Third-wheeling is tough. You make one too many for a traditional match but not enough for other popular games like Wolf. Sure, you can get multiple matches going, but you know when you finish up, your buddies will say they lost track. It’s a sad sight.

So for the next couple of installments of Game of the Week, we’ll present some remedies for your third-wheel blues. First up…

Nine Point (or 5-3-1)

If there’s a way to have three people participate simultaneously in match play, Nine Point is it. The rules are simple and good play gets its proportional reward. Each hole is worth nine points. Whoever accumulates the most points wins, obviously, but the game can also be played as a Nassau or with other side bets.

There are five ways to distribute points:

1)
Player A makes a 4
Player B makes a 5
Player C makes a 6

In this case, Player A gets five points, Player B gets three, and Player C gets one.

2)
Player A makes a 4
Player B makes a 5
Player C makes a 5

Here Player A gets five points, and Players B and C both get two.

3)
Player A makes a 4
Player B makes a 4
Player C makes a 5

Player A and B both get four points, and Player C gets one.

4)
Player A makes a 4
Player B makes a 4
Player C makes a 4

Each player gets three points.

5)
Player A makes a 3
Player B makes a 5
Player C makes a 5

Player A won the hole by two shots and therefore gets all nine points.

Coming up in our next installment of Game of the Week… Wolfman.