1: Rule a scorecard: holes 1 to 18 down the side and a column for each player.Three dice and a pencil are the rest of the kit. Two to six players keep the wait between turns short.
2: The first player throws all three dice. Every throw counts as one stroke.To choose who tees off, each player throws one die and the highest starts.
3: No two dice match: the ball is still in play, so throw all three again.A throw of 2, 4, 5 is a miss. Count out loud as you go: one, two, three.
4: Two dice match: the ball is in the hole.A throw of 3, 3, 6 does it. That throw is a stroke too, so a double on the first throw is a hole in one.
5: Write the number of throws in your column for that hole.Two misses and then a double is a 3.
6: Pass the dice to the left. Everyone finishes the hole before the next one starts.Nobody is ever out. A bad hole is only a bigger number on the card.
7: Play all 18 holes, the length of a full golf course.Short on time? Agree before the first throw to stop after hole 9.
8: Add up each column. The lowest total of strokes wins.Level on the lowest total? Those players go on, one hole at a time, until one of them takes fewer strokes.
The golf dice game needs three plain dice, paper and a pencil. A double on the very first throw is a hole in one, and it turns up on four holes in nine.
Read the full guide
Rules for the golf dice game, and what counts as par
The page opens on Standard game, which follows the source named under the list. In the menu under Print this list, How a throw becomes strokes settles three alike, sets our par at 2 a hole and says how often a hole in one turns up. A card, worked through scores three holes throw by throw.
More golf games using dice
More golf dice games (ours) changes the scoring or the dice: Match Play counts holes won, Mulligan lets a player retake one throw a round, and Short Course adds a fourth die for young players. Par Chart Golf is a second game for two dice: one throw a hole, read off a chart that runs from a hole in one to a triple bogey.
The page does not roll. Bring three real dice, or two for Par Chart Golf.
Count each throw out loud, so the table agrees on the number before it goes on the card.
Questions and answers
What are the rules of the golf dice game?
Throw three dice. With no two alike, that is one stroke and you throw again. The throw that shows a double holes the ball and counts as a stroke too. Write the throws down, play 18 holes, and the lowest total wins.
What golf dice games can you play with ordinary dice?
Besides the standard game, this page has Match Play, Par Two, Mulligan, Partners, a Long Course for two dice, a Short Course for four and a Solo Round. Par Chart Golf turns one throw of two dice into a score from 1 to 7.
What is a good score in dice golf?
A hole takes two and a quarter throws on average, so about 40 strokes is an ordinary 18 holes and about 20 an ordinary nine. Two a hole, 36 for the full round, is better than average.
Is there a golf dice game rules PDF?
No file is hosted here. Press Print this list and choose Save as PDF in the print box to save the sheet on screen. Pick another sheet in the menu first to save the variations or the par chart.
Are these the rules for a boxed set of golf dice?
No. Sets of printed golf dice sold in shops come with rules of their own, and this page has no tie to any of them. Every game here is played with ordinary six-sided dice.
1: Rule a scorecard: holes 1 to 18 down the side and a column for each player.Three dice and a pencil are the rest of the kit. Two to six players keep the wait between turns short.
2: The first player throws all three dice. Every throw counts as one stroke.To choose who tees off, each player throws one die and the highest starts.
3: No two dice match: the ball is still in play, so throw all three again.A throw of 2, 4, 5 is a miss. Count out loud as you go: one, two, three.
4: Two dice match: the ball is in the hole.A throw of 3, 3, 6 does it. That throw is a stroke too, so a double on the first throw is a hole in one.
5: Write the number of throws in your column for that hole.Two misses and then a double is a 3.
6: Pass the dice to the left. Everyone finishes the hole before the next one starts.Nobody is ever out. A bad hole is only a bigger number on the card.
7: Play all 18 holes, the length of a full golf course.Short on time? Agree before the first throw to stop after hole 9.
8: Add up each column. The lowest total of strokes wins.Level on the lowest total? Those players go on, one hole at a time, until one of them takes fewer strokes.
Show all 43 rows (35 more)
How a throw becomes strokes 8
A hole in one, a double on the very first throw, comes up on four holes in nine.It is the most common score in the game, so a card full of 1s and 2s is normal.
A hole played in two throws comes up about one hole in four.One miss, then a double: 20 holes in 81.
A hole that takes five throws or more comes up about one hole in ten.Four misses in a row are needed first. No hole has an upper limit unless the table sets one.
A pair, such as 4, 4, 2: one stroke, and the ball drops into the hole.Which number makes the pair does not matter, and neither does the third die. 90 ways in 216.
The average hole takes two and a quarter throws.So an ordinary card is about 20 strokes for nine holes and about 40 for eighteen.
No match, such as 1, 3, 6: one stroke, and the ball is still out on the course.Three dice can land 216 ways, and 120 of them have no match: five throws in nine.
Our par is 2 a hole: 18 for nine holes and 36 for eighteen.Par is the target to measure a card against. Eighteen holes in 36 is better than an ordinary card.
Three alike, such as 5, 5, 5: holed, exactly as a pair is.Our ruling: the standard rules ask only for a double, and three alike holds one. Six ways in 216.
More golf dice games (ours) 8
Long Course: two dice in place of three. Only a double holes the ball.Doubles land on one throw in six, so holes run long. Pick up after eight throws and write 8.
Match Play: the fewest throws on a hole wins that hole. Count holes won, not strokes.A tied hole is halved and nobody scores it. The match is over once a lead is bigger than the holes left.
Mulligan: once a round, each player may cancel one throw and take it again.Call it before anyone else throws. The cancelled throw is not counted as a stroke.
Nine Holes: stop after hole 9 and add up. The short round for a full table.Play a second nine as a rematch, and add the two cards for an eighteen-hole total.
Par Two: score every hole against a par of 2. A 1 is a birdie and a 3 is a bogey.Write a birdie as -1, a par as 0, a bogey as +1 and a double bogey as +2. Lowest sum wins.
Partners: two players throw three dice each at the same moment, as one team.A double in either hand holes the ball. Each joint throw is one stroke on the team's card.
Short Course: four dice. Any two alike hole the ball.That happens on 13 throws in 18, so most holes are a 1 or a 2. A round for young players learning to tally.
Solo Round: play eighteen holes alone and try to beat your own best card.Keep the old cards. A round at par, 36, is better than an ordinary one.
Par Chart Golf (two dice, ours) 8
Birdie, one under par: a sum of 4 or 5. Write 3.Seven throws in 36.
Bogey, one over par: a sum of 9 or 10. Write 5.Seven throws in 36, the same as a birdie.
Double bogey, two over par: a sum of 11. Write 6.Two throws in 36.
Each hole is a single throw of two dice. Add the two faces and read the chart.Every hole is a par 4, so par is 36 for nine holes. The lowest total of strokes wins.
Eagle, two under par: a sum of 3. Write 2.Two throws in 36.
Hole in one: a sum of 2. Write 1.Only a pair of 1s makes it: one throw in 36.
Par: a sum of 6, 7 or 8. Write 4.Sixteen throws in 36, the most common result.
Triple bogey, three over par: a sum of 12. Write 7.Only a pair of 6s makes it. The chart is even on both sides, so the average hole is exactly par.
A card, worked through 7
Hole 1: a throw of 2, 5, 6 and then 1, 4, 4. Two throws, so write 2.The first throw had no match. The pair of 4s holed the ball on the second.
Hole 2: a throw of 3, 3, 5 straight away. A hole in one, so write 1.The 5 plays no part. Any pair will do.
Hole 3: 1, 2, 6, then 2, 3, 5, then 4, 6, 1, then 6, 6, 2. Four throws, so write 4.Three misses and the throw that holed it. The running total after three holes is 7.
Match play over three holes: 2 against 3, 1 against 1, 4 against 2.The first player wins hole 1, hole 2 is halved and the second player wins hole 3. The match is all square.
Nine holes of 2, 1, 4, 2, 3, 1, 2, 5, 1 add up to 21.Against our par of 18 for nine holes, that card is three over par.
Par Chart Golf: sums of 7, 4 and 11 are a par, a birdie and a double bogey.Write 4, 3 and 6. That is 13 for three holes, one over the par of 12.
Strokes and holes can disagree: 1, 1, 6 against 2, 2, 3.The first player wins two holes of three in match play, yet loses on strokes, 8 to 7.
Table rulings (ours) 4
A die that leaves the table or leans on something spoils the throw.Throw all three again. The spoiled throw is not a stroke.
A player who joins late takes the highest score written so far on each hole missed.It keeps the newcomer in the game without handing over a lead.
A player who throws out of turn keeps the score, and the order picks up where it was.The dice do not know whose turn it is, so the throws stand.
The thrower counts out loud, and the player on the left writes the number down.Then nobody keeps their own card, and a long hole cannot shrink on paper.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-08, in our own words. The standard game (three dice thrown until a double shows; every throw is a stroke, the throw with the double included; 18 holes; the lowest total of throws wins) was checked on 2026-10-08 against the Dice Golf page of dice-play.com, a reference site for traditional dice games (https://www.dice-play.com/Games/Golf.htm). That page gives no rule for three alike, a tie or the number of players, so those rulings are ours, and the player count is an estimate. The golf words were checked the same day against English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, in the articles Par (score) for birdie, eagle, bogey, double bogey and triple bogey, Match play for holes won, halved and all square, and Mulligan (games) for the replayed stroke. The named variations, Par Chart Golf and its chart, the worked card and the table rulings are this site's own suggestions and are not official. The chances were counted by script from the 216 ways three fair dice can land and the 36 ways two can. Nothing is played for money: strokes and holes only keep score. Licence: own work