Nassau: three bets, one round, no dead holes.

The front, the back, and the total. Lose one and you're still alive in two. It's the oldest bet in golf and it's still the best one — this is the game GolfApp was built around.

Players 2 or more

Format Match play

Bets per round 3, plus presses

Across groups Yes

What is a Nassau?

A Nassau is three bets stacked on one round of golf. Same round, same scores, three separate results.

The front

Holes 1 through 9. Settled on its own, win or lose.

The back

Holes 10 through 18. A fresh start — the front is already in the books.

The total

All 18 holes. You can lose both nines and still steal the overall, or the other way around.

That structure is why the game has survived for a century. In a straight 18-hole match, going four down by the turn means five hours of dead golf. In a Nassau, the front is gone but the back nine is a brand new match and the total is still winnable. There's always something to play for on the 16th tee.

Each of the three is usually worth the same amount, and you set what that is when you create the game.

Where it gets good

The press

A press is a brand new bet, opened mid-match by whoever is behind, covering only the holes left to play. The original bet keeps running right alongside it.

Go two down through six? Press. Now you've got the original bet you're losing and a fresh one starting on the 7th, worth the same amount. Win the last three holes and you take the press even though you never caught up on the original.

Traditionally somebody has to actually call it, which means somebody has to remember, and then everyone has to agree on which hole it started. That's where most casual matches fall apart — three guys walking off 18 arguing about whether the press opened on the 7th or the 8th.

The GolfApp way

Auto 2-down presses

Turn on automatic presses and the moment somebody goes two down, a new bet opens by itself. Nobody calls it. Nobody argues about it. It's just there, tracked from the right hole, running until the nine ends.

As far as we know, no other app on the market does this.

Annotated GolfApp Nassau scorecard showing a player going 2 up, at which point a new press bet automatically opens and begins tracking from that hole — Van goes 2 up on the 5th — a press opens automatically and starts tracking on its own line.

You can see both bets running at once on the scorecard: the original match on top, the press underneath, each with its own running result. Every press that opens gets settled at the end, and the payout math accounts for all of them.

Fair warning — this is how a friendly two-dollar Nassau turns into something you're still hearing about in the parking lot. That's rather the point.

Three ways to play it

Pick your format when you create the game.

Individual

Any number

Straight head-to-head, you against another golfer. Add as many opponents as you like and each one becomes its own separate Nassau.

Better Ball

2v2 only

Partners play their own balls and the team takes the better score on each hole. The classic four-man match.

Team Hi-Low

2v2 only

Two points on every hole — one for the low ball between the teams, one for the high. A bad hole from your partner can cost you the half you thought you had.

Better Ball and Hi-Low are 2v2 only — they're partner formats, so they need exactly four golfers. Individual Nassau has no such limit, which is where things get interesting.

Coming soon

We heard you — partner switching is on the way

Rotating partners every six holes, so everybody plays with everybody. You might know it as C.O.D., Pass-the-Pig, Drivers, Passengers & Carts, or just 6-6-6. Same idea, and it's coming to GolfApp.

The part we're proud of

As many Nassaus as you want, from one screen

Here's the thing about a golf trip: you don't want a Nassau. You want a Nassau with Mike, and a different one with Peter, and one with Robert because he beat you last year, and one with the guy you've never played with who's already talking.

Setting that up as four separate games in four separate flows is miserable. So we didn't build it that way.

Annotated GolfApp Nassau setup screen showing yourself added at the top under Individual, and four opponents added below under Playing Against, creating a separate Nassau against each one

One setup, many matches

Add yourself up top, under Individual
Add everyone you want action with underneath, under Playing Against
Set the stakes for the front, back, total, and presses
Choose handicaps — None, Net Off Low, or Full

Tap Add Game once and every one of those becomes its own separate Nassau, scored independently, settled independently.

On a trip with 15 other guys, that's 15 individual matches. One screen.

Your opponent doesn't have to be in your group

This is the one that surprises people. A Nassau in GolfApp isn't tied to your foursome — you can have a match running against someone two groups ahead of you, or the guy who teed off an hour after you did.

The game simply starts scoring a hole as soon as both of you have entered a score for it. You play your round, they play theirs, and the match resolves itself hole by hole as the scores come in. Nobody has to wait, and nobody has to be standing next to anybody.

It's what makes a 16-man trip work. Four foursomes, everybody with their own matches running in every direction, all of it settling up at the end. See running games across multiple groups for how it fits together.

Not every game works this way. Scotch and Wolf need everyone in the same foursome, because they compare shots on the same hole at the same time. Nassau just needs two scores.

This is the game that started it

GolfApp exists because of Nassau.

We wanted individual matches running with our friends all day, across every group, with presses firing automatically and nobody keeping track on the back of a scorecard. Nothing did it. So we built it, and then we built everything else around it.

It's free, like the rest of the app. For life.

Common questions

What is a Nassau in golf?

A Nassau is three bets in one round: the front nine, the back nine, and the overall 18. Each is settled separately, so a bad start on the front doesn't sink your whole day — the back nine is a clean slate and the total is still live.

What is a press in golf?

A press is a new bet opened mid-match by the team that's behind, covering only the holes that remain. The original bet keeps running alongside it. It's how a match that's already decided gets interesting again.

What is an auto 2 down press?

An automatic press that opens the moment a team falls two holes down, without anyone having to ask for it. Play continues, a fresh bet starts on the next hole, and the original bet keeps going. GolfApp opens, tracks, and settles these for you.

Can you play Nassau against someone in a different group?

Yes. In GolfApp, a Nassau doesn't require you to be in the same foursome. Play against someone two groups ahead of you — the game starts scoring a hole as soon as both of you have entered a score for it.

How many Nassau games can you run at once?

As many as you want. From a single setup screen you add yourself, then add every golfer you want action with, and GolfApp creates a separate Nassau against each one. On a trip with 15 other guys, that's 15 individual matches from one screen.

What's the difference between Better Ball and Hi-Low?

Better Ball counts only your team's best score on each hole. Hi-Low splits each hole into two points — one for the better ball between the teams and one for the worse. Both are 2v2 formats in GolfApp.

Is there a free app that scores Nassau with presses?

GolfApp scores Nassau — including automatic 2-down presses, handicaps, and multiple simultaneous matches — free for life, with no subscription or premium tier.

Get a Nassau going. Or fifteen.

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