How to Play the Trash Golf Game

The golf game named Trash is actually a collection of common side bets, all played concurrently, and played for points. When a golfer in your groups wins a bet — say, chips in from off the green to claim a "Chippies" points — they mark it down. At the end of the round, high points wins, and golfers pay out the differences in points.

So the keys to Trash are deciding, first, which of those common side games — chippies, greenies, sandies, and so on — are going to be in play; and, second, the monetary value of each point earned.

Note that Trash goes by many other names, too, such as Garbage, Dots, Junk, and Supplemental Bets. A game called Legends is a form of the same thing. ("Trash" can also be used to refer any such side games or collection of side games, as in this passage from the book Money Golf: 600 Years of Bettin' on Birdies: "Laura Davies, Patty Sheehan, Jane Geddes, and Amy Benz got together for a spirited game complete with presses and side trash for closest to the pin, eagles, birdies, and such."

Some groups wind up including dozens (literally) of side games — common ones, others they might have just made up for themselves — as part of Trash. Other groups prefer to limit Trash to "just" five or 10 constituent games, just to make keeping tracking and calculating the final payouts easier. It's entirely up to your group to decide how to play it.

You can also adjust the value of side game, if you wish. If you want to making achieving a barkie worth two points, vs. just one point for earning an Arnie, go ahead. It's your group's choice.

The Quick Series Guide to Golf Games (affiliate link) offers suggested games and points for Trash, including 100 points for a hole-in-one, 50 points for an eagle, and just two points for a birdie. They suggest one point for, among other things, chippies, fairways hit, sandies, greenies, proxies (closest to the pin), pinnies, Hogies, Arnies and fishies. And they suggest negative points for 3-putts (minus-1 point) and 4-putts (minus-2 points), among others.

If your group has never played Trash before, you probably want to try it first with a small number of side games to make the accounting of the game easier. If you enjoy it, your group can add more games in the future.

And you are just playing stroke play, while keeping track of all the "side trash." You can still have a larger wager (or at least an additional wager) riding on the outcome of the 18-hole, stroke-play totals.

More games:

• The Blackjack golf game explained
• Ferrets and 'golden ferrets' in golf
• How to play the Fairways & Greens game

Sources:
Bohn, Michael K. Money Golf: 600 Years of Bettin' on Birdies, Potomac Books Inc., 2007.
Kaspriske, Ron. Golf Digest's Complete Book of Golf Betting Games (affiliate link), 2007, Doubleday.
The Quick Series Guide to Golf Games, 1998, Luxart Communications.