ai olympics 2001: mini golf
commish: Nick Matsakis
The Objective
Direct the "ball" into the "hole" using the "club".The Course
Tee times begin at 2:30pm. The course will have six holes arranged around the seventh floor. Players will play in foursomes, and sign up for tee times (fifteen minutes apart) on a list at the first tee, location TBA.Scoring
Note that scoring is heavily weighted for participation.A player's course score is the sum of the number of strokes required for all six holes (including penalty strokes; see below). Players should get a score card from the first tee to keep score, and return the score card to the commissioner after completing the course. Par for the course is 18 strokes.
The score for a team is the sum of all participating players' scores. A player scores as follows:
| Participation | 18 points |
| Course score | Max(12,48 - # Strokes) |
| Help Nick Set Up Course | 20 points |
| Help Nick Take Down Course | 20 points |
| Wearing Golf Attire | 5 points per item; Polo shirts do -not- count |
Of course, only the order of the team scores matters for overall Olympics scoring.
The Rules
(from previous years):7th floor golf has many rules both practical and traditional. And they -never- change. But just in case you haven't memorized them yet, I'll repeat them:
Meter Rule
There is a one stroke penalty for any shot that achieves an
elevation in excess of one meter. In addition, that shot must be
replayed. The wisdom of this rule will be appreciated when you learn
that in the past we have lost golf balls into the ceiling...
Dime Rule
It is periodically necessary to mark the location of your ball with
some small flat object so as not to obstruct the path of other
players. The only acceptable marker is a United States 10-cent piece,
commonly called a "dime".
Obstacles: Wheels, Trash, Cables, Doors, People
In general, if something is in your way, you must play around
it. There are some exceptions: Objects with wheels may be rolled
about. Trash is underbrush, and can thus be cleared out of the
way. Cables are vines, so they may be rearranged at will.
Doors may -not- have their position changed. You may open a door in order to enter an office to find your ball, but you must return the door to its original position before shooting.
Hackers at workstations in the hallways do -not- have to adjust themselves to make your next shot convenient, even if they are sitting on chairs with wheels. However, it is considered poor sportsmanship for one team to "suddenly" have many of their players decide to start hacking just as players from another team reach that part of the course.
People walking across the course while you are trying to play are ducks. You can try shooing them away, but in general you just have to wait for them the waddle off. Golfers have been known to quack at the ducks.
It is advisable to check for ducks on the fairway before you tee off, especially if you are planning to apply significant force to the ball. The traditional warning cry of "Fore!" is advisable in this case.
Moving the ball
Before any shot, at the cost of a single stroke, you may adjust the
position of your ball by up to one club length so long as you move it
no -closer- to the hole. This adjustment -is- allowed to pass through
walls and other obstacles. For two strokes, you may adjust your ball
by any distance, but still no closer to the hole.
When is the ball in the hole?
Since the plastic holes are actually more like hills, it is frequently
difficult to determine when a ball can be said to have actually been
-in- the hole. Over the years a number of rules have been used, none
of them entirely satisfactory. For the purposes of this contest we
will be using the Simplified Middle Region Rule: If your ball touches
the middle region of the plastic hole, then the ball was in the hole.
Who tees off?
On the first hole, players may tee off in any order. On subsequent
holes the order is determined by how well the players did on the
previous hole -- the players who did the best on the previous hole
teeing off before those who did less well. Players who did equally
well tee off in the reverse of their order on the previous hole. The
general idea here is to waste a lot of time deferring to each other
and straining your memories trying to recall what happened just
moments ago.
Who goes next?
After everybody has teed off, the player whose ball is farthest from
the hole always goes next. Note that there is a notion of "logical
distance" that is frequently invoked. If on the second hole, for
example, your tee shot carries your ball into the kitchen, where it
takes a bad hop and winds up in an empty water cooler bottle, you are
probably now "logically away" no matter where your opponents are.
Who keeps score?
Players are responsible for keeping track of their own score. You can
count, right? The other players in your foursome will keep you honest.
How do I use the club?
I'm kidding, right? Actually I'm not -- we're more liberal at the 7th
Floor Country Club than you might expect. You are allowed to use the
club in -any- manner to strike the ball. For example, when the ball is
under a piece of furniture it is frequently useful to use the club as
if it were a pool cue, striking the ball with the end of the handle.
Hacking Penalty
There is a two stroke penalty assessed for any player caught hacking
during play. The traditional definition of hacking has been: typing an
expression to a Lisp interpreter. Given the popularity of other
programming languages these days, we will be expanding this definition
to cover the typing of expressions in any language that cannot be
recognized by a Finite State Machine.
Don't forget to bring a dime.
Nick Matsakis(matsakis@ai.mit.edu)
Last modified: Mon Jan 22 16:36:46 2001