Patti and Mike Kedziora attended a Trunk or Treat event in Somers Point last year.
Ocean City High School senior Felicia Cullen stands nearest to the statistically favorable track for a free game of mini golf at Congo Falls Adventure Golf.
If you happen to find yourself at the 19th hole of the Congo Falls Adventure Golf Course on the Ocean City Boardwalk this summer, you'll have options to win a free game.
Skip the test of skill (yeah, like you're really going to make that putt anyway) and choose instead the right slot of the left Plinko-style game — a sort of vertical maze in which you're trying to drop your ball through a series of pegs and into a cup.
Ocean City High School probability and statistics students completed a statistical analysis of the Congo Falls Adventure Golf courses on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
Your best chance, by far, of winning a free game is by picking slot No. 3 of the left drop box, according to a statistical analysis recently completed by Ocean City High School students. Almost 30 percent of the balls dropped there were winners — though the students warn that their study included far too little data to be statistically valid.
The analysis was part of a study of applied mathematics Ocean City-style. The students took a field trip a few blocks down from their seaside high school to study the odds of a boardwalk miniature golf layout.
Advanced and college prep students in the probability and statistics classes of Ed Ritti, Helene Kelly and Joseph Lehman visited Congo Falls in the last week of May to gather data and returned to class to analyze their findings.
Each student team was assigned a golf hole from the course. The students photographed, measured and detailed all obstacles. Once complete, the classes played holes of golf. The students found one-variable statistics for each hole based on all the compiled scores, using Microsoft Excel, MiniTab, and produced visual representations of the data.
In addition to the 18 holes, they produced an experimental probability analysis of the 19th ‘Plinko’ style game to determine how many free games the course can expect to distribute in a day.
The students will produce a laminated booklet diagramming each hole and rating the holes based upon the statistics. Each specific golf hole will have its own page with pictorial, written, and numerical details. Once complete, they will present the data to Congo Falls executives, including owner Mark Benevento. The book will be located at the front booth. If you’re there this summer, check it out.
At the course on a warm and sunny day in May, the students seemed glad not only to be out of class and playing mini golf, but also to see a real-world application to their studies.
“It’s nice to know when you’re doing something if you’re going to win or not,” senior Felicia Cullen said.
A tip from Hannah Eiler: The “Congo Queen” course is harder than “Lost City,” according to their preliminary findings.
See a sample hole analysis below.
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