Golf forum

Have begun to play once a month with my son and was wondering if anyone had any fun ways of scoring that could make it a bit more intersting for my lad.

Perhaps you could play matchplay and he could give you a 3 hole headstart

LOL - perhaps I should have stated in my initial post - my son is 11 years old and plays off 36!

But still Colin, i like the idea!

Make the most of it Dave, whatever format you choose.

In 3 years time he will be wiping the floor with you 

How about letting him play two shots and better ball from that.  I know it's not exactly the done thing to play two balls, but I often play a second shot from where I'm stood as a practice, given that I'm learning.  It doesn't slow the play down much, and I've never held anyone up because of it.  Obviously if you start holding people up like this you'd have to knock it on the head.

Would mean you could play standard matchplay or stableford rules, but his duff shots don't count as badly against him.

Giving him 2 shots per hole is about the best you can do. You could throw some Mulligans his way, maybe 3 per 9 holes, once they are gone they are gone. Texas Scramble is fun too. Normally it is played as a team of 4, but you can play it 1v1 if you want to. It all comes down to the putting then, which is the best part of golf for kids to practice, and the added pressure will stand them in good stead.

Thanks for the input guys - will try those out.

BTW - couldn't agree more David!

Try 2 mulligans per 9, no carry overs to the back for unused on the front.  That'll make him pick and choose which of his bad ones he wants to can. 

Also, he can make you swap balls with him once every three holes, but not on the green.  That'll give you some practice from the nasty stuff too!

That last suggestion is open to abuse

Turn 180 degrees on the tee box, drive in the wrong direction.  Turn a 150 yard par 3 into a 350-400 yard par 3 with a shot already taken :P