Animals
Penalties that follow you home.
Camel, Monkey, Gorilla, Fish, Snake, Chipmunk — six golf mishaps, each with a price tag. Get stuck holding one at the end and you pay up.
Animals turns every bad shot into a running joke with money on the line. Six golf mishaps each get an animal — sand trap (Camel), tree (Monkey), out of bounds (Gorilla), water (Fish), three-putt (Snake), missed chip (Chipmunk) — and they pass between players as the round goes on.
Get stuck holding an animal when the round ends and you pay everyone else for it. There's almost no strategy, just gallows humor and the dread of a Snake on the 18th green. The 19th tracks every event in real time and runs the holder-pays-all settlement so nobody has to keep score.
How to play Animals
- 1
Set the animal amount
Pick a dollar value per animal point. Optionally configure doubling thresholds (Games subscription).
- 2
Trigger animals during the round
When a player triggers a mishap, the host records the animal. That player becomes the new holder of the animal and the total count increments.
- 3
Watch animals transfer
Animals pass between players: a hit ball into the water moves the Fish from whoever held it to the new offender.
- 4
Settle holder-pays-all
At round end, the player holding each animal pays every non-holder = animal count × animal amount.
Rules at a glance
Camel — ball lands in a sand trap.
Monkey — ball hits a tree.
Gorilla — ball goes out of bounds.
Fish — ball lands in water.
Snake — player three-putts.
Chipmunk — chip shot within 30 yards misses the green.
When a player triggers an event, they become the new holder of that animal; the total count goes up by 1.
Animal doubling: when an animal's total count crosses a configurable threshold, all subsequent events for that animal are worth 2 points instead of 1.
Games subscription required
Payout Total Animals: optional rule that switches settlement from per-holder count to total count across the entire round.
Configurable variations
Animal doubling thresholds
Each animal can independently have a threshold (Games subscription). Set Double Camels to 5, for example, and the 6th sand-trap event onward is worth 2 points. Setting a threshold to 0 disables doubling for that animal.
Payout Total Animals
With this rule on, the final holder pays based on total events for the animal across the round, not just events while they held it. Bigger payouts on the 18th green when you're stuck holding the Snake.
Animals in the app
The 19th tracks every shot, side bet, and payout for Animals automatically. Here's what it looks like on iOS.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the six animals in Animals golf?
- Camel (sand trap), Monkey (tree), Gorilla (out of bounds), Fish (water), Snake (three-putt), and Chipmunk (missed chip from inside 30 yards).
- How does Animals settle at the end of the round?
- Whoever is holding each animal at round end pays every non-holder. Payout = animal count × animal amount. With Payout Total Animals on, the count is the round total; otherwise it's the holder's personal count.
- Is there strategy in Animals?
- Almost none — it's the most chance-driven of the four golf side bets. The fun is the running commentary: nobody wants to hold the Snake heading into the back nine. Strategy enters when you stack Animals concurrently with Skins or Wolf and start playing more conservatively to avoid mishaps.
Related games
Skins
Win the hole, win the pot.
Hole-by-hole golf side game where each outright win earns a skin.
Read the rulesWolf
Choose your partner. Or go alone.
Strategic golf side game with a rotating Wolf role and Lone Wolf high-stakes plays.
Read the rulesGreenies
Closest to the pin. Cash in hand.
Par-3-only golf side game where the player closest to the pin earns a greenie.
Read the rulesTrack Animals automatically
Download The 19th and let the app handle the scoring, payouts, and settlement so your crew can focus on the round.
