Miniature golf

Miniature golf

Minigolf, or miniature golf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf, midget golf, goofy golf, shorties, extreme golf, crazy golf, adventure golf, mini-putt and so on. The name Putt-Putt is the trademark of an American company that builds and franchises miniature golf courses and Family Entertainment Centers. The term "Minigolf" was formerly a registered trademark of a Swiss company that built its own patented type of minigolf courses.

The game

There are different types of minigolf courses. In USA and United Kingdom the minigolf courses typically use similar designs as the greens (putting areas) of golf, having an oddly-shaped green area (made of felt rather than grass), and obstacles made of stone and sand. Many minigolf courses in these countries also include fantasy obstacles such as wind-mills, dinosaurs, and just about anything imaginable, hence the UK term:' crazy golf'.

Course design

In mainland Europe nearly all minigolf courses are geometrically shaped, which gives them a visual appearance very much unlike the greens (putting areas) of golf. In Scandinavia minigolf courses usually have a rectangular wooden frame and a felt surface. In central and southern Europe the minigolf courses most commonly have a steel frame and a surface made of beton or eternite (which is hardened special beton).

As in golf, courses usually have nine or eighteen holes (or less commonly twelve), and the object is to hit the minigolf ball into the hole with as few strokes as possible. The distance to the hole from the starting area is rarely more than 10 meters in minigolf (while in regular golf the hole is up to 200 meters (656 feet) away from the starting area, or tee). Due to the short distance, minigolfers rarely use other golf clubs than the putter. Iron chippers are used on hole number 7 in the standardized beton courses (used in international competitions), which has a 30m long fairway of natural grass, and a round green made of beton.

Minigolf is less expensive and much easier than golf, and is therefore a popular pastime for adults and children of all ages. The costs of building a minigolf course are less than 10% of the costs of a golf course. Also the admission tickets to minigolf courses are remarkably cheaper than the admission tickets to golf courses. For these economical reasons, the number of minigolf courses and occasional players of minigolf is many times greater than the number of golf courses and golf players. In Germany alone there are several thousand minigolf courses, and 15 million Germans play at least one round of minigolf during each year.

There are also portable minigolf courses. These are usually set up temporarily for competitions, summer family events, product launches and corporate team-building events. Swedish felt and eternite courses are semi-portable and often used for seasonal use outdoors, but custom-built portable courses such as those designed and built by special minigolf companies are used indoors and outdoors throughout the year. They are extremely popular with people of all ages and skills.







European origins



Swedish minigolf courses typically had a rectangular wooden frame surrounding the playing area made of tennis field sand (while the American manufacturers used newly-developed and patented felt as the surface of their minigolf courses). Felt did not become popular as a surface material in Sweden until in the mid-1960s – but since then it has become practically the only surface material used in Scandinavia and Britain, due to its favourable playing qualities in wet weather. (Minigolf courses with a felt surface can be played also in rainy weather, because water is absorbed through the felt into the ground. The other commonly used surface materials, beton and eternite, cannot be used in rainy weather, because the rainwater collects into large pools on them, stopping the ball from rolling.)

The Swedish Minigolf Federation (Svenska Bangolfförbundet) was founded in 1937, being the oldest minigolf sport organization in the world. National Swedish championships in minigolf have been played yearly since 1939. In other countries minigolf sport federations were not founded until the late 1950s, due to the post-war economical depression (from which Sweden was largely spared due to its successful neutral non-militant policy during the World Wars).

Competitive games

The earliest documented minigolf competitions were played in the United States, however. The first National Tom Thumb Open minigolf tournament was arranged in 1930, with a total cash purse $10,000 (the top prize being $2,000). Qualification play-offs were played in all of the 48 states, and the final competition on Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee attracted over 200 players representing thirty states. After the Depression ten years later, minigolf died out as a competition sport in America, and has begun to recover only during the most recent decades. Luckily enough, the American minigolf sport boom of 1930s inspired many European countries, and the fire of minigolf sport lived on in Europe even after the American game fell into Depression.

Post-Depression USA






In the United States, National Miniature Golf Day is held every second Saturday of May. The event had its inaugural celebration on May 12, 2007, and will be officially recognized and published in 2008's edition of Chase's Calendar of Events. Chase's is published by McGraw-Hill.

Other countries

Minigolf has so far not reached wide popularity outside Europe and North America. The reason is probably economical, at least to some extent: the less wealthy countries invest their limited sports funds into such forms of sports that enjoy widest public attention and media coverage, leaving the less popular sports with little or no funding at all. (Minigolf is one of the most popular outdoor games in Europe and America, though, but only as an occasional leisure activity, not as a competitive sport.)

Already in the 1950s the American Putt-Putt company exported their minigolf courses to South Africa, Australia, Japan, India, Italy, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil and the Eastern Bloc. Minigolf courses are found in all parts of the world, but their popularity is by far highest in USA, UK, New Zealand, Scandinavia and central Europe.

Expansion of competition

Nearly all European countries have an official national federation for promoting minigolf as a competition sport. The bi-annual European Championships attract competitors from more than twenty European countries. Outside Europe the only countries that have participated in international minigolf competitions are USA, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. A national minigolf federation exists also in Moldova, Mexico, India, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, but none of these countries have ever participated in international competitions, and probably are not arranging many domestic competitions either.

World Minigolfsport Federation represents some 40,000 registered competition players from 37 countries. The national minigolf federation of Germany has 11,000 members with a competing license, and the Swedish federation has 8,000 registered competition players. Other strong minigolf countries include Austria and Switzerland, each having a few thousand licensed competition players. Also Italy, Czech Republic and Netherlands have traditionally been able to send a strong team to international championships, even if they cannot count their licensed players in thousands.


The British Minigolf Association (BMGA) has an additional – and quite surprising – problem on their way to greater success in competitive minigolf. While the minigolf federations in mainland Europe receive annual funding from the government, in Britain the national sports organisation Sports England has refused to accept BMGA as its member – which means that BMGA is left without the public funding that other forms of sports enjoy. The rules of Sports England declare that only one variant of each sport can be accepted as member – and minigolf is interpreted as a variant of golf.

No person is known to be earning his living by competing in minigolf (although David "Doc" O'Connor has come close. His temper has reduced his earning capacity), so "professional" minigolf players do not exist in the full meaning of the concept. Many course owners and employees naturally earn their living by working at minigolf courses, and some of the best minigolf players earn their living from minigolf-related work, such as giving putting lessons to golf players.

The highest money prizes are paid in USA, where the winner of a major competition may earn up to 5,000 US dollars. In mainland Europe the money prizes are generally quite low, and in many cases honour is the only thing at stake in the competition. International championships usually award no money prizes at all.

In the US there are two organizations offering national tournaments: the Professional Putters Association and the US Pro Mini-Golf Association (USPMGA) The latter of these represents USA in the World Minigolfsport Federation, having been an active member since 1995. USPMGA President Robert Detwiler is also the WMF representative for North and South America.

Course types


  • beton (abbreviated B, sometimes called "Bongni", "Minigolf" or "Abteilung 1")
  • felt (abbreviated F or SFR, sometimes called "Swedish felt runs"), and

The world record on one round of minigolf is 18 strokes on 18 holes. More than a thousand players have officially achieved this score on eternite. On other playing systems a perfect round of 18 hole-in-ones is extremely rare, and has never been scored in an official national or international tournament. Unofficial 18-rounds on beton and felt courses have been reported in Sweden.

International tournaments


The reigning minigolf world champion (2007) in men's category is Marco Templin of Germany, and in women's category Elisabeth Gruber of Austria. In team competition the reigning world champion (2007) is Germany in men's category and in women's category.

The reigning European champion (2006) in men's category is Harald Erlbruch of Germany, and in women's category Bianca Zodrow of Germany. In team competition the reigning European champion (2006) is Sweden in men's category, and Germany in women's category.

The most renowned annual minigolf tournament for club teams is the European Cup. The reigning champion of European Cup 2007 is Uppsala BGK (of Sweden), both in men's category and women's category.

World and European Championships have so far never been arranged on MOS courses (which are popular in USA and UK, and were approved by WMF for competition use only a few years ago). International competitions are typically arranged on two courses of 18 holes, of which one course is eternite, and the other course is usually beton, less commonly felt. In the future the WMF is expected to use also MOS courses in international championships – which will give American and British players a chance to show their skills on their own traditional course types.

The most prestigious MOS minigolf competitions in the world are US Masters, US Open, British Open, Irish Open, and World Crazy Golf Championships. The reigning champions are;

  • US Masters 2007: Daniel McCaslin of USA
  • US Open 2007: Greg Newport of USA
  • British Open 2007: Jouni Valkjärvi of Finland,
  • Irish Open 2007: Ricard Lockner of Sweden, and
  • World Crazy Golf 2007: Chris Harding of Great Britain.

Another miniature golf tournament is the Harris Cup in the United States. The Harris Cup, which is run by the Harris Miniature Golf Company, hands out $10,000 USD in prizes at their annual tournament. The 2007 event was held at Lahey Family Fun Park in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, and was won by Rod Miller from Columbus, Ohio.

See also


External links

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