Your Guide to Surviving Betwixtmas with Ease (& Golf!)
Betwixtmas (noun): That magical liminal space between December 25th and January 1st where time loses all meaning, pants with elastic waistbands become formal wear, and you legitimately can’t remember what day it is.
A period characterized by eating cheese at 10 AM without judgment, watching golf in your pajamas, and responding to “What are your plans today?” with “I dunno… maybe golf?”
It’s the only week of the year where playing 18 holes at 2 PM on a Wednesday feels perfectly responsible, and nobody – including you – knows if you’re still on vacation or just avoiding reality.
Symptoms include: confusion about which trash day it is, wearing the same hoodie four days straight, and genuinely believing you’ll “get back to normal” on January 2nd.
Origin: British, from “betwixt” (between), because even the week itself can’t decide what it wants to be when it grows up.
So the presents are unwrapped, the holiday feast is settling, and you are starting to feel a little stir-crazy inside the house. It’s Betwixtmas – the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is the perfect time to grab your clubs, grab your significant other or a few friends, and get some fresh air on the golf course.
Golf during the holidays shouldn’t be stressful. It should be about fun, laughter, and burning off a few Christmas cookies. Whether you are a scratch golfer playing with high-handicap relatives, or a golfing couple looking for a fun date idea, we’ve rounded up some great ways to enjoy the game this week.
What to Watch: The Holiday Golf Void
Live professional golf is scarce between Christmas and New Year’s. The pros are enjoying their time off, too. But that doesn’t mean your TV screen has to be devoid of golf.
Instead of searching for live tournaments, this is the best week to relive the year’s glory. Golf Channel often runs marathons of the year’s best final rounds. It’s a great time to re-watch the Masters Sunday drama or the intense moments of the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup.
If you want something lighter and more fun to watch with the family, turn to YouTube. Channels dedicated to fun golf challenges (like collaborative scrambles or “worst ball” challenges) provide great entertainment that captures the fun spirit of the game rather than the grind of professional tour play.
Fun On-Course Games for Everyone
When you actually get out on the course this week, leave the serious stroke-play scorecard in the car. The goal is inclusion. Here are a few formats that work wonderfully for mixed skill levels.
1. The Holiday Scramble This is the classic equalizer. Everyone hits a tee shot. The team picks the best drive, and everyone hits their next shot from that spot. You repeat this until the ball is holed. This is perfect for couples or families because it removes the pressure of bad shots. One great shot from a high handicapper can save the hole for the whole team.
2. The “White Elephant” Challenge (American Twist) Tie this game into a classic American Christmas party tradition. This works best with a foursome.
- The Setup: Before the round, everyone buys three sleeves of golf balls. Two sleeves should be decent balls. One sleeve should be “gag” balls – bright neon colors, recycled range balls, or balls with funny logos. Wrap them individually so you can’t tell which is which.
- The Game: If you win a hole outright (lowest score), you get to pick a wrapped gift from someone else’s bag. If you tie a hole, nothing happens.
- The Twist: On par 3s, if you land in a bunker, you must give one of your accumulated gifts to the player closest to the pin. At the end of the round, you unwrap your “gifts” to see if you scored Pro V1s or scuffed range rocks.
European Traditions on the Links
Take inspiration from across the pond for your holiday rounds.
3. The Boxing Day Best-Ball In the UK and many Commonwealth nations, December 26th is Boxing Day, a massive day for sports. Get out of the house for a friendly “Best Ball” match. You play your own ball the entire hole, but only the single best score among partners counts for the team score. It allows for individual achievement without punishing the team for one bad hole.
4. Saint Nick’s Gift (Bingo Bango Bongo Variation) This is great for groups with widely different handicaps. Points are awarded on each hole for three things:
- Bingo: First player on the green.
- Bango: Player closest to the pin once everyone is on the green.
- Bongo: First player to hole out.
The Saint Nick Twist: To make it festive and fair, the highest handicap player in the group gets a “gift”—a free point on every Par 5 just for finishing the hole, regardless of when they get on the green.
Inventing a New Tradition: “The Tinsel Target”
We wanted to create a new game that is collaborative, highly inclusive for all ages and genders, and doesn’t require keeping a numerical score. We call it “The Tinsel Target.”
This game is all about decorating your virtual Christmas tree. Your group’s goal is to collect 18 “ornaments” as a team during the round.
How to Play: Before teeing off on a hole, the group picks a “Tinsel Target.”
- On a Par 4 or 5, the target might be “everyone has to hit the fairway off the tee.”
- On a Par 3, the target might be “at least two people must hit the green in regulation.”
- On the putting green, the target could be “no three-putts for the entire group.”
If the group successfully hits their chosen target for that hole, you “hang an ornament” (mark a star on the scorecard). If you miss the target, the “Grinch” steals an ornament (erase a star). The goal is to finish the round with as many ornaments on your scorecard tree as possible. It promotes cheering for each other every step of the way.
Stay Warm Out There!
Golf during Christmas week often means chilly temperatures. Nothing ruins a fun round faster than freezing hands. Make sure you have decent winter golf gloves and perhaps some hand warmers in your pockets.
Looking for reliable warmth? These HotHands Hand Warmers are a winter golf staple and make great stocking stuffers!
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New Year, New Game
Hopefully, these games bring some extra joy to your holiday week. As we head toward New Year’s Eve, you might start thinking about your golf resolutions for the coming year.
If you want to start the new season sharper, healthier, and hitting the ball farther, you need a plan tailored to you.
Get Your Golf Course Intel Strategy Guide
Want to start the new year with your best golf yet? Request your Fairway Fundamentals Strategy Guide. We will help you identify personalized drills based on your current struggles, recommend the best golf ball & club choices for your game, and provide age-appropriate warmups and stretches to improve your fundamentals and keep you injury-free.
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