Pubgolf Rules: Scoring, Par and Penalty Strokes

The Pubgolf rules are simple. You play a route of 9 or 18 pubs, each pub is a hole with a set drink and a par, and your strokes are the sips it takes to finish that drink. Fewer sips than par puts you under par, and the lowest total across all holes wins.

What are the rules of Pubgolf?

The rules of Pubgolf fit on one card. Play the route in order, score every hole as you finish it, and compare totals at the end. Four things are fixed by the game, and the rest, including any house rules, is what your group agrees before hole one.

The four fixed Pubgolf rules:

• Everyone plays the same route in the same order, with their own scorecard.
• Each hole names the drink and sets the par.
• One sip is one stroke, counted by the group.
• Challenges and knowledge questions move your total both ways.

Two things you settle before you start: your house rules, and the fact that nobody has to finish a drink. A player who stops writes the par for that hole and plays on, so the card stays fair either way. New to the game? Start with what Pubgolf is.

How do the Pubgolf scoring rules work?

The Pubgolf scoring rules work exactly like golf on paper. One sip is one stroke. Finish the drink in fewer sips than the hole's par and you go under par, take more and you go over. Add every hole together at the end, and the lowest total wins.

Say the hole has a par of 4. Finish the drink in 3 sips and you write 3, one under par. Your mate takes 6 and sits two over.

Nothing in the scoring rewards speed. Sips are the unit, and the clock plays no part.

A PubgolfClub city edition does the maths for you. It arrives as an instant link by email, you play in the browser on your phone, scores go into a live scorecard as you finish each hole, the leaderboard updates itself, and you keep 100 days of unlimited replay.

What does par mean in Pubgolf?

Par in Pubgolf is the target number of sips set for that hole, and it is a target, not an instruction. Par is matched to the drink rather than to the player, so a bigger drink carries a bigger par. That keeps every scorecard in a mixed group fair.

Golf scoring names carry straight over to Pubgolf:

• Birdie: one sip under the par on the card.
• Eagle: two under.
• Bogey: one over. Double bogey: two over.
• Level par: exactly the number on the card.
• Hole in one: one sip, one stroke. It only comes up on the smallest measures, and it saves you no more than any other stroke on your total.

Par is written next to the drink so everyone on the route is scored the same way, and no hole is worth more than another. Nine tidy pars beat one dramatic hole every time.

What is a penalty stroke in Pubgolf?

A penalty stroke in Pubgolf is a stroke added to your scorecard as the outcome of a challenge, not as the outcome of drinking. It is a number written on the card, never an extra sip. Lose the challenge at a hole, a no-blink test for example, and your total goes up by one.

Keep the two systems apart. The drink scoring counts sips against par. Penalty strokes come from challenges and house rules, and they sit on top of that card as a game mechanic.

Typical triggers:

• Breaking the no-blink rule.
• Using the wrong hand when the hole says otherwise.
• Saying the banned word your group picked.
• Missing the knowledge question at that hole.

Most groups settle on one stroke, or two for something big, and cap them per hole.

How do challenges affect your Pubgolf score?

Challenges and knowledge questions in Pubgolf sit alongside the drink scoring and move your total both ways. Win one and you earn a power-up. Lose one and it can cost a penalty stroke on the scorecard. The par on the drink never changes because of a challenge.

A power-up is the reward half of the system. Win a challenge or a knowledge question and the power-up is yours to play later in the round. That split, a reward for winning and a stroke for losing, is what keeps the fun layer separate from the drink scoring.

PubgolfClub city editions build the challenges and the knowledge questions in, so nobody has to invent them at the table. Full walkthrough on How to Play.

How many holes is a round of Pubgolf, 9 or 18?

A round of Pubgolf is 9 or 18 holes. Nine holes suits most groups and makes a tidy card, and 18 is the full round for a stag do, a hen do or a long day out. Either way, every player keeps their own scorecard.

Only compare cards over the same number of holes, or use average strokes per hole if half the group finished at nine. Cards stay comparable at any group size, from 1 to 4 players up to 16 plus.

Pubgolf plays just as well in the afternoon, so a daytime 18 suits a work social or a weekend away. PubgolfClub covers 45 UK cities, with routes kept inside walkable districts like Soho or the Northern Quarter. Browse them in Pubgolf by city.

How long does a round of Pubgolf take?

A round of Pubgolf takes as long as your group wants it to take, because no part of the score is timed. Nine holes usually fills an afternoon or an evening, and 18 holes roughly doubles that. What drives it is the walk between holes and how long you sit at each one.

What are good Pubgolf house rules you can add?

Pubgolf house rules are the extras your group agrees before the first hole. Common additions include a fancy dress rule, a wrong hand rule, a banned word, a captain who settles close calls, and a cap on penalty strokes per hole. Write them on the scorecard so nobody renegotiates at hole six.

Fun Pubgolf rules and rule ideas worth stealing:

• Dress code: golf gear for everyone, a penalty stroke for anyone in normal clothes.
• Wrong hand: weaker hand only for the whole hole.
• Banned word: pick one at hole one, say it and take a penalty stroke.
• Teams: pair up and count the better card per hole, the Pubgolf fourball.
• Handicap: a newcomer gets one shot off their total per hole, so the card stays close.
• Sudden death: a tie gets settled with one challenge, not another hole.

Two conditions: agree them before you start, and write them where everyone can see, on paper or in the live card. Groups who want a route of their own build one in any UK town with the Pubgolf Route Builder.

How do you settle a dispute over a Pubgolf scorecard?

Settle a Pubgolf scoring dispute with the rule you agreed before hole one. Appoint a captain or referee at the start, give them the final say, and record each hole as you finish it rather than from memory later. If a score was never written down, the group votes and play carries on.

Work through a disputed hole in order:

• Check the scorecard. A score written at the hole beats anybody's memory two holes later.
• Ask the captain. One person with the final say ends most arguments in seconds.
• Count the sips, not the time taken. Time was never part of the score.

Live scoring removes most of this, because a PubgolfClub edition logs every hole in your browser as you play. Running your own route instead? A Pubgolf Scorecard keeps the same scoring, online in the browser or as a printable PDF.

Updated October 2026