Golf Rules, Games, Junk and Points

If you call "progressive sandies" on the first tee, you better have a good sand game as you may be playing for 8, 9 ,10 pieces of junk for one high quality sand shot. Progress sandies means that the junk value of a sandy increases by 1 for the group with every sand opportunity that is missed by a player in the group.  You have to be in a bunker lying 2 or more less than par and not score par or better to have a sandy that is missed.  If there are 3 or 4 sandies that are missed, the pressure builds.  Progressive sandies were voted "Junk of the Year" for 2018.

The Aloha bet is a simple 'double-or-nothing' bet which can be placed on the tee box of the final hole of play.  Essentially, the side losing the match monetarily wages that if their side wins the final hole, the bet is squared.  If the team leading the match wins, the loses are double and net junk earned on the final hole is thereafter add or subtracted from the total. It is important to note that the Aloha must be accepted by the side leading the match.  It cannot be unilaterally imposed by the side losing the match.  The GJA discourages the use of the Aloha bet as it increases the luck factor already present in a game of golf.  In equity, the play of 17 holes should not be negated by the results of one.

Having an automatic press for the back 9 of a Nassau match is not uncommon.  However, from an equity standpoint, there is no real reason that the results of a back nine match should be worth more that the results of the front nine match.  As such the practice of an automatic press on the back 9 is discouraged.

Team Junk is earned by all members of a side when anyone of the members of the side earn the Junk.  For example, if one player on a 3 man side in Wolf earned a Greenie, and another player earned a Sandie, then each member of the side would be credited with 2 pieces of Junk, even the player on the side who did not have the Greenie or the Sandie. Essentially, Team Junk creates a situation in which unearned Junk is credited to a player.  On its face, this proposition seams inequitable.   In games like Wolf, however, where the teams are formed through the skill of partner selection, it is entirely appropriate to have Team Junk.  It would be wise for a player to take into consideration the potential for another player to earn Junk when evaluating partner selection in Wolf.  This would hold true for any type of game in which the sides were formed through some non-random partner selection. Conversely, if the sides are formed through a truly ra...

A point for "Nasty" Junk is earned when a player holes out from off the green for par or better.  Since the purpose of junk is to reward exceptional play, Nasty Junk, sometimes called simply a 'nasty', is a popular and preferred Junk. There has been some debate about whether a nasty can be earned when the player holes out from off the green with a putter.  Some players have argued that a nasty should only be awarded when a 'non-putter club' (NPC) is used to make the stroke.  To make this determination, we must revisit 2 of the Fundamental Rules of Junk. Our first task is to determine if the use of the putter would make the hole out so routine that it would no longer be an exceptional shot. This would not be the case as the hole could not be so close to the edge of the green to make any hole out probable, even for pros. Secondly, the Junk should not give such an incentive, on balance, that a player m...

This Junk has been deemed invalid by the GJA (Global Junk Authority)