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Nines and twelves: point games for three and four

Nine points are shared out on every hole between three players, 5 to the low score, 3 to the middle, 1 to the high. With four players it becomes twelve points, split 6, 4, 2 and 0. Everybody scores something on almost every hole, so nobody is ever out of it, and a bad hole costs you two points rather than a match.

Nines is the answer to the question every threesome asks on the first tee, which is what do three people actually play. Match play needs two sides and skins gets thin with three. Nines gives a threesome a real game for eighteen holes.

Nines, for three players

Nine points a hole, 162 across eighteen. Playing exactly average across the round gives you 54.

Twelves, for four players

The zero at the bottom is the difference in feel between the two games. In nines everybody scores on every hole. In twelves the worst score on the hole gets nothing, which bites a little harder.

Ties, which is where groups go wrong

Players who tie share the points for the positions they occupy between them, equally. Not the higher value, not the lower one, the average of the places they are covering.

Two players tie for low in a nines game. Between them they occupy first and second, so they share 5 and 3, which is 8 split two ways. Four points each. The third player still takes 1.

Twelves works identically. Two tying for low share 6 and 4, so 5 each. All four tying share twelve points, so 3 each. In every case the hole still hands out exactly nine or exactly twelve points, which is the check that it has been done right.

The common mistake is giving tied players the higher value each, so two players tying for low both take 5 and the hole suddenly pays out eleven points. Do that for eighteen holes and the totals are meaningless.

Playing with handicaps

Both games work on net scores if you want them to, with strokes falling on the holes the card's stroke index says. Because position on the hole is all that matters, a single stroke in the right place can move a player from 1 point to 5, which is a bigger swing than it looks.

Played scratch in a group of mixed ability, the weakest player takes 1 point a hole for eighteen holes and the game is over by the fourth. If the handicaps differ by more than a few shots, play it net.

Why the odd numbers

Five, three and one are spaced so that winning a hole outright is worth noticeably more than coming second, while coming last is still worth something. Had it been 4-3-2 the gaps would be too small to chase, and 6-2-1 would make a single hole too decisive. The arithmetic is also easy to do in your head on the next tee, which matters more than it should.

Questions that come up

Can you play nines with four players?

Not sensibly. Nine points do not divide cleanly across four positions, which is exactly why twelves exists.

What happens when two players tie for low?

They share the points for first and second place equally: 4 each in nines, 5 each in twelves. The remaining players take the positions below as normal.

Is it played net or gross?

Either, but if the handicaps in the group differ by more than a few shots, play it net or the game ends early.

What is a good total?

In nines, 54 is exactly average across eighteen holes. Anything over 60 is a strong round. In twelves the average is 54 as well, since twelve points split four ways is three a hole.

Does it combine with other games?

Yes. Like Stableford it only needs the scores you are already writing down, so it runs alongside skins or a nassau without interfering.

Ties shared correctly on every hole, net or gross, with the running totals in front of the whole group.