Nassau (bet)
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The Nassau is a type of wager in golf that is essentially three separate bets. Money is wagered on the best score on each of the front nine (holes 1–9), back nine (holes 10–18), and total 18 holes.[1] The Nassau is one of golf's most classic and best known wagers.[2] It is also known by the size of the bets, e.g. "2-2-2" or "5-5-5", and "Best Nines."
The Nassau bet gets its name from the Nassau Country Club on Long Island, where the format is said to have been invented in 1900 by club captain John B. Coles Tappan.[3] In the 1900s because the players at Nassau CC were much better than the surrounding country clubs and always won matches against the other clubs. In fact, the other clubs would not play Nassau CC because they were tired of losing everything. To encourage future competitions, Nassau CC adopted the Nassau bet.[4]
The Nassau bet is most usually wagered in match play but can also be applied to many other playing or scoring formats.[1] As with any golf game, players of greatly differing abilities can compete with handicaps being used to determine how many strokes one player must give another.