Money Ball

Type Match
Alias Money Ball
Format Tournament
Number of players 4
Team or Individual play Team
  • In this game, one player of a team must play the “Devil Ball.” The devil ball rotates on each hole.
  • On every hole, only two scores are added to determine the team score; one, of the player playing the devil ball and the other of the player who scored the lowest among the other three players. Thus, Devil Ball places the onus on one player to come through for their team.
  • For example, suppose players A, B, C, and D of Team 1 score 5, 4, 6, and 4 on Hole 1, respectively. Since Player A is assigned the devil ball for this hole, their score is definitely going to count. Player B and D have a tie for the lowest score, and so either one’s score can be counted. The final team score would be

5 + 4 = 9.

  • The order for the devil ball is selected before the round begins. For example, Player A plays the devil ball on Hole 1, Player B on Hole 2, Player 3 on Hole 3, Player 4 on Hole 4, and the order repeats on the fifth hole.
  • For the last two holes, teams have the liberty to choose which player will play the devil ball on those holes.
  • The team with the lowest score at the end of the round wins the game.

Variations:

Devil Ball has a few variations, depending on the tournament organizers or group of players. These variations are not very common, however.

  • If the player playing the devil ball loses it, they are eliminated from the game. The remaining three players then continue as a threesome and change the order of the devil ball accordingly.
  • In other cases, if the player playing the devil ball loses it, their whole team is eliminated from the tournament.
  • Money Ball:

Devil Ball is also called Money Ball because this variation can be used as a bonus. When playing the Money Ball variation, the devil ball scores throughout the round are recorded separately as well as for the combined team score. A certain amount of money is contributed to the pot by each player. At the end of the round, the team with the lowest devil ball score wins a bonus (i.e., the pot), which is distributed equally among the four members.