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How To

Wolf

A 4-player betting game played alongside the main scoring. Quick and social — the "Wolf" rotates every hole and decides whether to play partnered or alone for bigger points.

How a hole plays

  1. One player is Wolf — rotation is by tee order (P1 on hole 1, P2 on hole 2, etc).
  2. Wolf tees off first. Then watches the other three tee off one at a time.
  3. After each opponent's drive, Wolf has a few seconds to either pick that player as a partner — or pass to the next. Once you pass, you can't go back.
  4. If Wolf passes all three (or chooses to from the start), they go Lone Wolf for higher points.
  5. Low score on the hole wins. Wolf team vs. opponents — whoever's side posts the lower number takes the points. Tied hole → pot carries to the next hole.

Default point values

OutcomePoints
Wolf + Partner wins the hole+2 each
Wolf + Partner loses+3 each opponent
Lone Wolf wins+4 to Wolf
Lone Wolf loses+4 each opponent
Hole tiedPot carries to next hole

Every Wolf game lets the captain override these at create time. Most leagues stick with the defaults; some — like the BSG summer series — publish their own and we honor them.

Common house variants

  • Lone Wolf timing. Some leagues let Wolf declare Lone before their own tee shot (standard); BSG and others let Wolf decide after seeing all three opponent drives — declared before Wolf's second shot.
  • Decision timer. Some leagues run a hard 3-second clock between each opponent's drive and the next. Most run it informally; the app doesn't enforce a real countdown for v1.
  • Mandatory net-handicap announcement. Required at BSG. Wolf must loudly announce their net handicap before the hole is played — Golf Sync surfaces a confirmation chip per hole when this rule is on.
  • Holes 17–18 rotation. After the 4-player rotation runs through 16 holes, two more remain. House rules vary — standings-based, round-robin, or some other variant. Captain picks whoever their league rule says.
  • End-of-round tied pot. If the final hole ties and the pot is still in flight, leagues handle differently — playoff, split four ways, donate. The app surfaces the in-flight pot at round end so the captain can resolve IRL.

How Golf Sync records it

The captain runs the verbal game on-course as usual. After each hole they tap into the Wolf panel and record:

  • Who was Wolf (defaulted to the tee-order rotation)
  • Partner picked — or Lone Wolf
  • Result: Wolf team won / opponents won / tied
  • Optional captain note

Standings + per-hole audit update live; everyone in the foursome (or anyone you share the standings link with) sees the same view. Money never moves through the app — settle via Venmo or cash after the round.

Questions? Reach out to your league owner — they configured the per-game rules and can tell you how the day-of works.