Golf Betting & Payout Calculator

How bagboy settles every game automatically

Why settling golf bets is complicated

Golf side bets sound simple on the first tee. Someone says "skins, five bucks a hole" and everyone nods. By the turn, someone else has added a Nassau. A fourth player wants a closest-to-the-pin bet on the par threes. Presses get called on the back nine. And by the time you're in the parking lot trying to figure out who owes what, the round that took four hours to play takes another twenty minutes of mental math.

The problem isn't any single game. Each format has its own settlement logic, and when you stack two or three games on top of each other in the same round, the calculations multiply. Add handicap strokes and you're doing math that even good golfers get wrong.

Here's what makes golf bet settlement genuinely hard:

• Multiple games running simultaneously. Most groups don't play just one game. A typical Saturday foursome might run skins, a team Nassau, and individual match play all at once. Each game settles differently.
• Handicap strokes land on specific holes. A 12-handicapper gets strokes on the 12 hardest holes, not a flat reduction. Which holes those are depends on the course's stroke index. In skins, a stroke on a hole can turn a bogey into a net par — which could push a skin. In Nassau, strokes shift the hole-by-hole match play result.
• Presses create sub-bets mid-round. When someone's down in a Nassau, they can press — starting a new bet from that hole forward. A round can generate three, four, even six separate Nassau bets if both sides press aggressively. Each press settles independently.
• Carries and rollovers compound value. In skins, when nobody wins a hole outright, that skin carries to the next hole. By the 16th hole, a carried skin might be worth four holes. One birdie there swings the entire ledger.
• Team games add another layer. Wolf, best ball, scramble bets — these require tracking team assignments that change every hole (in wolf, the teams form dynamically) and applying handicaps correctly within the team format.
• The final math is a matrix, not a single number. When four players are involved, you can't just say "Player A won $30." You need to know that Player A owes Player B $5, Player B owes Player C $15, Player C owes Player A $20, and Player D owes everyone. The settlement needs to net all these debts into the fewest payments.

How each game type settles

Every golf side game has its own rules for how results turn into what players owe each other. Here's a breakdown of the most popular formats and how their payouts work.

Skins

Each hole has a skin worth a fixed amount (say, $5). The player with the lowest score on that hole wins the skin. If two or more players tie, the skin carries to the next hole. At the end, each player's winnings are the number of skins they won multiplied by the per-skin value, and settlement is against every other player individually.

Example: In a foursome at $5/skin, if Player A wins 6 skins and Player B wins 3, Player A is up $15 on Player B (the difference of 3 skins at $5 each). That same math runs between every pair of players.

Nassau

A Nassau is three separate match play bets wrapped in one: the front nine, the back nine, and the overall 18. Each is worth the agreed amount — a "$10 Nassau" means $10 on the front, $10 on the back, $10 on the overall. That's $30 in total exposure per player.

Nassau can be individual (each player vs. each player) or team (2v2). Settlement runs separately for each of the three bets, and presses — if your group allows them — add additional bets on top.

A press starts a new match from the current hole to the end of the nine (or round). If you press on hole 6, the press covers holes 6 through 9, worth the same amount as the original front nine bet. Presses can stack.

Wolf

Wolf is a rotating-partner game. On each hole, the designated "wolf" tees off first and watches the other players hit. The wolf can pick a partner after any tee shot, or go alone (a "lone wolf") for double stakes. If the wolf and their partner win the hole, they collect from the other two. If they lose, they pay.

Wolf settlement is per-hole. Points accumulate over 18 holes, and the final payout is the net point total multiplied by the per-point value. The wolf rotation means every player is the wolf on at least four holes.

Match play

Pure match play is hole-by-hole: win the hole, take a point. Halve the hole, split. The match ends when one player is up by more holes than remain ("3 and 2" means three up with two to play). Settlement is typically a fixed amount per match, not per hole.

In a foursome, six individual matches run simultaneously (every player against every other). Keeping all six straight on paper is where things fall apart.

Stroke play (medal)

Each stroke counts. Settlement is usually per-stroke: if you're playing $5 a stroke and lose by 4, you owe $20. Simple in theory, but when handicaps are applied, you need to calculate each player's net score correctly.

Stableford

Points-based scoring: double bogey or worse = 0, bogey = 1, par = 2, birdie = 3, eagle = 4, albatross = 5. The player with the most points wins. Settlement is usually per-point differential. Modified Stableford shifts the point scale to penalize high scores more aggressively.

Vegas (a.k.a. Las Vegas)

A team game where each team's scores on a hole are placed side by side to form a two-digit number (lower score first). If one team shoots 4-5, their number is 45. If the other shoots 3-6, their number is 36. The difference (45 - 36 = 9) times the per-point value is the swing. Vegas numbers can get large fast.

Nines (a.k.a. Dots, Points, Garbage)

Nine points are distributed each hole among three players: 5-3-1 for a clear win, 4-3-2 if two tie for best, 3-3-3 if all three tie. Settlement is per-point at the end of the round.

Sixes (a.k.a. Round Robin)

Partners rotate every six holes in a threesome. Holes 1-6: Player A + B vs. C. Holes 7-12: A + C vs. B. Holes 13-18: B + C vs. A. Each six-hole segment is its own match.

Manual settlement: a worked example

Let's walk through what settling up actually looks like when you do it by hand. Four players — call them Alex, Ben, Chris, and Dana — play 18 holes with the following games running:

• Skins at $5 per skin (with carryovers)
• Individual Nassau at $10 per bet
• Closest to the pin on holes 4, 8, 12, and 16 at $5 each

All four players have handicaps: Alex is a 6, Ben is a 14, Chris is a 10, Dana is an 18.

Here's what you need to calculate after the round:

Step 1: Figure out strokes. Using the course's stroke index, determine which holes each player gets strokes on. Ben (14 handicap) gets strokes on the 14 hardest holes. Dana (18) gets strokes on all 18. Alex (6) gets 6. Every player's strokes are different, and they affect both the skins and the Nassau.

Step 2: Calculate net scores for all 18 holes, all four players. That's 72 net scores. On any hole where a player gets a stroke, subtract one from their gross score to get the net.

Step 3: Determine skins results. Go hole by hole. Compare all four net scores. If one player has the lowest net score alone, they win the skin. If two or more tie for lowest, the skin carries. Track carries. A skin on hole 15 might be worth 4 holes if holes 12-14 all carried.

Step 4: Settle skins. Count each player's total skins. Calculate the pairwise difference between every two players (six pairs in a foursome) and multiply by $5. Alex vs. Ben, Alex vs. Chris, Alex vs. Dana, Ben vs. Chris, Ben vs. Dana, Chris vs. Dana. Six calculations.

Step 5: Calculate the Nassau. Front nine match play (net scores, hole by hole) for each of the six player pairings. Back nine match play for each pairing. Overall 18 match play for each pairing. That's 18 match results. For each, determine if any presses were called and calculate those sub-matches too.

Step 6: Settle the Nassau. For each of the six pairings, tally front + back + overall + any presses. Multiply by $10.

Step 7: Add closest to the pin. Four separate $5 bets, one winner each.

Step 8: Build the ledger. For all six pairs, add skins + Nassau + CTP results. Net them out. Now you have six numbers, but players need the fewest actual payments. Optimize: if Alex owes Ben $25 and Ben owes Chris $15 and Chris owes Alex $10... you need to figure out who just pays whom and how much.

That's at least 20 minutes of arithmetic, usually done on the back of a scorecard with a beer in one hand. Mistakes are inevitable. Arguments follow.

How bagboy calculates and settles your bets

bagboy is a golf betting calculator that runs in real time. Here's how it works, step by step:

1. Set up your games before the round. When you create a round in bagboy, you pick the course, tees, and players. Then you add games: skins, Nassau, wolf, match play, or any combination. Set the stakes. If your group plays with handicaps, bagboy pulls each player's index and calculates course handicaps automatically.
2. One person keeps score. The scorekeeper enters gross scores hole by hole. Everyone else in the group follows the live scorecard on their phone. bagboy applies handicap strokes to the correct holes automatically — you never have to think about which holes get strokes.
3. Games update in real time. As scores come in, bagboy calculates every game simultaneously. Skins carry automatically. Nassau matches update hole by hole. Wolf points accumulate with the correct team assignments. You can see standings for every game at any point during the round.
4. The round ends and the math is done. When the last score is entered and the round is finalized, bagboy produces the complete settlement. Every game, every player, every dollar — all netted out.
5. Who owes who: fewest payments. bagboy's algorithm nets all debts across all games and tells each player exactly who to pay and how much, minimizing the number of transactions. If Alex owes Ben $20 in skins but Ben owes Alex $15 in the Nassau, Alex just owes Ben $5.
6. One-tap Venmo. Tap a payment, and bagboy opens Venmo with the recipient and amount pre-filled. You hit send. bagboy never touches, holds, or transfers the money — it just does the math and makes paying easy.

The "Who Owes Who" feature

This is the part golfers love most. After 18 holes with three different games running, nobody wants to do the math. bagboy nets every debt from every game into the minimum number of payments between players.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Three payments instead of twelve. No mental math. No arguments about who had the carry on 14.

If someone pays you back in cash at the bar, you can mark it settled in the app. bagboy tracks the ledger across rounds, so if you play the same group every weekend, you can see running totals and settle less frequently.

Games bagboy calculates

Frequently asked questions

Can I use bagboy without playing for money?

Absolutely. bagboy is a full golf scorecard with or without side bets. Plenty of groups use it just for the live group scorecard, crew leaderboards, and the social feed. Set the stakes to $0 or skip adding games entirely.

Does bagboy handle handicaps?

Yes. Add your USGA/WHS Handicap Index on your profile and bagboy calculates course handicaps for the tees you're playing. Strokes are applied to the correct holes based on the course's stroke index — automatically, for every game.

Does bagboy hold or transfer money?

Never. bagboy is a calculator and scorekeeper. It shows you who owes who and opens Venmo (or another payment app) with the details pre-filled. The money moves directly between players. bagboy never collects, holds, or transfers funds.

What if we play different games every week?

You can set up any combination of games for each round. Play skins one week, wolf the next, or stack three games on the same round. bagboy handles it all.

Does it work for three players? Five?

Yes. bagboy supports groups of 2 to however many your round includes. Some games are designed for specific group sizes (wolf is best with 4, Nines needs exactly 3), and bagboy will let you know which games work for your group.

Is it free?

Yes. bagboy is free to download and use. No subscription, no premium tier, no in-app purchases to unlock games.

Related