3-putt penalty · whole round

How to play Snake

The 3-putt cleanup bet. Whoever 3-putts first picks up the snake. Each new 3-putt passes it along. Whoever's stuck holding it at 18 pays everyone else. The cure for casual putting, and the reason your 4-footers tighten up at the end of a round.

Players
3 or more
Format
Rolling penalty
Trigger
3 putts from the green
Settled at
Hole 18
The basics

How Snake works

One holder at a time. The 3-putt is the trigger that hands the snake to whoever just did it. Whoever ends the round with it pays.

1

Set the stake per opponent

Pick a number, like $5. That's what the holder at 18 pays to each other player. With three opponents at $5, the holder pays $15 total. The pot is whatever the per-player stake adds up to.

2

First 3-putt picks up the snake

The first player in the round to need three or more putts from the green is now the snake holder. The hole, the player, and a small marker get logged.

3

Every new 3-putt passes it

Anyone in the group who 3-putts after that takes the snake from the current holder. It moves around the group as the round plays out. The order doesn't matter; only the final holder pays.

4

Whoever holds it at 18 pays

End of round: the holder pays the per-player stake to every other player. If no one 3-putted the entire round, no one holds the snake and no one pays. Clean reset for next round.

Variations

How groups play it in the wild

FLOG ships with the standard rule: last-to-3-putt pays a flat per-player amount at 18. The variations below are common agreements groups apply at the first tee, not configurable toggles in the app today.

FLOG default

One snake, last holder pays

One rolling penalty across the round. Whoever holds it at 18 pays the per-player stake to every other player. Simple, no compounding.

House rule

4-putt bites double

If you 4-putt (or worse), you automatically pick up the snake AND the stake doubles for the rest of the round. Encourages a clean putting stroke after disaster.

House rule

Snake bites back

If the same player picks up the snake twice in the same round, the stake doubles. Three times triples it. Penalizes the player who keeps 3-putting.

House rule

No-snake holdover

If no one 3-putts the entire round, the unawarded snake rolls over to next week's round at double stakes. Common in regular weekly groups. FLOG does not auto-rollover today.

In the app

What it looks like in FLOG

On every hole, each player has a 🐍 3-putt? button. Tap whoever just 3-putted; they're the new snake holder. The current holder shows in red on the Summary tab.

🐍 Snake · Hole 14 $5 / opponent · holder pays at 18
MH 🐍 3-putt?
AK 🐍 HOLDER
RD 🐍 3-putt?
BW 🐍 3-putt?
History: H6 MH · H9 RD · H14 AK · 4 holes to play

The Snake row. One button per player. Tap to hand off the snake on this hole. The Summary tab logs the history and shows who's stuck if the round ends now.

Play smart

Strategy & etiquette

Lag, then commit. The snake punishes the casual second putt.

Most 3-putts come from a soft lag that leaves a 5-footer the player then misses. The discipline: hit your lag past the hole if you have to, then read the comeback putt like it matters. Late in the round, when the snake's been sitting on someone for a few holes, every comeback gets tighter.

Questions

Snake FAQ

What is the Snake game in golf?
A 3-putt penalty side game. The first player to 3-putt during a round picks up the snake. Each new 3-putt passes the snake to that player. Whoever's holding it at the end of the round pays a fixed dollar amount to every other player.
What exactly counts as a 3-putt?
Three or more strokes from the putting surface. A chip from off the green is NOT a putt for snake purposes, so a chip plus a 2-putt is just two putts (not a snake trigger). Once your ball is on the green, every stroke counts, including a tap-in. Lag plus 5-foot plus 2-foot tap-in is a 3-putt.
How much do groups play Snake for?
A common stake is $5 per other player. With three opponents at $5, the holder at 18 pays $15 total. The stake is per opponent, so the more players in the group, the bigger the snake pot. Groups go from $1 (casual) to $20 (serious).
What happens if no one 3-putts the whole round?
Nobody pays. The snake reset, no one's holding it, no settlement. Some regular groups hold over the unawarded snake to the next week's round at double stakes ("no-snake holdover"); FLOG does not auto-rollover today. If you play that rule, track the rollover by hand and adjust the stake next week.
Can the same player pick up the snake twice in a round?
Yes. If the holder passes it (someone else 3-putts), then 3-putts again themselves, they pick it back up. Some groups house-rule "snake bites back": picking it up a second time doubles the stake. FLOG doesn't enforce this but you can track manually.
What if I mis-tap and assign the snake to the wrong player?
Tap the same player again to clear the assignment on that hole. The snake reverts to whoever held it on the prior hole. The history log on the Summary tab shows you exactly who held it through the round if you need to backtrack.
How does Snake pair with other side games?
Snake runs alongside any main game without interfering. It's a single-stake round-long penalty, so it's a fixed-risk add-on. Common pairing: a Nassau + Skins + Dots + Snake, where the snake is the "everyone pays attention to short putts" layer.

Hand it off. We'll track the holder.

FLOG's snake button is one tap per player per hole. The Summary tab logs the history and shows you exactly who's stuck holding it as the round plays out.

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