Animals Golf

On a recent golfing trip, my uncle introduced me to a game called "Animals" that can be played alongside a real golf game. It can make a round of golf a little more interesting for those of us whose scores tend toward double par. It could also be adapted to the RulesOfGeelf, but unlike geelf, real golfers might be willing to join in.

There are seven animals. Players receive animals when they make mistakes. The specific animals and the related mistakes are as follows:

frog -- ball lands in water trap
camel -- ball lands in sand trap
mole -- taking two or more shots to get out of sand trap
snake -- three or more putts on the green
woodchuck -- ball lost in woods
gorilla -- ball lands out of bounds
pussycat -- drive doesn't make it past the ladies' tee

There is only one instance of each animal, so the last person to make the mistake associated with a given animal takes it away from whomever had it previously.

At the end of the round, those who own animals have to pay the other players. Typical penalties are twenty-five cents or a dollar per animal.

Example:

On the second hole, Frank drives the ball out of bounds. Frank now has the gorilla.

On the third hole, Frank puts the ball into the water. Frank now has the gorilla and the frog.

On the sixth hole, Bill puts the ball into the water. Now Bill has the frog, and Frank still has the gorilla.

On the tenth hole, Bob lands in a sand trap, takes two shots to get out of the trap, and then three-putts. Bob now has the camel, the mole, and the snake. (Bill and Frank keep the animals they have).

On the seventeenth hole, Bill three-putts. Now Bill has the snake and the frog, Bob has the camel and the mole, and Frank has the gorilla.

At the end of the round, Bill and Bob each owe the other players two dollars each, and Frank owes the other players one dollar each.

For some alternative rules see