Bonus games

Bonus games are the pocket change of a golf round. Somebody says “a tenner for closest on the par 3s” on the first tee, and suddenly the short holes matter to everyone. They cost nothing to run, they stack on top of whatever else you are playing, and they keep the back nine alive for the player who lost the main game on the fourth.

The twelve AleaGolf ships

Game	What it rewards	Holes
Closest to Pin	Nearest the flag from the tee	Par 3s
Long Drive	Longest drive in the fairway	Holes you choose
Greenie	Green in one shot, then par or better	Par 3s
Sandie	Par or better after being in a bunker	Any
Barkie	Par or better after hitting a tree	Any
Fishie	Holing out from a bunker	Any
Bounce Back	Par or better straight after a bogey or worse	Any
Chippie	Holing out from off the green	Any
Long Putt	The longest putt holed	Any
Arnie	Par or better without ever hitting the fairway	Any
Hogan	Fairway, green in regulation, then par or better	Any
Hole-in-One	An ace	Par 3s

How they work

One rule covers all twelve: the group taps the winner, and that player collects the stake from every other player in the game. There is no scoring to do and nothing to compute. A four-ball playing a 10-point greenie moves 30 points to whoever earned it.

They also stack without limit. Skins for the round, a greenie on the par 3s, a sandie whenever somebody saves one — all three settle independently on the same hole.

And you can run the same bonus twice: two separate closest-to-the-pin pots on two different par 3s are two games, with two stakes.

Game by game

The table answers most first-tee questions; here is the longer story on each — the variants groups argue about, and what to agree before you play.

Closest to Pin

The most played bonus game in golf. On a designated par 3 — often every par 3 on the course — the player whose tee shot finishes closest to the hole wins. Almost every group adds one condition: the ball has to be on the green to count. A common stricter variant requires the winner to go on and make par, “validating” the prize. Measure with a phone, a step count, or an honest eye — the group’s word is final.

Long Drive

Longest drive off the tee on a designated hole — traditionally the widest, longest par 5 on the course. One rule is near-universal: the ball must finish in the fairway, which is exactly what keeps the game interesting — the biggest swing of the day is worthless in the rough. Groups usually pick one hole per nine; playing it on every hole rewards nothing but slow play and sore backs.

Greenie

A greenie is earned on a par 3 by hitting the green with your tee shot and then walking off with par or better. It rewards the full sequence — good shot, no three-putt — rather than proximity alone, which is what separates it from Closest to Pin. Some groups play both on the same hole: the greenie for the safe play, closest for the brave one. Ties (several players on the green with par) are usually settled by whoever was closer.

Sandie

The classic recovery bonus: your ball was in a bunker at some point during the hole, and you still walked off with par or better. The strict version — common in Dots and Trash circles — requires a true “sand save”: up and down in two from greenside sand. The looser version, and the one most groups actually play, is simply bunker plus par. Agree which one you mean on the first tee; it’s the most argued-about definition in the whole junk family.

Barkie

Hit a tree — audibly, no grazing a leaf — and still make par or better on the hole. Also called a “woodie” or “Seve” in honour of the greatest recovery player who ever lived. The sound is the evidence: if the group heard the knock, the barkie is live. It’s the luckiest bonus in golf, which is exactly why it’s beloved — nobody plans a barkie.

Fishie

Hole out directly from a bunker — the sand shot that never touches the green on its way in. It’s rare enough that many golfers play for years without seeing one, which is why it usually carries a bigger stake than its recovery cousins. No par requirement here: the shot itself is the achievement, whatever the scorecard says afterwards.

Bounce Back

Make bogey or worse, then answer with par or better on the very next hole. It’s the only bonus that rewards what happens between the ears: the stats say amateurs follow a blow-up hole with another bad one far more often than not, so paying for the immediate response is paying for real mental strength. Tour statisticians track the same stat under the same name.

Chippie

Hole out from off the green with a chip or pitch — the shot every golfer replays in the car home. Most groups count any hole-out from off the putting surface that isn’t a full approach; some require the chip to have been for par or better so a holed fifth shot doesn’t celebrate a mess. Distinct from a Fishie (from sand) and a Long Putt (from the green).

Long Putt

The longest putt holed on a designated hole — or, in some groups, anywhere on the round — takes the prize. Only genuine putts from the green count in the classic form; a holed chip is a Chippie, not a Long Putt. Most groups set a minimum distance (the length of the flagstick is a popular yardstick) so that a tap-in never steals a quiet hole.

Arnie

Make par or better without your ball ever touching the fairway — named for Arnold Palmer, who made a career of winning from everywhere else. Par 3s don’t count (there’s no fairway to miss), and the purists require that the tee shot genuinely missed, not that you putted out from the fringe of a drivable par 4. It’s the scrambler’s badge of honour.

Hogan

The purist’s bonus, named for Ben Hogan: hit the fairway, hit the green in regulation, and make par or better — the hole played exactly as the architect drew it. No scrambling, no luck, no escape acts. It’s the mirror image of the Arnie, and groups that play both enjoy the philosophical divide: one pays for perfection, the other for chaos survived.

Hole-in-One

The rarest event in golf gets the biggest stake — an ace on a par 3, witnessed by the group. The odds for an amateur are roughly 12,000 to 1 on any single par 3, which is why the traditional prize is large and why the traditional cost of making one is a round of drinks for the whole clubhouse. Agree the stake before the round; agreeing it after somebody’s ball is in the hole never goes well.

The honest part

AleaGolf does not know whether your ball was in a bunker, hit a tree, or found the water. It never claims to. Every bonus is awarded by the group, exactly the way it is settled walking off the green — and that is the point: the app records what you all agreed, and cannot be wrong about it.

That also means one thing the app will not do: it will not split a bonus. If two players tie for closest, the group picks one.

How AleaGolf plays them

These are the exact rules the app implements — the same logic our automated test suite checks on every release:

• The award is a tap on the Side Games card when you confirm the hole. One winner per hole per game.
• Closest to Pin, Greenie and Hole-in-One are par-3 only; the rest can be awarded on any hole, and setup can restrict them to the holes you choose.
• Nobody has to win. Tap nothing and the hole pays nothing — a bonus pot does not carry over like a skin.
• Reversible: unpick a hole and the award comes back.
• Independent of scores. A corrected scorecard does not change who won a greenie.
• Several at once, including several of the same game.
• Points, never money: AleaGolf tracks side games in points and tokens.

One quirk worth knowing: AleaGolf’s Fishie rewards holing out from a bunker, while many groups use the name for a par save after finding water. Read the card’s description rather than the name, and agree on the first tee.