How to Play Wolf in Golf — Rules, Partners & Hammer Explained
Learn how the Wolf golf game works — rotating captain, partner selection, Lone Wolf, and the Hammer. Includes a worked example.
What is Wolf?
Wolf is golf's most strategic betting game, played by four players (three and five-player variations exist too). On every hole, one player is the Wolf — a role that rotates around the group hole by hole, so everyone gets an equal turn. The Wolf tees off first, then watches everyone else's tee shots before making the biggest decision in the game: pick a partner, or go it alone.
How Wolf scoring works
- Set the tee-off order before the round — this order also fixes who's Wolf on each hole. The Wolf tees off first each time, then the role rotates to the next player on the next hole.
- After each of the other players' tee shots, the Wolf can choose that player as a partner for the hole, forming a 2-vs-2 best-ball match.
- If the Wolf doesn't pick a partner after any of the first three tee shots, they're forced to go Lone Wolf — playing alone, 1-vs-3, against the rest of the group.
- Scoring: a 2-vs-2 win earns each winning player 1 point. A Lone Wolf win earns the Wolf more points (commonly 2 or 3) since they beat three opponents alone; a Lone Wolf loss costs the Wolf points instead.
- Hammer: any player can call a Hammer during the hole to double the points at stake before it's finished — raising the pressure on a hole that's still live.
- Add up points across all 18 holes — most points wins.
Worked example
On hole 5, Player D is the Wolf. Player A hits a great drive, so D immediately picks A as a partner — now it's a 2-vs-2 match between D+A and B+C. Midway through the hole, B calls a Hammer, doubling the hole's points. D+A still win the hole — instead of 1 point each, they now win 2 points each thanks to the Hammer.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting that once a tee shot has been hit and the Wolf didn't pick that player, they can't go back and choose them later in the hole.
- Not agreeing on Lone Wolf point values before the round — some groups award double, others triple, for a solo win.
- Losing track of whose turn it is to be Wolf — the rotation order needs to stay fixed and consistent all round.
Track your Wolf game automatically
Remembering who's Wolf, who partnered with whom, and how many points a Hammer added gets complicated fast. Golf with Mates tracks the Wolf rotation and scoring automatically, hole by hole.
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Wolf, Lone Wolf and Hammer — tracked for you.
Rotating partners, carry-overs and multipliers settled live.