How to play a Nassau

1. Agree on the stake for each of the three bets before the first tee shot. A $10 Nassau usually means $10 on the front nine, $10 on the back nine and $10 on the overall, so the most you can lose without presses is $30.
2. Agree on gross or net. In a net Nassau the higher handicap gets strokes on the hardest holes, based on the difference between the two course handicaps (see the course handicap calculator).
3. Play every hole as match play. The lower score (net score in a net game) wins the hole, and equal scores halve it.
4. The front nine bet covers holes 1 to 9 and the back nine bet covers holes 10 to 18. Each is its own match, so the back nine starts all square no matter what happened on the front.
5. The overall bet covers all 18 holes as one match and runs alongside the other two.
6. A bet is won when one side is ahead by more holes than are left in it (for example 3 up with 2 to play, written 3&2), or when it is ahead after the last hole of its stretch. A bet that finishes level is halved and no money changes hands on it.

A Nassau works for two players head to head or for two teams of two. In the team version each player plays their own ball and the better score on each side counts on every hole (four-ball). Each player on the winning side collects the stake from one player on the losing side.

Groups name a Nassau by its three stakes in the order front, back, overall. A 2-2-2 Nassau is $2 on each of the three bets. A 5-5-10 Nassau is $5 on the front, $5 on the back and $10 on the overall, which makes the 18-hole result count as much as both nines together. When someone says "a $5 Nassau" without more detail, they almost always mean 5-5-5.

How Wedge scores it: Wedge starts a wagered Nassau at 10-10-20 ($10 front, $10 back, $20 overall) with a $10 press, and you can change each of the four amounts before the round. Automatic presses are off until you turn them on.

A press is a new bet that starts on the next hole and runs to the end of the current nine. The player who is losing usually calls it to get a fresh match. The original bet keeps going alongside it.

An automatic press (auto-press) removes the decision. The group agrees on a trigger, most often 2 down, and a press starts the moment any bet reaches it. In Wedge, automatic presses are an option the group turns on in Match Setup, with a trigger of 1 to 4 holes down (2 is the default). This is how they run:

• The trigger is measured from each bet's own first hole. When either side falls the agreed number of holes down on a bet, a press starts on the next hole at the press amount.
• The press runs to the end of the same nine: a front nine press ends on hole 9 and a back nine press ends on hole 18. If the trigger is reached on the last hole of a nine, there is no hole left to press.
• Each bet can start one automatic press. If the player who is 2 down falls 3 or 4 down on the same bet, no second press starts from it.
• Presses chain. An automatic press is a bet like any other, so when it reaches 2 down it starts its own press for the remaining holes of the nine.
• The overall 18-hole bet is never pressed, automatically or by hand. Presses only run on the front and back nines.
• Presses you call by hand are separate. Any player in the match can add one on any hole, and it runs from that hole to the end of its nine. A press called by hand does not start automatic presses of its own.

Common variation: some groups press the overall as well, or let a press run to the 18th hole wherever it starts. Others only allow a press when a player is exactly 2 down. Agree on the rule on the first tee, because it changes the money more than anything else in the game.

Mike and Dan play a gross 10-10-20 Nassau with a $10 press and automatic presses at 2 down. Statuses are shown from the leader's side.

Dan's 2-up lead on hole 3 started press 1. When he went 3 and 4 up, the front bet started no second press, because it had already pressed once, but press 1 reached 2 down on hole 7 and started press 2. On the back, Mike went 2 up on hole 11, which started press 3. Each player won 7 holes, so the overall finished all square.

Both players shot 78 and Dan won the front nine comfortably, yet Mike collects $10 because he won three bets to Dan's two. You can check a match like this one with the Nassau calculator.

An Aloha is a last-chance press for the player who is behind in money. It covers the hole it is called on through the end of that nine, and its amount is set so that if the trailing player wins those holes, the money comes out exactly square. Lose it and the debt grows by the same amount; halve it and nothing changes.

For example, in a 10-10-20 Nassau with no presses, Dan has lost the front nine, is 1 down on the back and is 2 down on the overall going to the 18th tee. He owes $40 as things stand. Winning the 18th would halve the back nine (saving $10) but still lose the overall by 1, leaving him $30 down. The Aloha on the 18th is therefore $30: win the hole and he is square, lose it and he owes $70.

How Wedge scores it: Wedge offers an Aloha only in a wagered Nassau, only to the side that is down in money, and only on holes where winning would not already square things. It works out the amount itself and saves the Aloha as an ordinary press on that hole to the end of its nine.

Add up every bet from each player's side: front, back, overall and every press, plus for bets won and minus for bets lost, nothing for halves. Then pay only the net amount. In a two-player match that is one payment. In a four-ball Nassau each player on the losing side pays one player on the winning side the full stake for every bet, so a $10 bet moves $20 in total.

If you play without money, a common way to keep score is points: 1 point for the front, 1 for the back, 2 for the overall and 1 for each press.

• A decided nine still matters. When the front is won 4&2, holes 8 and 9 still count for the overall and for any presses running on them.
• Net strokes come off the low player. In a net Nassau the lowest course handicap plays off zero and everyone else gets the difference, on the holes ranked hardest by stroke index. Giving every player their full course handicap puts the strokes on different holes.
• Pressing on the last hole of a nine. A press called on the 9th or 18th tee is a one-hole bet. It is allowed, but agree on it before the round if your group thinks it is unfair.
• A player leaves early. If the round stops before 18, each open bet goes to whoever leads on the holes both players finished, and a level bet is halved. Agree on this before anyone has to leave.
• Nine holes only. A Nassau needs a front and a back, so it is an 18-hole game. For nine holes, play a single match instead.