For most of us, golf , Why in the World Do You Want to Make Your Own Clubs? is an individual -- not a team -- game. , Tips '? Tips To Improve Your Putting Each golfer , My First Time Playing in your group is playing against the course, , Perform Better With These Fitness Tips and nothing that they do has any real impact , - Stretch Your Way To More Distance on your own game. , Ball Diving You can actually play , PGA Schools To Improve Your Swing your regular group without ever talking. But because of this, golfers , Much Needed Tips for Choosing the Perfect Equipment always are looking for ways to add some interaction to the game. , My First Time Playing Best ball , Elbow Or Tennis Elbow '? The Tell Tale Signs matches, alternate shot and scrambles are some popular formats. But for most golfers, , Four Good Reasons To Take Up As A Sport the way to make things more interesting (and interactive) is to place a few side bets. The most popular bet in amateur golf , Perform Better With These Fitness Tips is probably the $2 Nassau. It's a two-sided bet: player , How To Choose The Best Wedges To Improve Your Score against player, , Vacation Schools '? Choose the Perfect School Vacation for Your Game or team against team. Nassaus lend themselves to a variety of team play , Achieve Better Posture and Improve Your Next Round formats. Scramble, four ball , How to Use A Free Swing Video To Improve Your Game and alternate shot matches are common. Teams also can decide to play , PGA Schools To Improve Your Swing with, or without handicaps. , The Worlds Elite Courses The Nasssau gets its name from the Nassau Country Club , - Stretch Your Way To More Distance on Long Island, where the format was invented in the early 1900s. The game , How to Use A Free Swing Video To Improve Your also is known as "2-2-2", and "Best Nines." With awards for winning each side (front nine, back nine) and for all 18, the Nassau is essentially three separate bets. In a basic $2 Nassau, the player , Achieve Better Posture and Improve Your Next Round or team winning all three events would win $6. For those areas where betting cash is considered immoral, or illegal, Nassaus typically are played for two of something: golf balls, , A Good Bag is important drinks, etc. Winners of all three bets could then win a half-a-dozen balls, , Accelerate The Putter or a six pack. Scoring Nassaus is something akin to that of match play golf. , Driving a Ball When a player , Tips On Selecting A Vacation Destination or team has the low score on a hole, , Tips On Purchasing Equipment Online they score one point. A tie is a "push. The team or player , Is This The Worst Tip Ever? with the most points at the end of each nine wins that side. The two nines are totaled for the 18 hole , Baggin' It Right...Raises Your Game award. But if that's all there was to a Nassau, it is unlikely that it would be so popular among golfers. , Ball Diving The real fun of a Nassau begins with the "press." Any time a team or individual is down by two or more points, they can "press" the bet. That means that an additional bet is placed for the remaining holes , Is This The Worst Tip Ever? on the side. The original bet still stands, however. Players , Club involved in a Nassau typically are obligated to accept a press. Here's an example of how it works: After six holes, , The Perfect Swing Team A finds itself down by two points. They decide to press. Now, in addition to the original wager, a second bet has been placed for holes , Stretching Secrets to Improve Performance seven, eight and nine. If Team A wins two of the three, they still lose the original bet by one point. However, they break even because they won the press. If they lose two of the remaining holes, , Review of Training Aids - Can They Really Help Lower Your Scores? they end up paying off both wagers. In the best case scenario, they win all three remaining holes, , Review of Training Aids - Can They Really Help Lower Your Scores? and win both wagers. In some Nassau formats, the press is automatic when a player , Vacation Schools '? Choose the Perfect School Vacation for Your Game or team is down by two. One problem with Nassaus is that it can be difficult to keep track of the wagering. At the end of 18, it would not be unusual for players , 10 Ways to Increase Your Energy Instantly with a Performance Diet to have placed six or seven separate wagers. Nassaus also can become quite expensive -- even with the initial $2 limit. A Nasssau that has been pressed, double pressed, and triple pressed can quickly add up. Players usually avoid mass confusion and bank-breaking payouts by limiting the presses to no more than two per nine holes. , Accelerate The Putter Some matches also allow presses only on the last four holes , The Secret To Swing Consistency of each nine. If the number of presses is controlled, Nassaus can be a very friendly betting format. The players , Discover Numerous Putter Types who are down (presumably the less skilled players , Tips '? Tips To Improve Your Putting -- at least on that day) control the pace of the wagers. And because the bet is broken into two nines and a total, a bad nine won't ruin the whole day. The next time you're out on the course , How to Use A Free Swing Video To Improve Your Game with your regular foursome, try a Nassau -- if only for a couple of sleeves of balls. , What Night should I use for my Glow Ball event? A last couple of words of caution: Betting is not legal in all jurisdictions. Players , Equipment - The Most Expensive Is Not Always Correct For You should be aware of local regulations before placing a wager. And players , Perform Better With These Fitness Tips should always remember to never bet more than they can afford to lose. Set a budget at the beginning of a match and stick to it. Read more about golf , Why in the World Do You Want to Make Your Own Clubs? at Golf , Achieve Better Posture and Improve Your Next Round Blogger at http://www.golfblogger.com John Retzer has worked as a professional journalist, photographer, editor, public relations professional and golf , Vacation Schools '? Choose the Perfect School Vacation for Your Game coach. He currently teaches economics, political science and history. In his "spare time" he runs several websites and blogs, including Golf , Achieve Better Posture and Improve Your Next Round Blogger at http://www.golfblogger.com and Flash Drive Blog at http://www.flashdriveblog.com
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