How to Play '3-Putt Monte' Golf Game

Three-Putt Monte is the name of a golf side game, played for money, for any group of golfers playing a round together. And yes, it pays off to the golfer who is great at avoiding three-putts, but some luck is involved, too.

Three-Putt Monte (sometimes spelled 3-Putt Monty) is best for high-handicappers because it actually requires 3-putts for the pot to rotate around among the players. It is a bad idea to get into a wager on 3-Putt Monte in a group that includes a great putter. And in a group of low-handicappers, there may not be enough 3-putts throughout the round to make the game interesting (although low-handicappers can certainly give it a go and find out).

Three-Putt Monte starts with members of the group paying into the pot. If four put in $5 each, that's a $20 pot. Whatever the pot is, half will be awarded following the ninth hole, and half after the 18th hole.

With the pot established, the golfers in the group:

• Randomly determine the teeing order on the first hole. That teeing order establishes the golfers' identity (Golfer A, B, C and D) for the remainder of the round.
• Golfer A, as the first player to tee off on Hole 1, begins as the holder of the pot. If Golfer A does not 3-putt (or worse) on the first green, he continues holding the pot. At whatever point Golfer A 3-putts, the pot passes to Golfer B. (Now you see why it's so important that there actually be a good number of three-putts in this game!)
• The group plays the round, with the pot passing to the next golfer in line each time the holder of the pot 3-putts. At the end of the front nine, the golfer who holds the pot wins half the money. If the pot was $20, the holder of the pot after Hole 9 wins $10.
• Do it again on the back nine, but with the pot starting with the same golfer who held it following the ninth.
• The golfer who holds the pot after the 18th hole wins the other half of the money.

Clearly, in addition to an ability to avoid three-putts, a certain amount of luck is needed to win any money in 3-Putt Monte. And you definitely need the other golfers in the game to suffer from 3-putts.

There is another way to play the same basic format but in a way that rewards good putting rather than punishing poor putting: Play it so that the pot passes each time a golfer in the group one-putts. If you are Golfer C and Golfer B just one-putted, you can take the pot away from her by dropping your own one-putt on top of hers.

More formats:

• How to play Three-Club Monte
• One-Person Captain's Choice format explained
• How to play the Fairways Minus Putts game