On par-three holes, the wolf is the second-closest to the pin after the first shot. If the wolf wins, he collects two dollars, whereas the hunters get only one each. If the amount wagered on each hole is a dollar, the wolf puts up two dollars against one each for the hunters. The wolf must match twice his net score on the hole against the combined net scores of the hunters.

The golfer with the middle-distance drive, regardless of where it lands, is the 'wolf'. WolfĪlso called 'Wolfman', Wolf is a three-player game. No Alibis is also known as 'Criers & Whiners' because it's the ideal game to play with those prone to such behavior - the sort who always follows rounds with comments like, 'if I could just have that one shot back when the wind came up.' This game will shut them up. He can't decide to play his first ball, and he can't replay the same shot twice. When replaying, the golfer must use the second shot, regardless of where it goes. Usually, the number of replays is three-fourths of a player's handicap. Instead of using handicaps in the normal fashion, No Alibis players may replay a certain number of shots during the round. We all tend to get lazy, carrying specialty clubs for every possible lie (yes, I mean you with the 'Divine Nine'), so Pick Up Sticks is a healthy and fun diversion. The game forces you to create shots, such as 'punch fading' a four-iron to hit it as far as a six, or hitting a 'running hook' with a six to send it as far as a four. Many of the golf greats learned to play with incomplete bags. Pick Up Sticks may seem a silly game, but I highly recommend it for beginners. The game then progresses in the same manner described above, with clubs coming in and out of play with won and lost holes. So if player A has an eight-handicap, and player B has a 14, player B can remove three clubs from player A's bag. The suggested method is for the higher-handicapped player to remove one club from his opponent's bag for every two strokes in their handicap differential. A variation is not to use 'stroke' handicaps at all but instead have a club handicap from the start. On the other hand, if the player carries a lob wedge, taking his sand wedge won't matter much. Also, it's tough to recover from greenside bunkers using any club but a sand wedge. Many good players use it for nearly every shot inside 100 yards. In general, the sand wedge is the best club to take away.

Obviously, a lot depends on your opponent's strengths and weaknesses, as well as the specific challenges of the holes immediately ahead. You'd be doing most players a favor by making them tee off with a three-wood or a two-iron. In any event, assuming the putter gets immunity, what are the best clubs to take from your opponent? Though many golfers immediately pick the driver, it's probably the worst club to select. And Ben Crenshaw once finished a round by putting with his two-iron. Fuzzy Zoeller once broke his putter in a tantrum, and he was forced to finish his round using a wedge for a putter, since PGA rules prohibit club replacement. You can putt pretty well with a sand wedge or a one- or two-iron. Accomplished players can work around the absence of other clubs by choking up, hitting fades, and so forth, but it's almost comical not to have a putter. Most choose to give the putter immunity, because it's too much of a handicap not to have one. Players should decide before the match whether they can take away putters. The opponent may reclaim his clubs one at a time, in any order he wants, as he loses holes back. For each hole a player loses (play is match play), he may take one club in his opponent's bag out of play. Pick Up Sticks requires some strategy other than just playing good golf.

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