How to Play the Duck Side Bet
As any group of golfers plays its way around the golf course, they are all, obviously, trying to avoid hitting shots into water. But somewhere in the round (unless the group members are all low-to-mid handicappers), one or more of them may find the drink.
When a golfer hits into water in the Duck game, it doesn't necessarily cost him any money. But the last golfer who hits into water loses the Duck bet and owes each of the other golfers the amount of the bet. When the round ends, if you were the last to hit into water, well, get out your wallet. It's OK to be first in Duck, just don't be last.
Let's say Golfer A hits into a pond on the second hole. If nobody else in the group hits into water the whole rest of the round, then Golfer A is paying.
But if Golfer B hits into a stream on the 12th hole, Golfer B now "holds the duck" (or "quacks") and is on the hook for the Duck bet. If nobody else hits into water before the end of the round, Golfer B is paying. If someone else finds water, the duck passes to them, and so on.
And at the end of the round, the last golfer who hit into water pays out to the others in the group.
Duck/Duckies is not to be confused with other hitting-into-water games such as Splashies, Fishies, Cousteau or Shark, in which a golfer loses the bet each time she hits into water throughout the round.
More golf games:
