Wiffle Golf - Rules

Rules

Because Wiffle Golf is played casually around the country (it is especially popular on college campuses), there is no one set of rules that govern every game of Wiffle golf. However, some of the most common rules appear below:

Players must all use the same model of plastic ball for play. Popular models include traditional Wiffle brand balls (holes on just one side), training balls (holes everywhere), solid plastic balls with no holes, and Junkball brand balls. In the early stages of Wiffle Golf, Wiffle brand bats were traditionally used for all strokes. Today, it is not uncommon to see plastic bats of various shapes and sizes employed for the wide variety of strokes encountered in the course of a game. Generally, each player may use any plastic bat of their choosing.

If a player swings at the ball while driving and misses it does not count as a stroke.

Once a ball is picked up, it cannot be placed back on the ground.

If balls are hit into particularly difficult areas such as dense gardens or into a bush, the ball may be played within one step or arms reach of where it landed. Balls must be played directly above where they lay in fairways.

If a tree is used as the hole, a strike anywhere on the trunk of the tree is considered "in the hole." The trunk of the tree may include the main body of the tree extending upwards and roots immediately extending from the base of the tree on the ground. Branches, and outlying roots not directly connected to the trunk are generally not considered part of the trunk.

Human or animal interference may occur during a round of Wiffle golf. In the occasion of any human or wild/domesticated animal coming in contact with a Wiffle ball, the player must continue play from the final resting location of the ball after contact.

In cases where all players must make shots over a water hazard, a variant on a mulligan is typically allowed. In this case, if a player's ball lands in the water hazard, one point is added to their score and the ball is placed on the shore closest to the green. This differs from stroke penalty rules in traditional golf, in which the ball is generally placed closest to where it entered the water hazard. In cases where all players fail to make a shot over the hazard, players may agree to restart the hole without penalty. All players must agree to such an action. Normal mulligans which may be used in traditional golf are not legal, however.

Players may occasionally wish to bend around large objects or to take a step away from large objects which will interfere with a normal swing, even on fairways. However, it is illegal to take a step away from the final resting spot of the ball towards the hole. If the ball comes to rest adjacent to the hole, players are allowed to pick up the ball, but and allowing them to step and lean towards the object proved to be detrimental to the spirit of the game, as people chose to lean in for an easy shot instead of putting with the ball. This was particularly a problem with tall and lanky players, as stepping and leaning was only intended as a mechanism to allow players to swing from areas near interfering objects such as bushes and trees.