How to Play the Chippies Side Bet in Golf

"Chippies" is the name of a side bet among golfers playing together in a group. And it's pretty basic: If you chip in from off the green, you win one unit of the bet.

Groups that want to play the Chippies bet (it is much more common to combine it with other, similar bets than to play Chippies as a standalone game) have to decide before the round how much each chip-in is worth. Give each one a monetary value or a points value.

Then, throughout the round, any golfer who chips in from off the green wins that value. Just make sure before teeing off that everyone agrees that a) chippies are worth X amount; and b) chippies are in effect.

Something else that is completely up to each group playing Chippies: whether or not there is a distance requirement for a chip-in to win the bet. Most groups just stipulate that the ball must be off the green (including those that are in the fringe but not on the putting surface). Such details are for the golfers to decide in betting games like Chippies.

Also note that something your group should clear up before beginning the round is whether any hole-out from off the green wins the bet, or just those on which the golfer used a standard chipping technique.

If you have a regular group, you should only have to discuss the parameters of Chippies (and similar bets) once, to establish the ground rules going forward. But if you join a new group that is playing Chippies, make sure everyone agrees on the ground rules before the round begins.

Photo credit: "Nathan Suender Chip Shot" by suendercafe is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0