When both players had returned, Bink announced the start of game 11. He lead them down the next path. Howie followed with a huge grin and Nancy was right behind him. The path ended in a large clearing. At one end of the clearing was a soccer goal. Bink opened a box on the ground and pulled out 3 soccer balls.
The grinning host explained the game to the two players. Each player would kick three balls at the goal from a distance of 25 yards. The player who scored the most goals won. If there was a tie each player would kick one ball until the tie was broken. Bink put the three balls down and told Nancy she could take her kicks first.
Nancy was smiling. Her faith was being rewarded. While she had never played organized soccer, with her leg strength and athletic training, this was going to be easy. Nancy hardly hesitated. She took a couple of steps back, and then ran forward and kicked the first ball dead center of the goal. Within a minute, balls 2 and 3 followed and Nancy just stepped back smiling.
Bink respotted the balls and Howie stepped up. He'd never been able to kick anything straight in his life. Howie took a step back and kicked at the ball. His foot topped it and the ball rolled about 10 feet and stopped. The game was over that quick.
Bink led the players back and Carol announced that Nancy had won game 11. The crowd moaned and then they began to try and cheer Howie on. Nancy just stood and waited. God was with her, it would be all right. Then game 12 was announced and Bink, Nancy, and Howie headed down path 12.
The three of them came to the end of the path, and it took Nancy a moment to figure out what she was looking at. There were bizarre looking ramps everywhere. Then she realized she was looking at a small miniature golf course. Bink handed each player a putter and a ball, then he explained the game. There were three miniature golf holes. Each player played each hole once. The player with the lowest number of strokes after the three holes won. If there was a tie they would repeat one hole at a time until the tie was broken.
The first hole was a straight putt with an electronic turning windmill blocking the putt intermittently. The second hole was a zig zag, where the ball was supposed to bounce off two wooden blocks in order to reach the cup. The third and final hole was simply long and straight. The cup was in the center of a very small raised area right near the back wall.
Bink told Nancy to start. She placed her ball and made her first putt. It went safely past the windmill but missed the cup. It stopped less than a foot from the hole and Nancy tapped it in.
Howie had always loved mini golf, even if he wasn't that good at it. He hit his first putt, but timed it wrong. It hit one of the windmill blades and stopped. His second putt went through fine. It ended up about 3 feet from the hole and Howie made a nice little putt to sink it. The score after the first hole was Nancy 2, Howie 3.
Nancy took her first putt on hole 2. It hit both blocks and once again she ended up with a tap in for 2. Howie's putt hit high on the first block and missed the second. He had a straight putt to the cup, but it was over 20 feet. Howie made a valiant effort, but it missed by a couple of inches. He tapped in for another 3. The score after the second hole was Nancy 4, Howie 6.
The third hole would decide it. If Nancy could make no worse than 2, Howie wouldn't be able to catch her. Nancy's first putt headed right for the cup, but it lipped out and rolled off of the raised area. Nancy hit her second putt, but it missed as well, and once again rolled down off the small mesa. Every time the ball rolled down from the little area, it ended up about 6 feet away. Nancy tried to hit her next shot soft enough so that it would stay near the hole. Unfortunately, she hit it a little too soft. It was headed right for the hole and simply stopped an inch or two in front of it. Nancy tapped the ball in, but it was a 4.
Howie needed a 2 to tie the game and take it to another hole. He hit his first shot dead straight, but too hard. It passed just to the left of the cup and flew down the little hill. Howie saw the ball miss and began to walk towards the back of the hole. As he was walking the ball bounced straight back off the back wall. It rolled straight back up the slope and into the cup. Howie had a hole in one. For a moment neither player realized what that meant. Then Howie threw both hands in the air and screamed. The final score of the event was Nancy 8, Howie 7. Howie had won the game.