The Whack and Hack Golf Format Explained
Combining the low ball and high ball of a four-person team is its own format that is usually called ... Low Ball/High Ball. It's the twist that comes along with making a birdie that distinguishes Whack and Hack.
So: Start with four-person teams. Everyone plays their own ball throughout (you're just playing regular golf, in other words), all four team members recording scores on each hole.
At the completion of a hole, take your team's lowest score (whack) and combine it with your team's highest score (hack), and that's your team score for the hole.
Example: On the first hole, Golfer A makes 5, Golfer B a 4, Golfer C a 6 and Golfer D a 5. The team score is 10, because the low ball was a four and the high ball was a six.
The Whack and Hack Birdie Twist
Ah, but there's that birdie twist in Whack and Hack. Let's say your team is playing a par-5 hole. Golfer A makes 5, Golfer B a 6, Golfer C a 4 and Golfer D a 7. Golfer C's four is a birdie.In Whack and Hack, when a team's low ball is a birdie, then the team gets to use its two low balls on that hole, rather than its low ball and high ball. So in this case, the team score is 9 (Golfer C's birdie four plus Golfer A's five).
It is this twist that separates Whack and Hack from a standard Low Ball/High Ball tournament. (Although note that sometimes a tournament organizer will use Whack and Hack as a straight synonym for Low Ball/High Ball and there is no birdie twist. As always, clarify any confusion about the rules before beginning any type of tournament.)
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