Nassau Golf
Calculator
How to calculate a Nassau payout — front 9, back 9, overall, plus presses. A full worked example with $5 bets, auto-press, and the final who-owes-who settlement. Then let bagboy do it for you.
A Nassau golf calculator determines who wins each of the three bets (front 9, back 9, overall), adds any press bets, and shows the exact who-owes-who settlement. A $5 Nassau with two presses on the back nine and one on the overall can produce a final payout ranging from $0 (all pushes) to $40+ per player. Here is how to calculate every scenario.
How Nassau Payouts Work
A Nassau is three independent match-play bets at an agreed-upon amount. A "$5 Nassau" means:
- $5 on the front nine (match play, holes 1–9)
- $5 on the back nine (match play, holes 10–18)
- $5 on the overall (match play, holes 1–18)
Each bet is won by the player (or team) who wins more holes in that segment. If a segment is tied after all its holes are played, that bet pushes and nobody pays. The maximum base exposure without presses is $15 ($5 × 3 bets).
Presses increase the total. Each press is a new bet at the same dollar amount, covering the remaining holes in the segment. The number of presses is theoretically unlimited, which is why Nassau payouts can exceed the base $15 by a significant amount.
Calculating the Three Base Bets
Each bet uses match-play scoring. On every hole, the player with the lower net score wins the hole. Ties halve the hole (no change in status). The status is tracked as "up" or "down" by a number of holes.
At the end of the segment:
| Result | Payout |
|---|---|
| Player A is 1 or more up | Player B pays Player A the bet amount |
| All square | Push — no money changes hands |
Note: it does not matter whether you are 1 up or 5 up — the payout is the same. You win the bet amount. The margin of victory does not affect the base payout (though some house rules play "by the hole," paying per hole won rather than a flat bet).
How Press Bets Are Calculated
A press starts a new, independent bet at the same dollar amount, running from the current hole to the end of the segment. The most common press trigger is "2 down" — when a player falls 2 behind in any segment, a new press automatically starts.
Each press has its own match-play status, independent of the original bet and any earlier presses. You track them in parallel. When a press itself falls 2 behind, another press can start. This can produce a chain of presses on the back nine if the match keeps swinging.
Press payout rules are the same as base bets: the player who is ahead at the end of the segment wins the press. A tied press pushes.
Full 18-Hole Worked Example
Setup: Player A vs. Player B. $5 Nassau. Auto-press at 2 down. Handicap strokes applied (Player B gets 6 strokes on designated holes).
Front Nine — Holes 1–9
| Hole | A Net | B Net | Hole Winner | Match Status | Press Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 | A | A 1 up | — |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Halve | A 1 up | — |
| 3 | 5 | 4 | B | All Square | — |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | A | A 1 up | — |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | B | All Square | — |
| 6 | 5 | 4 | B | B 1 up | — |
| 7 | 6 | 4 | B | B 2 up | Press 1 starts (A is 2 down) |
| 8 | 4 | 5 | A | B 1 up | P1: A 1 up |
| 9 | 4 | 4 | Halve | B 1 up | P1: A 1 up |
Front nine results:
- Base bet: B wins ($5 from A to B)
- Press 1 (holes 7–9): A wins ($5 from B to A)
- Front nine net: Push — the press cancels the base bet
Back Nine — Holes 10–18
| Hole | A Net | B Net | Hole Winner | Match Status | Press 1 | Press 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 4 | 5 | A | A 1 up | — | — |
| 11 | 4 | 4 | Halve | A 1 up | — | — |
| 12 | 5 | 4 | B | All Square | — | — |
| 13 | 6 | 4 | B | B 1 up | — | — |
| 14 | 5 | 4 | B | B 2 up | P1 starts (A 2 dn) | — |
| 15 | 4 | 5 | A | B 1 up | P1: A 1 up | — |
| 16 | 5 | 4 | B | B 2 up | P1: AS | P2 starts (A 2 dn on base again) |
| 17 | 4 | 5 | A | B 1 up | P1: A 1 up | P2: A 1 up |
| 18 | 4 | 4 | Halve | B 1 up | P1: A 1 up | P2: A 1 up |
Back nine results:
- Base bet: B wins ($5 from A to B)
- Press 1 (holes 14–18): A wins ($5 from B to A)
- Press 2 (holes 16–18): A wins ($5 from B to A)
- Back nine net: A wins $5 (loses base $5, wins two presses for $10)
Overall — Holes 1–18
The overall match is one continuous match-play contest across all 18 holes. Adding up all the hole results:
- A won 7 holes, B won 8 holes, 3 halves.
- Final overall status: B 1 up.
- Overall bet: B wins ($5 from A to B).
- No press was triggered on the overall (A never fell 2 down in the overall count simultaneously — the hole-by-hole overall status fluctuated but stayed within 1).
Final Settlement — Who Owes Who
| Bet | Winner | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Front 9 base | B | $5 |
| Front 9 Press 1 | A | $5 |
| Back 9 base | B | $5 |
| Back 9 Press 1 | A | $5 |
| Back 9 Press 2 | A | $5 |
| Overall | B | $5 |
Net settlement:
- B won 3 bets ($15 total): front base, back base, overall.
- A won 3 bets ($15 total): front press, back press 1, back press 2.
- Final result: Push. Nobody pays.
This is why presses exist. Without presses, A would have lost $15 straight (all three base bets). The presses gave A a chance to fight back, and A rallied to break even. That is the beauty of the Nassau — the three-bet structure plus presses mean the competition stays alive for all eighteen holes.
What If There Were No Presses?
Without presses, the settlement would be:
- Front 9: B wins $5
- Back 9: B wins $5
- Overall: B wins $5
- Total: A pays B $15.
Presses turned a $15 loss into a push. That swing is why nearly every serious Nassau includes auto-press rules.
Team Nassau Calculation
A team Nassau (2v2) works identically, but each team's score on a hole is the lower net score of the two partners (best ball). The match-play status, presses, and settlement math are all the same — just substitute "Team A" and "Team B" for individual players.
Example: On hole 4, Player A1 shoots 5 and Player A2 shoots 4 (net). Team A's score is 4. Player B1 shoots 4 and Player B2 shoots 6 (net). Team B's score is 4. The hole is halved.
Why Manual Nassau Calculation Gets Messy
A simple two-player Nassau with no presses has three numbers to track. Add auto-press at 2 down and suddenly you are tracking three to six bets simultaneously, each with its own independent match-play status. Add a second pairing (four-player individual Nassau) and you are tracking up to eighteen simultaneous bets. Add presses on each of those and the number climbs past thirty.
The most common manual errors:
- Losing track of which hole a press started on.
- Confusing the overall match-play status with the back nine status (they diverge because the overall is cumulative).
- Forgetting whether a press pushed or was won.
- Miscounting the net settlement when multiple presses cancel each other out.
- Applying handicap strokes to the wrong holes.
Even experienced players make these mistakes. The more presses that trigger, the harder the math gets, and the more likely someone at the 19th hole says "wait, that doesn't seem right."
How bagboy Calculates Nassau Automatically
Set up your Nassau in bagboy: pick the bet amount, set auto-press rules (trigger at 2 down, press limit, whether the overall can be pressed), and enter handicaps. The app handles everything:
- Match-play status for front, back, and overall updated after every hole.
- Auto-presses triggered at the right moment, with the starting hole recorded.
- Each press tracked independently with its own status line.
- Handicap strokes applied to the correct holes based on course stroke index.
- Settlement calculated across all bets — base bets, presses, everything.
The example above — six bets, three presses, eighteen holes of match play — settles in one tap. The settlement screen shows the net result and the detail behind it. No pencil, no spreadsheet, no argument about whether Press 2 started on hole 16 or hole 15.
Nassau with presses is the most popular golf side bet in the world. It is also the hardest to calculate manually. bagboy handles the hard part so you can focus on the competition.
Never miscalculate a Nassau again.
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