Golf Wolf Rules: How to Play Wolf in Golf

Wolf is by far the best way to play golf as a group.

However, the rules can be a little complicated depending on how your group plays the best golf gambling game of all time(hence the name of this site).

Here’s a rundown on how to play Wolf in golf…

How to play Wolf golf

Wolf is golf game where the golfer teeing off first on a hole gets to choose a partner immediately after one of the remaining golfers tees off and that’s how the teams for that hole are assigned. The golfer with the lowest score on the hole wins that bet for his/her team that hole.

Golf WOLF Rules

Wolf is a team game typically played with 4-5 golfers, and dollar values are assigned to winning golfers that win with PAR/BIRDIE/EAGLE.

A typical structure is $1/$5/$10 to the winning team on that hole. If you want to test friendships you can always up those values to something like $10/$50/$100.

Wolf golf game rules 5 players

“WOLF” is best played with 5 players because the person teeing off first has a clear advantage, and the way to even out the teams is to have an extra player that isn’t on the same team as the “wolf.”

On the first tee, one golfer throws up a tee and whomever the tee is pointing at when it lands that person is first in the rotation. Then the remaining order is decided using the same method. Each hole the order moves up.

So, the golfer that tees off on the first hole will then be the last to tee off on the second hole.

The golfer teeing off first is the designated the Wolf and 1 of 4 things can happen…

1. Alpha Wolf, no partner needed

Call “WOLF” BEFORE teeing off—effectively TRIPLING the value of the bet.

Be careful doing this because if you suck at Wolfin’ it this will bite you in the ass if you end up hitting a tee shot reminiscent of Rory on 10 at the 2011 Masters Tournament.

You’ll potentially lose a lot of dough if one of your buddies makes a birdie on you, or even worse, skulls one in from 50 yards out for an eagle.

A few things to note here…

• Right after you say you’re ‘Wolfin’ it’ your buddies will begin to chirp and get cocky because they already know they’re all going to know it’s 4-on-1 for this hole.
• If you’re playing $10/$50/$100 and you lose the hole to a birdie you’re out $600(gulp) in one hole.
• If somehow you lose to an eagle you may just have to try starting a fight with someone in the group to take the attention away from you just losing $1,200 in one hole of golf.

Quick summary: Calling Wolf before teeing off is a bold strategy, and you have 3-4 other golfers wishing you the worst of luck on every shot that hole.

Now, lets move onto the second action that can happen is…

2. After the tee shot, double the fun

CALL Wolf AFTER teeing off—effectively DOUBLING the value of the bet.

Much less pressure here than calling before you tee off, and also the best approach when really wanting to set the tone knowing you’ve just hit a good shot and letting the other players know you intend to keep doing this for the remainder of the hole.

A few things to note here…

• Less chirping from other players in the group because they just saw you pipe one(or stone it on a par 3) and now they’re thinking about how they need to hit a good shot.
• If you’re playing $10/$50/$100 and you lose the hole to a birdie you’re out $400(gulps again) in one hole. This would really sting, but you should still be able to recover because you can at least prove to yourself that you’re capable of hitting one solid tee shot(even though it all went to hell immediately after).
• If somehow you lose to an eagle then it’s really going to take 30-45 minutes before any positive swing thoughts make its way back into your brain.

Quick summary: Calling Wolf after teeing off definitely adds juice to that hole. Much better value on raking in some cash fully knowing you’re in good position to at least not make a bogey on the hole.

Now, lets talk about the third action that can take place which is…

3. Waiting for greatness(or something close to it)

Picking a Wolf partner IMMEDIATELY after he/she tees off—no betting multipliers apply here.

By far the most common scenario that takes place when playing Wolf.

You tee off first and wait for a potential partner to hit a good enough tee shot for you to pick and take on the other 2-3 golfers in the group.

A few things to note here…

• You have to pick a partner immediately after he/she tees off. Once the next person tees off you can only choose that tee shot from there.
• If you slice one out of bounds, your new partner will not be excited to be on your team for this hole. Simply because it’s now a 1-on-3 situation, and all you can really do is cheer and provide refreshments when called upon. If this happens, really make sure to inject positive thoughts into your partners head before he/she hits their next shot.
• If you’re playing $10/$50/$100 game and the team of 2 wins the hole with a par; the losing team of 3 would each pay up $10 a piece—giving the team of 2 a $15 payout for each golfer.
• If you, or your partner, either make a BIRDIE/EAGLE—the payout structure for that hole would be winnings of $50 a piece for a birdie or $100 a piece for an eagle.

Quick summary: This is the most common way a hole is played in Wolf. If you really don’t like a person in your group you can always pick them to be on your team after you’ve hit a bad tee shot.

Finally, the fourth action that can happen is…

4. Uninspiring golf, just fly solo

The fourth, and final, action that can happen in Wolf is the person that tees off first absolutely hates everyone else’s tee shots and says “screw it I’ll just Wolf It”.

This scenario is mostly recommended doing on a par 3 if you believe you have the best chance at winning the hole versus all the other players in the group.

A few things to note here…

• The mood is typically sad when everyone is leaving the tee box, because everyone is busy thinking about what they just did.
• This also sucks in the fact that even though you’re by yourself on the hole you don’t get any value increase on the bet. If you win with a par, you don’t get the bump in value because you waited til everyone else hit to make the decision to Wolf it.
• The best way to get the vibes back up in a positive direction is for the golfer teeing off first on the next hole to just go ahead and Wolf it.
• If you’re playing $10/$50/$100 game and the solo Wolf wins with a par; the losing team would each pay up $10 a piece—giving the solo Wolf a $40 payout from each golfer.

Quick summary: Nothing sucks the air out of a group more than when the person teeing off first has to witness 4 other dumpster fire tee shots before coming to the realization that he/she has no partner on the hole. It’s best to just play quick and get on to the next hole.

Wolf Golf

Wolf is awesome. Every hole is a different team than the last hole.

The last 3 holes of the round are specifically for the person that is down the most money, and needs a boost to try and win some of it back. The ‘most down’ gets to tee off first on each hole and can wait to pick a partner after EVERYONE has teed off.

Just a nice way really to mend any friendships that may have been fractured throughout the round.

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wolfitgolf and let us know how your last Wolf outing went down.