HHalved All golf games →

How to play Irish Rumble

A team game for a tournament field. Each group counts some of its net scores on every hole, and the number that counts changes through the round, from one ball early on to all four on the last.

THE SHORT ANSWER

On every hole your group counts its best net scores, and how many count is set by the variant. In Classic it is one on holes 1 to 6, two on 7 to 12, three on 13 to 17 and all four on the 18th. The group with the lowest total to par wins.

CLASSIC · HOLE 14
3 balls count
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
4
GOLFER
GROSS
NET
TO PAR
Alan
5
4
E
Beth
6
5
+1
Carl
5
5
+1
Dan
7
6
+2
Hole
14
+2
THE BEST THREE COUNT
Par 4. Alan, Beth and Carl count; Dan’s net 6 is dropped. The group adds +2 to its total on the 14th.
The strip above is how many balls count on each hole in Classic. Nets are after strokes and the net double bogey cap.
4
balls in a group
1–4
count on a hole
85%
allowance as the main game
1
winning group

The rules

Irish Rumble is played by every group in the field at once. Each golfer plays his own ball. On each hole, the group’s best net scores are added up, and how many of them count depends on the hole.

1
Everyone plays it out
Every golfer holes out on every hole, because any score might count.
2
The best nets count
On each hole, take the lowest net scores in the group, as many as the hole calls for.
3
Lowest total wins
The group with the lowest total to par over 18 holes wins.
Why the count climbs
Early on only one ball counts, so a group can carry a bad start. By the last hole all four count, and a group that has been leaning on its best player finds out on the 18th.

The four variants

Classic
One ball on holes 1 to 6, two on 7 to 12, three on 13 to 17, and all four on the 18th.
Arizona Shuffle
The count rotates every three holes: one ball on holes 1 to 3, two on 4 to 6, three on 7 to 9, then round again on the back nine.
Shuffle
The count follows par. Three balls on a par 3, two on a par 4 and one on a par 5.
Custom
The tournament director sets the count on each of the 18 holes.

Better Ball, where the same number counts on every hole, is its own game with its own guide.

Handicap and the cap

When Irish Rumble is the main game, the allowance is 85% of each golfer’s course handicap. When it runs as a side game, it uses the tournament’s own allowance.

The net double bogey cap is always on. Every score is capped at net double bogey before the best nets are picked, so one disaster can’t sink a hole where all four count.

Ties on a hole

When golfers tie for a counting place, it makes no difference which of them counts, because the score is the same. If two count and three golfers are tied on 5 behind a 4, the hole is 4 + 5, and the 5 counts once.

Groups of three

If some groups have four and others three, each threesome plays with a borrowed 4th. On every hole, the fourth score is taken from a golfer in another group, in a fixed rotation through the field, at his own net.

Nobody is told their score is being borrowed, and the threesome doesn’t pick who. If the donor hasn’t posted yet, the group shows a provisional total on three balls until he does. It helps to send threesomes out last. If every group is a three, nobody borrows anything.

The money

Every golfer pays the same entry into one pool for the field. The place pays the whole group, and the prize splits among its real golfers: four ways in a foursome, three ways in a threesome. The borrowed 4th is not paid.

Tied groups split the places they cover. There is no countback.

Irish Rumble starts again every round. A two-day tournament plays it twice, with a new entry, a new pool and a new winner each day.

Scoring it without a spreadsheet

Picking the best one, two or three nets on every hole for every group in the field, after strokes and the cap, is slow on paper and easy to get wrong. Halved does it from the scores each group already posts.

A team card on score entry
The group’s nets, with the ones that count highlighted and the count named on the hole.
Borrowed 4th built in
Threesomes get their fourth score from the field automatically.
A leaderboard by group
Every group ranked live, with the card behind each total.

Every group, every counting ball.

Free for the field. Post your own scores and Halved picks the counting nets, fills in the borrowed 4th and pays the winning group.

Questions people ask

How does Irish Rumble work?

Each group counts its best net scores on every hole, and the number that counts changes through the round. In Classic it is one ball on holes 1 to 6, two on 7 to 12, three on 13 to 17 and all four on the 18th. Lowest group total wins.

What is the difference between Irish Rumble and Better Ball?

In Better Ball the same number of balls counts on every hole. In Irish Rumble the number changes.

What handicap allowance does Irish Rumble use?

85% of each golfer's course handicap when it is the main game. As a side game it uses the tournament's allowance. The net double bogey cap is always on.

How does Irish Rumble work with a threesome?

If other groups have four, the threesome gets a borrowed 4th: a score from a golfer in another group on each hole, at his own net, in a fixed rotation.

How is the prize split in Irish Rumble?

The place pays the whole group, and the prize splits among its real golfers. Tied groups split the places they cover.
IF YOU LIKE IRISH RUMBLE
The best nets picked, every hole
Every group, every variant.
Get Halved — free