Intermediate 4 or 5 Players 🔄 Partners Rotate

How to Play Team Sixes (6-6-6)

Team Sixes — also called 6-6-6 — splits 18 holes into three six-hole matches and rotates the partnerships each leg, so everyone ends up teamed with everyone else. It's the cure for getting stuck with the same partner all day, and it scales cleanly to 5 players. Here's how it works.

What's the deal?

One great player carrying the same partner for 18 holes makes every other pairing feel unfair. Team Sixes fixes that by re-shuffling the teams twice during the round. The round becomes three separate six-hole matches, each its own bet, with new partners every time.

Over a full round, the strong players get spread around instead of stacked, every matchup feels live, and there are three chances to win or lose instead of one long grind. It's the perfect step up for a regular foursome that's bored of running the same Nassau every week.

And it doesn't break with an odd number — with five players you simply rotate a sit-out each leg, which adds its own layer of strategy (more on that below).

Best for4 or 5 players
FormatRotating team match play
StakesPer six-hole segment
Time to explain2 min

How to play (4 players)

  1. 1Label the players A, B, C, and D, and set a bet for each six-hole segment.
  2. 2Each segment runs as 2-vs-2 best ball — the lower score between partners is the team score on each hole.
  3. 3Rotate partners every six holes so each player teams with each other player once (see the chart below).
  4. 4Whichever team wins more holes in a segment wins that segment's bet.
  5. 5Settle all three segments independently after 18.
Holes 1–6
A & B  vs  C & D
Holes 7–12
A & C  vs  B & D
Holes 13–18
A & D  vs  B & C
Playing with 5 Five players works great — you just add a rotating sit-out. Each six-hole leg, one player sits while the other four play 2-vs-2 best ball, then the sitter rotates back in for the next leg. Nobody is parked in the cart for long, and choosing who sits becomes part of the game: rest your hottest player during a low-stakes leg, or sit someone out right before the segment where you most want them fresh. Decide before you start whether the sit-out has any stake in that leg's bet, or simply skips it — both ways are common, just agree up front.
🏌️ First Tee Tip Team Sixes is the antidote to the weekly foursome that's run the same bet for years. Because the best player can't camp on one partner all day, the matchups stay honest and the trash talk stays fresh. Set equal stakes on all three legs your first time — once you know the group, you can load up the back six for a big finish.

More Team Games

Best Ball
Two players, one team score. The Ryder Cup format.
Wolf
Pick a partner after every drive — or go it alone.
Scotch Foursomes
Both drive, pick the best, then alternate shots.

Now Grab the Hat.

Wear it to the first tee, draw for partners, and let the rotation sort out the bragging rights.

Shop The 1st Tee → See All 18 Games