fewest amount of points in your foursome. Some play the game that the highest point-scorer has to buy the rest drinks, but we recommend playing for $1 per point. There’s nothing that stokes the fire of aggression in your lag-putting friends quite like seeing their wallets grow lighter by the minute.
Why you should play
Short is a game for the uber aggressive (or those looking to walk in the shoes of the uber aggressive). The sliding scale of starting distance for each player makes it equally as fun to play with golfers of varying skill levels as it does for groups with identical handicaps. Next time you and your buddies are feeling a penchant for going long, do yourselves a favor and play Short.
A special thanks to Wayne Gish of Tacoma, WA for this week’s golf game. Do you have an awesome golf game you want to see highlighted by us? Send your suggestions to [email protected]
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