Now that driving ranges, practice greens and short game areas are allowed to open in Massachusetts, we wanted to share some games you can play to add some competition and enjoyment while you warm-up for your round. These all can be played with yourself or a golf partner.
Believe us, you’ll have more fun playing these games than aimless putting around the green or blasting driver over and over again. Just make sure social distancing can be applied at all times. And don’t forget your mask.
If your range has flagsticks, pick one and hit 10 balls toward it. Whoever gets the greatest number of balls closest to the pin (5 feet, 10 feet, your call), wins. As an alternative, you can pick a yardage sign and see how many you can hit to it without going over.
Pick two boundaries on the range and hit 10 shots with your driver to see how many you can get to land between those two spots. Feel free to mix in a 3 wood or another club you might use to tee off during your round.
Pretty simple, call out a shot, “land the ball within 10 yards of the 125-sign with an 8 iron.” If the golfer executes that shot, their partner has a chance to match it. If they don’t match it, they get a letter. The first person to gain all five letters, loses. You can play with as many letters as you’d like. As for mulligans, those can be debated.
A classic, pick one or two holes you’ll use for this game. Each player (best to keep it to 2 or 3) takes their shot, earning 5 points for a make or 3 for a lip-out. If neither happens, award 1 point for the person closest to the pin. Whoever gets to 21 points even (not over) is the winner. Feel free to adjust this total depending on time. Fun addition: if you hole out and the next person does the same, the second player earns an extra point.
Find a straight putt about 10 yards from the hole and place two ball markers wide enough so the ball could roll through them. The goal is to hit in between the markers and into the hole. If you play 1-on-1 you could go 1 point for through the gate, 2 if through the gate and in the hole.
Want to shave strokes from your round? In 5 ball, golfers chip from various locations around the practice green and the game is finished when you get all five shots up-and-down in a row. Channel your inner Ty Webb when you’re putting. Say it with us, “Na-na-na-na-na.”
Pick any number of holes and work your way around. The goal is to hole out on each in as few total strokes as possible. Make sure everybody is setting up from the same spot on each hole.
Pick a club, any club and try to hit a specific spot in the practice area. Then pick another club and try to hit to the same spot, and then a third club. The idea is to hit each club to hit to the same spot using a different approach (example: sand wedge for high approach). To go head-to-head with somebody else, give yourself one point for each shot that gets within 10 feet. Play to as many points as you’d like.
If the practice area has a sand trap, line up five balls. Hit the first three with a sand wedge and then the next two with another club of your choice (PW, 9-iron, lob wedge). You get 1 point for leaving the trap, 3 points for getting the ball within two club lengths of the hole and 5 points for landing in the hole. Add up your points after 5 shots and see who wins or do it again and try to beat your previous score.
