What is Bingo Bango Bongo?

Learn about the fun game of Bingo Bango Bongo here.

Bingo Bango Bongo
(Image credit: Tom Miles)

There are a number of different golfing games that you can play out on the golf course. Whether it is Wolf, or perhaps a Texas Scramble, there are a number of different fun ways of keeping yourself entertained whilst you are playing 18.

One of the games which can be played is Bingo Bango Bongo. Essentially, it is a golf betting game whereby a point is awarded on each hole for each individual element of the Bingo Bango Bongo. So, three separate points are awarded on each hole. It can be played by two, three or four players and also in foursomes.

Bingo Bango Bongo

It can be a race to get the ball in the hole...

(Image credit: Tom Miles)

How does it work?

A Bingo is awarded to the player who first gets their ball onto the green, whilst a Bango is awarded to the player whose ball is closest to the pin after each player has played their ball onto the green. To earn a Bongo, you must be the first player to hole out. 

There are some variations of the game, such as the awarding of double points on a hole if a player achieves all three parts of the Bingo Bango Bongo.

What's good about this game is that the way points are awarded can favour the less able golfer. This is because the furthest player from the hole plays first in golf, giving the player whose drive was the shortest the first attempt at winning the Bingo on short and medium-length par 4s for instance. 

Bingo Bango Bongo

Bingo Bango Bongo can be both entertaining and frustrating! 

(Image credit: Tom Miles)

Similarly, the person who gets the first attempt at a Bongo is the player whose ball is in the worst position on the green. This does give the give the higher handicap players a chance when playing against low handicap players, a way to neutralise the superior player’s skills advantage.

Tactics can also come into play. Sometimes playing the best shot you can may not be the right move. For example, if the person who plays his approach shot first has made the green, but his ball ended a fair distance from the flag, he has now won the Bingo. 

Now what does the next player to play aim to do? Should he aim for the green? Or does he lay up to allow him to chip or even putt onto the green from close in, so as to give himself the best attempt to win the Bango for nearest the pin when all players have played onto the green?

Matt Cradock
Staff Writer

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover weekend news and social media, as well as help look after Golf Monthly’s many buyers’ guides and equipment reviews.


Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round came in 2016, where he shot a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine holes. He currently plays at Witney Lakes in Oxfordshire and his favourite player is Rory McIlroy, despite nearly being struck by his second shot at the 17th during the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.


Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?

Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Rocketballz Stage 2, 15°, 19°

Hybrid: Adams Super Hybrid, 22°

Irons: Mizuno MP54, 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°

Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x