by Ideal number of players: 2 or 4
Hammer is one of the more dangerous games out there because a lot of money can be lost quickly. The rules are simple: it’s match play with players either competing one vs. one or a best ball of two vs. two. Hammer has to be played with handicaps with shots landing on assigned holes based on your number.
Players must agree to the dollar amount they will play for before they tee off. To make this exciting, let’s say each hole is worth $20. Each individual hole is its own match, meaning you won’t need to keep track of the overall 18-hole match, just the dollar amount earned on each hole throughout.
Once players tee off, the Hammer can be pulled out right away and again at any point the rest of the hole. Let’s look at a scenario that will best explain how the Hammer is implemented. Typically, the Hammer is thrown when one player/team feels that the other player/team is in a bad spot and they are at an advantage. When the Hammer is thrown it doubles the bet on that hole. For this scenario, we will consider a two-man best ball. Team B possesses the Hammer and watches both players on Team A drive it into the rough, with one player behind a tree. Both players on team B smoke their drives down the fairway and decide to throw the Hammer. This brings the bet from $20 to $40. Team A play their approach to the green and hit a couple of miraculous shots to 10 and 12 feet. They then watch Team B both miss the green and fire the Hammer right back at them. The bet now goes from $40 to $80. Team B gets up and down for par and a player on Team A makes their birdie putt to win the hole and the $80.
An important thing to note here is that you cannot throw the Hammer unless you possess it. Based on the above scenario, Team B now possesses the Hammer as Team A was the last to throw it. This means that a team cannot “Hammer” the other team twice in a row. For those of you that watched some of the TGL action this season, you saw the Hammer rule play out and it often did not provide a lot of action as many of the players didn’t have the stones to throw it.
The players can decide whether they’d like bets to carry over each hole if a hole is tied. If you decide to play carry overs, a tied hole will result in the next hole being worth double. Your bets will continue to carry over until a hole is won and the bet will then reset back to the original amount.
Be sure to bring a lot of cash with you if you decide to take the chance on Hammer.
This post is part of our B. Draddy Game of the Week series. Visit B. Draddy and use promo code SGS30 at checkout for 30% off.
