Side game · 2–6 players
How to play Sandies
Also called: sand saves · up and down
Par or better on a hole where you were in a bunker. The classic sandie: get up and down out of the sand and everyone pays you for it.
The rules
- You have to have been in a bunker on the hole. No bunker, no sandie, however good the score.
- Par or better on that hole and you have saved it. The unit comes to you from every other player.
- Gross par, not net. A sandie is a sandie — net would let a high handicap “save” with a bogey.
- Bogey or worse out of the sand and nothing happens. You are not punished for it in this game.
- Two players can both save on the same hole. Each collects from everyone else, so in a twosome they cancel out.
- It reads the same per-hole bunker toggle Bunkers uses, plus the score you already entered. There is nothing extra to tap.
- A hole only counts once both are in, so a bunker toggled before the score is entered is not a free sandie.
- Zero-sum.
A worked example
Setup. $2 a unit, four players — A, B, C and D.
- A is bunkered on 4 and makes par. That is a sandie.
- A is bunkered again on 11 and makes bogey. Nothing.
- C is bunkered on 15 and makes birdie. That is a sandie too.
Result. Hole 4: A +$6, B, C and D −$2 each. Hole 15: C +$6, A, B and D −$2 each. Across the round A is +$4, C is +$4, B and D are −$4 each.
This is exactly how Bagpipe Golf settles it: hole by hole, zero-sum, no arguing at the 19th.
Variations and house rules
- Run it alongside Bunkers and the two cancel on a successful escape: Bunkers charges you for finding the sand, Sandies pays you for getting out. A bunker you fail to save from costs you once, which is the point.
- Some groups only count greenside bunkers and let fairway sand go. Decide before the round — the app counts whatever you toggle.
- A stricter version requires the save to come from a single shot out of the sand. That is a conversation, not a setting.
How it works in the app
- Add Sandies at setup. There is no mode to pick and no extra row on the live screen.
- Tap the bunker toggle for any player who found sand on a hole, the same toggle Bunkers and Bunker Hunt use.
- Enter the score as usual. The sandie resolves itself once both are in.
Sandies FAQ
- How is this different from Bunkers?
- They are opposites. Bunkers charges you a unit for every hole you find sand, full stop. Sandies pays you a unit for every hole you find sand and still make par or better. Run both and a good escape costs you nothing.
- Is it net or gross?
- Gross. The traditional sandie is about the shot, not the handicap, and on a net basis a 24 handicap would collect for a bogey.
- Do I need to record anything extra?
- No. It reads the bunker toggle you are already tapping for Bunkers, plus the score. If you are not tracking bunkers at all, nothing will score.
- What if two of us save on the same hole?
- Both collect from everyone else. In a foursome that is a net wash between the two savers and a loss for the other two; in a twosome the two savers simply cancel.