Wolf Golf Game: A Fun Way To Change It Up

After you’ve played 50-100 games of golf, do you think to yourself, “This is fun, but I wish there were a bit more variety?” Playing golf games, like the Wolf golf game, can help keep things interesting on the course.

Let’s face it, there are only so many courses you can play, and most golfers don’t have the budget to travel to tons of different courses. I have a lot of golf courses in my area, so if I ever want a little variety, it is easy to play at a new course. 

Most people don’t have this luxury and find themselves playing the same course over and over again. 

One way to switch things up is by playing golf games. Golf games are games that you play while playing golf. They allow golfers to try something new while still improving on the fundamentals of golf. 

One of my favorite games to play during golf is Wolf. It is partly because it has a cool name and a very fun game to play with a group of friends.

Update 2022: Download our Wolf Golf Game spreadsheet to help keep track of who wins and loses during the game.

Get it here.

Overview of Wolf Golf Game

Wolf is a golf game where each player has the opportunity to pair up with a partner on each hole or go lone wolf and try to beat the other three players. 

You score more points by going it alone, but the chance of winning the hole is higher by playing with a partner on any given hole.

This aspect makes the Wolf golf game interesting because golfers down on points are more willing to take risks to get ahead by the end of the round.

For holes 17 and 18, you have the liberty of deciding who will be the wolf. My friends and I usually have the last place player be the whole for these holes. If it is a close game of wolf, the last place player may surpass another opponent on hole 17, with a new wolf playing on hole 18, a feature that makes this golf game so fun!

So we did a basic overview on how to play the game of Wolf. Let’s dive into the rules and show you some examples that make this golf game so exciting. 

Rules Of Wolf

Before you begin playing Wolf, draw a tee or flip a coin to decide the order of play. The order of play will change with every hole, but you must figure out the order before you tee off on hole one. Whoever tees off first on hole one is the wolf. 

Then decide what the bet will be for points. My friends and I usually do $1 for every point scored. High rollers, I know.

Every hole, the order changes, so each golfer will become the wolf once every four holes. 

The first golfer is wolf on each hole. As an example, on hole one, the order is 1-2-3-4. Hole two is 2-3-4-1, and so forth.

On holes 17 and 18, whoever is last will be the wolf for each respective hole. 

The wolf will go first and watch each following player’s drive. If, for instance, the wolf has a bad drive and another player has a fantastic drive, they can team up with them for that hole. It now becomes a two vs. two for that hole. 

Here is the catch to this – the wolf must decide after each player’s drive whether or not they want to team up with them. They can’t wait until all three people drive to decide. This rule is one thing I love about this game.

If the wolf tees off better than the other three players, they can go alone (or lone wolf) to score more points. 

The two-player team with the wolf must beat the other team, or if the wolf decides to go alone, they must beat all the other players to win each hole. 

Let’s dive into exactly how the point system works in this golf game. 

How To Keep Score in Wolf Golf Game?

In the game of wolf, you score points by winning holes. However, a golfer will score more points by being the lone wolf. It is a pretty simple system but combined with the other rules in the game. It can create some really fun, risky moments. 

So the scoring for Wolf works like this: 

If the wolf pairs up with a partner and wins the hole, they each score 2 points. When the non-wolf team wins the hole, they each score 3 points. If the wolf decides to go alone and wins, they win 4 points. In the event the lone wolf loses to another player, the other three each score 1 point. 

By scoring more points going alone as a wolf, the risk is, of course, higher. Going alone may not be the smartest decision unless you have a phenomenal drive or are an overall better golfer than your counterparts.

Working with a partner always gives you a better advantage to win. Two is better than one, right? One thing I love about this game is how intense it can get at the end. The beginning of the game will typically be played with the wolf teaming up with another golfer. 

Towards the end, when players start to realize they have to score more to win, you will start to see more people going lone wolf.

Downloadable Spreadsheet

We have had requests for a downloadable spreadsheet to help people keep track of who wins and loses in their wolf golf game.

So we went ahead and made one! You can download it here.

An Example Of How to Play Wolf

Let’s dive in further on how to play the game of wolf by looking at an example. 

We have four players; they first flip a coin and figure out the order of play:

• Jill (1)
• David (2)
• Goliath (3)
• Jack (4)

 For hole one, Jill goes first, followed by David, then Goliath, and Jack. Jill is the wolf for hole one. She has a fairly good drive. David then tees off, and his golf shot slices to the right. Not bad, but not great. Jill decides not to team up with David for this hole. 

Goliath steps up and hits a perfect drive, way down the fairway. Jill thinks for a second and decides to play with Goliath for this hole. Now, these two are on a team for hole one. They play on, and Goliath ends up getting a birdie, the best out of the four players. 

So Jill and Goliath each score 2 points for this hole.

David is the new wolf for hole two since he was the second person to golf the last hole. Jill is now last.

This process continues until hole 17. Let’s check in and see where we stand:

So we can see how this played out, with players scoring three points for beating the non-wolf team and the wolf scoring 4 points for going alone. 

It is a close game, and at hole 17, Jack is in last place. In this case, he will be the wolf for hole 17. He goes lone wolf and wins! Putting him tied for first.

Goliath is now last, so will be the wolf for hole 18. He sees that he needs to go alone to make up the difference but loses to David. Every player got one point for beating the lone wolf. 

So here are our standings now for this wolf game:

Jack and Jill tied for first, so Goliath and David now owe them $22 each since the bet was $1 per point.

Pretty fun, right? Again this is just a game within golf, so you can change the rules to suit your play style. Just like many games of golf, there are different ways you can play it. Let’s take a look at some of the different versions. 

Other Variations

As it seems with all golf games, there are typically different variations. One such variation of the Wolf golf game is called Blind Wolf. Here is how it works:

Blind Wolf is very similar to Wolf, except the wolf declares whether they will become lone wolf before any other players make their drive. If they decide to be lone wolf before seeing the other drives, they get triple the points (so, twelve points) for going alone.

Wolf is a very customizable game that you can suit how you play. For instance, maybe you can play a version called Pig. If the wolf wants to play with you but would rather not take on the teammate, you can “Pig” the wolf and decline the offer, making the wolf go alone. All bets can double with this version.

Regardless of how you play, Wolf is a super fun game that spices up your time on the course. Plus, the added pressure of having a bet on the line may even help your overall gameplay.