How to play Pubgolf?
Pubgolf is a bar crawl played like a round of golf. Each pub is a hole, each drink has a par, and your group keeps score as you go. The lowest score wins. It turns a normal night out into a friendly competition, with no equipment and no planning. All you need is your group, a route and your phone.
Updated August 2026
Excellent 4.9
What are the rules of Pubgolf?
Nine or eighteen holes, scored like golf, learned in under a minute.
The rules of Pubgolf:
- The course: play 9 or 18 holes. Every pub on your route is a hole with one set drink and a par.
- Your score: your strokes are the sips it takes to finish that hole's drink.
- Under or over par: fewer sips than par is under par, more sips is over par.
- Challenges: built-in challenges and knowledge questions win power-ups, and some cost a penalty stroke.
- Winning: add up every hole, and the lowest total card wins.
How does Pubgolf scoring work?
Each hole has a par, the target number of sips to finish that hole's drink. Fewer sips than par is under par, more sips is over par, and your card adds up across every hole. Whoever holds the lowest total when the round ends wins.
Here is a worked example. Say a hole is a par 4. Finish that drink in three sips and you are one under par. Finish it in five and you are one over. You do finish the drink, so play at your own pace and sip sensibly.
How do you play Pubgolf step by step?
-
1
Pick a city edition or build your own route, then buy it
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2
Open the instant link PubgolfClub emails you
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3
At each pub, finish the set drink and log your sips as strokes
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4
Tally every hole, and the lowest total wins
How many holes and players can join?
A route runs to 9 or 18 holes, so you can pick a short afternoon or a full day and evening out. Groups range from 1 to 16 or more players, whether you are a couple, a stag do, a hen do or a big work social, all scoring on the same shared scorecard.
Bigger celebrations run the same way. A Pubgolf stag do keeps everyone scoring together, so no one stands around while the group moves between districts. Anyone not drinking scores a soft drink the same way, and the FAQ covers how non-drinkers play
What are the challenges and power-ups?
Every Pubgolf route has built-in challenges and quick-fire knowledge questions dotted through it. Win one and you earn a power-up to play against yourgroup. Some challenges, such as a no-blink test, cost a penalty stroke on your card instead. Penalty strokes sit in the challenge layer, separate from how you score the drinks, so they add jeopardy without changing the golf scoring underneath.
How do you get and play your Pubgolf game?
Pubgolf is 100% digital. Buy an edition and PubgolfClub sends an instant link by email, then you play in your browser on your phone, with nothing
printed or shipped. PubgolfClub is not there on the day, so your group runs the route yourselves at your own pace.
Explore our pubgolf products
Live scorecard
Track every player's score against par as you go.
Your route
Follow the crawl hole by hole, straight from your phone.
Challenges & power-ups
Win challenges for power-ups, or take the odd penalty stroke.
How long does a game of Pubgolf take?
A 9 hole round is a relaxed afternoon or a couple of hours, while 18 holes fills a longer day or a full night out. You set the pace between pubs, so there is no clock and no rush.
How do you play Pubgolf responsibly?
Pubgolf is an 18+ game, so every player must be of legal drinking age. The goal is the lowest card, so pace yourself, eat, drink water and know your limits. Please always drink responsibly and follow the guidance at drinkware.
FAQ
How is Pubgolf different from a pub crawl?
A pub crawl just moves your group from pub to pub. Pubgolf turns that crawl into a scored game: every pub is a hole with a set drink and a par, the sips it takes to finish are your strokes, and the lowest total wins, with built-in challenges along the way.
Does everyone in the group need to buy it?
No, just one person buys it. A single purchase covers the whole group on one shared scorecard, with everyone playing from their own phone and no per-player charge.
Can you play Pubgolf without drinking?
Yes. Pubgolf is an 18+ game, but you do not have to drink alcohol to take part. Anyone can score a soft drink the same way, the sips it takes to finish it against par, and still play the challenges. Please drink responsibly and check Drinkaware.
How much does a Pubgolf game cost?
One purchase covers your whole group and includes 100 days of unlimited replay, so a single game covers plenty of afternoons and nights out. The price is shown on each city's page, with no booking charge.
Do you have to plan the pubs yourself?
No. Most Pubgolf guides make you pick the pubs and draw up a scorecard first. PubgolfClub sets the route for you and reveals it as you play, so you just open the link and go
Do you need a scorecard or an app to play?
No app and no paper scorecard needed. Your Pubgolf game opens in any phone browser from the link we email you, with live scoring built in, so the whole group keeps score together on one shared card. Nothing to download and nothing to print.
What our clients say
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.
I read about pubgolf online and thought it sounded like a lot of admin for a night out. It is the opposite. You hand out the cards, you go to the first pub, and the rest happens by itself.
Honestly did not get the point of it until we actually played. The par system is what does it. It stops the round from being about who can drink most and turns it into something you can actually be bad at and still enjoy.
Had never done anything like this before and neither had most of the group. Took one pub for everyone to get it. By the third we were arguing about whether a spilt drink counts as a penalty, which I think means it was working.
The thing nobody tells you is that it fixes the worst part of a night out, which is standing around deciding where to go next. There is no deciding. It is on the card.