9 Holes, 9 Different Rules Golf Challenge — Rules & How to Play
Nine holes. Nine completely different rules, one per hole, with no idea what's coming until you get there. It's one of the sharper twists on the "challenge round" format going around golf YouTube right now — the golf channel Taco Golf ran it with PGA Tour pro Si Woo Kim in the video below. Here's the general format behind it, and how to build your own version in Fore!.
How to Play
The core idea is simple: instead of one rule for the whole round, you lock in nine separate rules ahead of time — one per hole — and nobody gets to pick and choose which hole gets the easy rule. A few examples groups use to fill out their nine: play the hole left-handed, no club longer than a 7-iron, one shot with your eyes closed, no practice swings allowed, you have to putt everything with your wedge, or the whole hole has to be played from your knees on short holes.
Before you start, lock in nine different rules — one for each hole — either picked by the group or drawn at random.
Play hole 1 entirely under rule 1, hole 2 entirely under rule 2, and so on through all nine holes.
Record your score for each hole as normal — the rule changes how you play, not how you score.
Add up your total after nine holes. Lowest score wins, or just see who survives all nine rules with their dignity intact.
Play It With Your Group in Fore!
You don't need a camera crew or a tour pro to run this one. Open Fore! Golf Challenges, build a custom challenge deck, and set your own nine rules — one per hole, as weird or as tame as your group wants — then share the deck so everyone's locked into the same nine surprises. Decks like this are free to create and share, up to three at a time.
Build your own 9-hole rules challenge
Fore! is free to download, and you can create and share up to 3 custom challenge decks at no cost. Fore!+ adds unlimited decks, the Community library, and more.
Download on theApp StoreFAQ
How do you play the 9 Holes, 9 Different Rules challenge?
Before you start, agree on nine different rules in advance (or draw them randomly), one per hole. Play hole 1 under rule 1, hole 2 under rule 2, and so on through all nine, recording your score as normal on each hole. Lowest total score for the nine holes wins.
How many players do you need for 9 Holes, 9 Different Rules?
It works solo as a personal challenge, but it's most fun with a full group, since everyone plays the same nine rules and compares scores hole by hole.
Who made the 9 Holes, 9 Different Rules challenge popular?
The golf YouTube channel Taco Golf popularized this format, including a video featuring PGA Tour pro Si Woo Kim. Fore! Golf Challenges is not affiliated with Taco Golf or Si Woo Kim — this page is an independent explainer of the format.
Fore! Golf Challenges is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Taco Golf or Si Woo Kim. The video above is embedded from YouTube for reference.