How to Play Shoreputt

Shoreputt is beach golf built for low tide. Set the hole, draw your course in the sand, and play the beach exactly as you find it.

1. Setup the Hole

Install the Shoreputt hole in firm sand. Use the sand you remove to build a small arc-shaped berm behind the hole on the low side. This acts as a backstop for hot putts rolling toward the water.

If the beach is sloped, add a few more arcs behind the hole to slow balls down. We call these arcs Wi-Fi. Draw a scoreboard in the sand beside the Wi-Fi and write each player’s name with room underneath for tally marks.

2. Create the Course

The first player chooses the first hole location. There are no tee boxes, no fixed distances, and no set course. The beach is the course.

You can tee off from 5 feet away or 300 yards down the beach. Once the tee area is chosen, draw a simple three-sided box in the sand to mark the starting area for that hole.

3. Order of Play

For Hole 1, everyone putts in the order listed on the scoreboard. Once a hole starts, that order stays the same until everyone finishes, no matter who is closest to the hole.

After Hole 1, the player with the best score on the previous hole goes first and chooses the next hole. If players tie, use the previous hole’s order to break the tie.

4. Play It As It Lies

Water, shells, seaweed, footprints, slopes, and sand ridges are all part of the game. If your ball ends up somewhere terrible, that is now your problem. No improving your lie. No moving your ball. No excuses.

5. Stymies Are Legal

You can hit other players’ balls, use them as backstops, knock them farther away, or accidentally help them. Managing other players’ balls is part of the strategy, which is why order of play matters.

6. Scoring

Scoring is based on finishing position, not total strokes, to keep every hole close and competitive. The lowest score on a hole earns 0 points. Any player tied for the lowest score also earns 0 points. The next lowest unique score earns 1 point, the next lowest unique score earns 2 points, and so on.

At the end of the round, the player with the fewest total points wins.

Example: If N holes out in 2 strokes, M in 3 strokes, and G and T both finish in 5 strokes, N earns 0 points, M earns 1 point, and G and T each earn 2 points.

7. The Winner’s Burden

The player with the best score on a hole chooses the next hole location, but they also have to putt first. The winner controls the next challenge, but everyone else gets to see how the hole plays.

8. How Many Holes?

Play as many holes as you want. Nine holes is traditional. When the round is over, jump in the ocean and start another one.

Low Tide. Firm Fairways. Good Company.