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Nassau Golf Game Rules
Three matches in one round: front nine, back nine and overall.
- Players
- 2–4 players
- Complexity
- Medium
- Explaining it
- A minute on the first tee
Three chances to have a good day, and a way back into the round at the turn.
How it works
Nassau, explained
A Nassau is three bets at once: the front nine, the back nine and the full eighteen. Each is a match — you win a hole, you go one up. Losing one bet and winning the other two is a good day.
Three matches, one round
- The front nine is its own match over holes 1 to 9.
- The back nine is its own match over holes 10 to 18.
- The overall match runs across all eighteen.
- Each is worth its own stake, so a bad front nine costs you one bet, not the round.
Match play, not totals
- Lowest score on the hole wins the hole. By how much does not matter — a 4 beating a 9 is worth exactly one hole.
- Level is called ALL SQUARE, written AS. One hole ahead is 1 UP.
- A match is over as soon as one side leads by more holes than are left. Three up with two to play is written 3 & 2.
- This is why a Nassau survives a blow-up hole and a stroke-play bet does not.
Presses
- A press is a brand new bet that starts on the next hole and runs to the end of that nine. It never changes the original bet — it sits alongside it.
- Automatic presses open by themselves the moment a side goes a set number of holes down. Two down is the usual trigger; the app lets you set anything from one to five.
- Manual presses are asked for by the side that is behind, which is the traditional way and keeps a little theatre in it.
- Re-presses let a press that itself falls behind be pressed again. Off by default — that is where the arithmetic normally collapses, and it is exactly the part the app is happy to do.
Singles or teams
- Two players go head to head.
- Four players can play as two pairs — four-ball, where the better ball of each pair counts.
- Or everyone plays their own Nassau against everyone else: with four players that is six simultaneous matches, each with three segments. Nobody is scoring that on a card.
Worked example
A typical Nassau
One bet lost, two won. Front nine slipped away, the back nine came good.
| Front nine | Lost 2 & 1 |
|---|---|
| Back nine | Won 3 & 2 |
| Overall 18 | Won 1 up |
Result
Two of the three bets won
See it
Three matches, running at once.
The front nine, the back nine and the overall — each one its own bet, each one settled separately.
Front nine holes 1–9
▼ Lost 2 & 1
Back nine holes 10–18
▲ Won 3 & 2
Overall holes 1–18
▲ Won 1 up
One bad nine costs one bet, not the round. That is why golfers have played a Nassau for a hundred years.
Adjustable rules
Set it up the way your group plays.
Nobody plays Nassau 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.
Played as
DefaultAutomatic, every player for themselves, or two teams.
Front nine / back nine / overall
DefaultEach segment has its own stake.
Presses
Off by default. Switch on and choose how they open.
Automatic presses
A new bet opens by itself when a side goes far enough down.
Press trigger
How many holes down starts an automatic press. Default 2.
Re-presses
A press that falls behind can itself be pressed.
Press the overall match too
Off by default — most groups only press the nine they are on.
Press value
Same as the original bet, or a custom amount.
Handicaps
Four-ball match play is normally 90% off the low player; singles is 100%.
Why use the app
What the app works out while you play Nassau.
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.
- Runs all three segments at once and shows each match’s status on the hole screen.
- Writes results in proper match-play notation — 1 UP, AS, dormie, 3 & 2.
- Closes a match out the moment it is mathematically over.
- Opens automatic presses on the right hole and runs each one to the end of its nine.
- Keeps every press as a separate live bet, including re-presses, without a scrap of paper.
- Builds the round-robin when everyone plays everyone — six matches, eighteen bets, all live.
Vocabulary
Nassau words worth knowing
The words that get used on the tee as though everyone already knows them.
- AS
- All square — the match is level.
- 1 UP
- One hole ahead.
- Dormie
- Ahead by exactly the number of holes left. You cannot lose from here.
- 3 & 2
- Three holes up with only two to play — the match is over.
- Press
- A new bet started mid-round by the side that is behind.
FAQ
Nassau questions
What is a Nassau in golf?
Three separate match-play bets running at the same time: the front nine, the back nine, and the overall eighteen. Each is settled on its own, so you can lose one and still finish ahead.
What does a press mean in a Nassau?
A press is a brand new bet opened mid-round by the side that is behind. It starts on the next hole and runs to the end of that nine. The original bet keeps running untouched.
What is an automatic press?
A press that opens by itself as soon as a side falls a set number of holes down — usually two. Nobody has to ask, and nobody forgets. The app opens it on the right hole and tracks it separately.
Can four players play a Nassau?
Yes, two ways. As two teams playing four-ball, where the better ball of each pair counts. Or as a round robin where everyone plays their own Nassau against everyone else — that is six matches with three segments each, which is where the app earns its keep.
Does a Nassau work with handicaps?
Yes. Shots are given on the hardest holes by stroke index. Four-ball match play is normally played off 90% of course handicap from the lowest player; singles match play is 100%.
The other five games
Play Nassau this weekend.
The app explains it to whoever needs it and keeps the score for everybody.