How to Play the Woodies Golf Bet

Did your drive hit a tree? Don't think of it as a mistake, think of it as a chance to win a woodie (woody). "Woodies" is the name of a side bet among golfers that pays off to anyone in the group who makes par after hitting a tree on the hole.

Woodies also goes by the names of Barkies and Seve's. Of those three commonly used names, Barkies is the most common. And Woodies and Barkies mean the same thing.

Groups that play Woodies often combine it with several other side games, award points for each woodie (or other achievement) made, then compare points at the end of the game. Each point has a monetary value, and the losers pay out to the winners.

But if you want to play Woodies by itself, then make a woodie worth X amount. And anytime a golfer in your group hits a tree then goes on to par the hole anyway, that golfer wins the bet amount.

Of course, that doesn't happen very often. Want to expand the opportunity to win a woodie? Then use handicaps and require only a net par to win the woodie. Or, to expand it even more, make the requirement not actually hitting a tree, but rather hitting into trees.

See our Barkies explanation for more details, including a variation known as "Arbor Day."

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