I love playing miniature golf. We have a few miniature golf courses where I live. This is the one Brenna and I went to recently.
It has long been a dream of mine to open a miniature golf course. I have a lot of really cool ideas. Imagine if you will a sort of cross between a night club and a miniature golf course and that is what I would be going for. There would be drink carts and portable bars with sexy girls and guys serving up the libations. There will be a DJ and she can take requests and play the music through speakers hidden around the course. There will be fog machines and lasers. Plenty of lasers. And a windmill. You gotta have a windmill right? Plus I would sprinkle in some Hello Kitty and plenty of references to Caddyshack.
I think most people reading this have probably played miniature golf at some point yet there may be the one or two who have yet to experience the joy of miniature golf so to be clear, miniature golf, also known as minigolf or crazy golf or putt putt or any other number of names, is an offshoot of the sport of golf yet focusing on the putting aspect of its parent game. You play it on courses consisting of a series of short holes, usually within 10 yards from tee to cup and usually in a multiple of 9. There is usually artificial putting surfaces such as carpet, astroturf and/or concrete probably because real grass is too hard to maintain. As well, miniature golf has a geometric layout requiring non-traditional putting lines such as bank shots and artificial obstacles such as tunnels and tubes, ramps, concrete/metal/fiberglass forms and moving obstacles such as windmills. Oh yes. Windmills.
If you live in the desert like we do, there are rocks. Lots of rocks.
Geometrically shaped miniature golf courses made of artificial materials such as carpet began to emerge during the early 20th century. The earliest documented mention of such a course is in the June 8th, 1912 edition of The Illustrated London News, which introduces a miniature golf course called Gofstacle. I love that name. Gofstacle. Maybe I will call my course that?
The American miniature golf boom of early 20th century came to an end during the economic depression in the late 1930s. Nearly all miniature golf courses in the United States were closed and demolished before the end of 1930s. In 1938 Joseph and Robert Taylor from New York started building and operating their own miniature golf courses and these included all those obstacles we enjoy on modern courses today.
Here in Las Vegas we have a couple indoor courses. One is in semi darkness with a liberal use of day-glow paint. Another is built by the rock band KISS and features obstacles and scenery based on the band.
In the United States, National Miniature Golf Day is held yearly on the second Saturday of May so grab your girl or guy and take them out for a round of miniature golf. I am sure there will be plenty of smiles to go around.
Do you ever play miniature golf? Did you play at KISS Monster Mini Golf yet? What is your favorite obstacle? Let us know in the comments. Would love to hear from you.