Nobody texts the commissioner on Thursday to ask how to score a golf pool. They wait until Sunday, when they're losing, and then they have questions. The scoring itself is simple. The problem is that five people heard five different versions of the rules. Decide this stuff before anyone picks.
To-par is the default for a reason
You add up your golfers' scores relative to par — even, minus-four, plus-three — and the lowest total wins. That's how everyone already reads a leaderboard on TV. Most friend pools run this way, including on The Money List.
Some groups total prize money instead of strokes. Highest earnings wins. That can work if your crew follows fantasy sports, but it's harder to track live and nobody asks for it unless they've done it before. If nobody's asking, use to-par.
Pick six, count four
You pick one golfer per tier across six tiers. Only your best four to-par scores count. The other two get dropped.
That one wrinkle changes the whole pool. A disaster pick in Tier 6 doesn't end your weekend. Commissioners on The Money List can set how many scores count — one through six, with four as the default.
Walk through a quick example in your rules email: six picks finish at –8, –3, even, +2, missed cut with a +10 penalty, and +4. You drop the +4 and the +10. Your total is –11. One example prevents a lot of Sunday confusion.
Missed cuts and withdrawals
Friday afternoon is when this gets real. Half the field goes home, and suddenly everyone cares about penalty strokes.
Publish something before lock. A flat +10 added to a missed-cut golfer's total is the most common approach. Withdrawals before Round 1 usually get the same treatment. A withdrawal mid-tournament typically freezes at whatever the score was when they left. We went deeper on the options in our missed cut rules piece — the important part is picking one and sticking to it.
Tiebreakers
Ties happen. Best Sunday round among your picks is the cleanest tiebreaker I've seen. Guessing the winning score before the tournament starts is fun for a small group. Avoid anything that requires a stats manual.
What to actually send your group
Four sentences in the invite is enough: to-par, lowest wins; best four of six count; missed cut costs +10; ties broken by best Sunday score. Everything else is mechanics.
If you don't want to be the person updating those numbers while the leaders are on the back nine, a friends pool on The Money List runs the math while you watch the tournament.
Ready to run your pool? The Money List handles to-par scoring and missed-cut math on the live board — you set the rules once at pool creation.
Create a friends pool