| Type | Stroke |
| Alias | Calcutta Auction, Golf Calcutta, Calcutta Sweepstakes |
| Format | Tournament |
| Number of players | 4 |
| Team or Individual play | Team |
- Calcutta is a very unique game in golf because it features an auction-style bidding system.
- One or more golf courses are selected for the venue, and individual golfers or teams are brought in for auctioning before the event.
- Golfers bid on the golfer or team that they think will win the tournament. Golfers can also bid on themselves or on their teams.
- The highest bidder wins the team or golfer they bid on and becomes their owner.
- In some games, an individual golfer or team can purchase half or all of their team and become the owner. This is known as a “buyback”.
- The funds raised from the auction go into the pot.
- At the end of the tournament, owners of the winning teams receive a predetermined payout from the pot. Tournament organizers often use different softwares to determine the win, place, and show amounts.
- The most common distribution is a 2-place payout in which the owner of the winning team receives 70% of the pot while the owner of the team that placed second receives 30% of the pot.
- For a 3-place payout, the winnings are split on a 70%, 20%, and 10% basis, while in a 5-place payout, the winnings are split as 50%, 20%, 15%, 10%, and 5%.
- A Calcutta tournament is usually an 18-hole stroke play event, and points are awarded based on net scores. 0 points for a bogey or worse, 1 point for par, 2 points for birdies, 3 points for an eagle, and 4 points for an albatross.