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Golf Dots, Junk and Trash Rules
Earn points for birdies, greenies, sandies and everything else worth doing.
Also known as Junk, Trash, Garbage.
- Players
- 2–4 players
- Complexity
- Easy
- Explaining it
- Read the list, start playing
The scorecard says you made 5. It does not say you holed a 40-footer from the car park.
How it works
Dots, explained
Dots — also called Junk, Trash or Garbage — pays points for the moments a scorecard misses. Birdies, greenies, sandies, chip-ins. And it takes points back for a three-putt.
How it runs
- Play your normal golf and enter your scores as usual.
- After the hole the app asks “anything extra?” and you tap whatever anybody earned. It takes a few seconds.
- Birdies and eagles are picked up automatically from the score. You only tap the things the app cannot see — a greenie, a sandy, a chip-in, a three-putt.
The dots that ship on by default
- Birdie +1 — one under par, counted automatically.
- Eagle +2 — two under par, counted automatically, and it replaces the birdie.
- Greenie +1 — closest to the pin on a par 3, having hit the green from the tee.
- Sandy +1 — up and down out of a bunker.
- Chip-In +1 — holed from off the green.
- Snake −1 — a three-putt. The one dot nobody wants.
And the ones waiting to be switched on
- Long Putt +1 — a putt holed from outside an agreed distance, usually about ten metres.
- Poley +1 — holing a putt from at least the length of the flagstick.
- Barkie +1 — hitting a tree during the hole and still making par or better.
- Arnie +1 — par or better without ever being on the fairway, named after Arnold Palmer’s scrambling.
- Disaster −1 — double bogey or worse, counted automatically.
Your own dots
- Every dot is editable. Rename it, change what it pays, switch it off, or add one of your own.
- That matters because no two groups agree on what a sandy is worth, and half of them have a dot nobody else has ever heard of.
- The Dot Builder in the app is a list you can edit in about thirty seconds before the round.
Worked example
Hole 12, a par 3
One hole, four different afternoons.
| Phil — tee shot to three metres, holes the putt | Birdie +1, Greenie +1 |
|---|---|
| Bitzi — bunker, splashes out, one putt | Sandy +1 |
| Thierry — on the green, three putts | Snake −1 |
| Nico — par | Nothing |
Result
Phil +2 · Bitzi +1 · Thierry −1 · Nico 0
See it
The dots, and the ones you invent.
Six on by default, five more waiting, and room for whatever your group calls the one nobody else has heard of.
Dot builder
6 of 11 on
- BirdieAutomatic+1on
- EagleAutomatic+2on
- GreenieClosest on a par 3+1on
- SandyUp and down from sand+1on
- Chip-InHoled from off the green+1on
- SnakeThree-putt-1on
- Long PuttOutside an agreed distance+1off
- PoleyFrom a flagstick’s length+1off
- BarkieTree, and still a par+1off
- ArniePar without a fairway+1off
Rename any dot, change what it pays, or add one of your own. Your group already has a dot nobody else has heard of — put it in the list.
Adjustable rules
Set it up the way your group plays.
Nobody plays Dots exactly the same way. Rather than pick a winner, the app makes every one of these a setting you change before the round — and saves it as a preset for next time.
Active dots
DefaultSwitch any dot on or off, rename it, change what it is worth, or add your own.
Greenies count on
DefaultPar 3s only — the usual rule — or every approach hit in regulation.
A greenie needs
DefaultPar or better, or no score requirement at all.
A sandy needs
DefaultPar or better, or just the up and down whatever the score.
Snake
DefaultEvery three-putt pays, or holder-style: whoever three-putted last is stuck with it at the 18th.
Long putt distance
How far out a putt has to be to earn the dot.
Why use the app
What the app works out while you play Dots.
None of this is hard. It is just tedious, and it is tedious at exactly the moment you want to be hitting your next shot.
- Detects birdies, eagles, albatrosses, holes in one and disasters from the score alone.
- Keeps the running total for every player, including the negatives.
- Carries the snake correctly when it is played holder-style — the last three-putter pays at the 18th.
- Applies the score requirements you set for greenies and sandies.
- Remembers your group’s custom dot list as a preset for next time.
Vocabulary
Dots words worth knowing
The words that get used on the tee as though everyone already knows them.
- Greenie
- Closest to the pin on a par 3, having found the green from the tee.
- Sandy
- Up and down from a bunker.
- Snake
- A three-putt.
- Barkie
- Hitting a tree and still making par.
- Poley
- Holing a putt from at least a flagstick’s length.
- Arnie
- Par or better without touching the fairway.
FAQ
Dots questions
What is the Dots game in golf?
A side game that pays points for things a scorecard does not record — birdies, greenies, sandies, chip-ins — and takes them away for a three-putt. It runs alongside your normal round.
Is Dots the same as Junk, Trash or Garbage?
Yes. Same game, four names, depending on who you play with. The app calls it Dots and lists the others so people find it.
Can we use our own dots?
That is the point of it. Every dot can be renamed, repriced, switched off, or invented from scratch. If your group pays for something nobody else has heard of, add it in the Dot Builder.
What is a snake in golf?
A three-putt. Some groups charge it every time; others play it holder-style, where whoever three-putted most recently carries the snake and pays at the 18th. The app supports both.
Do we have to tap in every birdie?
No. Birdies, eagles and disasters come straight from the score. You only tap the things the app cannot see from a number — greenies, sandies, chip-ins, three-putts.
The other five games
Play Dots this weekend.
The app explains it to whoever needs it and keeps the score for everybody.