How to Play Tug of War: A Back and Forth 2v2 Betting Game

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Tug of War is a foursome betting game built around tugging a score back and forth that ramps up the bet.

Picture a rope with a flag in the middle, two teams of two pulling from each end — it’s one of the best golf games for 4 players when you want all four balls to matter. Win a point, and you drag the flag a step your way. First team to pull it all the way to their side wins the match and gets the pot.

Three points are up for grabs every hole: low ball, high ball, and a birdie, and whoever wins more points on the hole drags the rope. Anything that helps you make more birdies pays off twice here.

The whole game plays out on a number line drawn across a scorecard, and you can teach it on the cart ride to the first tee.

Tug of War Rules

Here’s step by step rules on how to play Tug of War.

1. Set Teams. Four players, two teams of two. Spin a tee on the tee box; the first two the tee points at are on a team. Picking teams works too, but the toss matters, because partners change after every match.
2. Scoring. One score for the entire match, tracked on a number line running from 3 on the left side, through 0, to 3 on the right. The game starts at zero. First team to drag it to 3 on their side wins the match on the spot.
3. Three Points Per Hole.
   • Low ball (1 point). Your team’s best score against your opponent’s best score. Lower wins. Tie = no point.
   • High ball (1 point). Your team’s worse score against their worse score. Lower wins, tie washes.
   • Natural birdie (1 point). Any player makes a gross birdie or better and their team earns a point. If both teams make one, the points cancel.
4. Points Net Out. Win low ball while they win high ball and the hole is a wash. Sweep all three and the score pulls three full notches your way.
5. The Mongolia Line. Zero is called the Mongolia line. Every time the score comes back to zero or crosses it after the match has first left it, the value of every point increases by the base stake. At a $2 base: each pass through 0 increases the point value by $2. So it goes from $2 to $4, then $6, and onward as you tug back and forth across the Magnolia line. Leaving zero on the first hole doesn’t count; the match has to return and pass back through 0 to increase the point value.
6. Winning and Paying Out. The match ends the instant a team pulls the lead to 3 or more after a hole. The losing team pays three points at the closing rate. Close it out at $6 a point and the losers owe $18 — $9 out of each pocket.
7. The Reset. Toss tees again on the next tee. New partners, score back to zero, points back to the base rate. Play as many matches as 18 holes allows.
8. The Final-Hole Settle. If a match is still alive when the round ends, the leading team is paid the current score at the current rate. Up 2 at $8 a point, collect $16. Sitting at zero, nobody pays.
9. Handicaps. The game was buit as a gross game. Mixed groups, see below.

How to Track Score: write the following at the top of the scorecard:

3 · 2 · 1 · 0 · 1 · 2 · 3

Place an X above or below the number line to mark the current score. Circle the old X once the score moves and mark the new X. Or figure out a way to slide a physical item across a span — half the fun is physically dragging the marker while the other team sweats it.

A Full Match Example, Hole by Hole

Starting with a $2 base. You and your partner against Big Beau and Tex.

1. Hole 1 — You win low ball; high ball ties. No birdies. Score: You 1. $2 per point.
2. Hole 2 — You win high ball; low ball ties. No birdies. Score: You 2. $2 per point.
3. Hole 3 — Tex makes a natural birdie and wins low ball with it. High ball ties. Score: 0 — Mongolia. $4 per point.
4. Hole 4 — They win high ball only. Score: Them 1. $4 per point.
5. Hole 5 — You win low, they win high. Wash. Score: Them 1. $4 per point.
6. Hole 6 — You win low and high. No birdies. Score: You 1 — crossed 0 again. $6 per point.
7. Hole 7 — Everything ties. Score: You 1. $6 per point.
8. Hole 8 — You win low and high. Score: You 3 — match over. $6 per point.

Three points at $6 is $18, so Big Beau and Tex hand over $9 apiece, re-toss ‘or teams on the 9th tee, and match two starts fresh at $2 a point.

Hole 3 is the whole game in miniature: you were one point from closing it out, and a single birdie dragged the match back to zero and made every future point more expensive. At a $2 base, a match that never touches Mongolia pays $6.

Handicaps

If you have a wide spread between handicaps amongst your group, then you can play net for the low, high, and birdie. This works best if everyone plays off the lowest course handicap in the group, full difference, strokes where they fall on the card. Use our format specific handicap calculator to figure this out in 20 seconds.

Variations

The following variants can be adopted to spice the base tug of war game up a bit.

• Closeout bonuses. The original game’s official spice: finish a match in one hole for 3 bonus points, two holes for 2, three holes for 1, all paid at the going rate.
• Doubling Mongolia. Each zero event doubles the point value instead of adding the base. Know the math before agreeing: four crossings at a $2 base means $32 points. If a bet that balloons fast is your thing, Hammer runs on the same nerve.
• Fixed partners. Skip the re-teaming and keep the same teams all day. Great for buddies-trip grudges.
• Points only. No money — first to 3 wins.
• Nine-hole rope. Same rules, but force a reset after 9, so matches actually finish.
• Eagle pays double. An eagle is worth double points. Rare enough to be harmless, loud enough to be worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Those running this game for the first time tend to ask the following questions.

Final Thoughts

Tug of War is easy to learn and hard to put down once a group gets going. All four balls matter on every hole, leads don’t hold up, and the stakes climb on their own as the match swings back and forth. Draw the line on your scorecard and give it a try. If the 2-vs-2 money format hooks you, Daytona and low ball, low total scratch the same itch.