Get down to the (tiny) putting green for Miniature Golf Day! A great day out for the family, and an excuse to sharpen up your putting skills all in one fun package. Watch out for the windmill turbines!
- 1457 – Golf was banned throughout Scotland by the nation’s Parliament, which believed it interfered with residents’ military training. This ban was repeated twice more, in 1471 and 1491
- 1867 – As an act of rebellion against the social norm, the Ladies’ Putting Club of St. Andrews is founded — the first-known putting club in history.
- At St. Andrews in Scotland—often the site of the British Open—stands the Ladies’ Putting Club of St. Andrews. It was set up in 1867 for women to play golf while keeping with the manners of the era that found it unladylike for a woman to swing a golf club.
- 1912 – The Illustrated London News had a mention of the earliest documented minigolf course in its June 8, 1912, edition
- 1916 – James Barbar opens the first classic miniature golf course, Thistle Dhu – This’ll Do – in Pinehurst, NC.
- 1920s – By the late 1920s, there were hundreds of places to play miniature golf around the U.S.. There were 150 courses in New York City alone, on the tops of buildings. Once the Depression hit, all but a handful of courses around the country were closed down and torn down due to a lack of business.
- 1922 – Thomas McCullough Fairbairn revolutionized the game with the introduction of artificial green, which allowed mini-golf to be accessible everywhere..
- 1938 – The introduction of real obstacles like windmills and castles by Joseph and Robert Taylor makes mini-golf a favorite pastime for people in the U.S.
- 1953 – Don Clayton added a new twist to the mini-golf courses by designing short holes that allowed scoring holes-in-one by skillful players. Don did this by adding banking metal rails to enable accurate rebounds and encourage unique play.
- 1958 – Beginning in 1958, Putt-Putt gains ownership of several federal trademark registrations to own the name ‘Putt-Putt.’
- 1960 – The World Minigolf Sport Federation is founded.
- 1961 – The first miniature golf course in the United States opened in 1961 at Pinehurst, California. It was called Thistle Dhu, which was pronounced as “that’ll do”, a name that was a play on words, indicating that a mini golf course will do in place of a full golf course.
- 2019 – On May 11, 2019, Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee launched the Florida Historic Mini Golf Trail, which includes six historic miniature golf courses in Florida that are more than 50 years old.
- The six courses are Putt-Putt Amelia Island in Fernandina Beach, Goofy Golf in Fort Walton Beach, Goofy Golf in Panama City Beach, Goofy Golf in Pensacola, Polynesian Putt in St. Pete Beach, and Ripley’s Bayfront Mini Golf in St. Augustine, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Mini golf is a globally recognized, competitive sport, played professionally by many enthusiastic golfers. Its official governing body, the World Mini Golf Sports Federation (WMF), has over 40,000 registered players, representing over three dozen countries.
- A research team in Antarctica once set up a mini-golf course using ice tunnels and snow ramps.
- There’s a floating mini-golf course in the Maldives, where players putt across holes surrounded by the ocean.
- Miniature golf is one game with many names. Mini golf, crazy golf, putt-putt, goofy golf, shorties, midget golf, and mini putt are just a few examples of its numerous nicknames
- The idea of glow-in-the-dark miniature golf courses began in Scandinavian countries such as Finland. Since these northern countries experience months of short days and long nights, the glow-ball and glow courses allow them to enjoy the game all year round and outdoors.
- The world record score for miniature golf is 18 strokes on 18 holes. Over 1,000 golfers accomplished this feat.
- at the 17th on Sunday, losing two balls – and the tournament – in the process.
- The Great Depression post-World War 1 changed a lot in the world and the game. People could not afford to build quality mini-courses to play golf. However, the interest in the game did not change. People went for locally available materials on the streets to build their courses, making their mark on the game with new and unique obstacles never seen before.
- At this time, it’s estimated that over 4 million people were playing mini-golf in the United States.
- The Hawaiian Rumble in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, claims to be the toughest mini-golf course globally, and it’s the venue of the annual Masters of Miniature Golf tournament. The Fantasia Fairways mini-golf course at Fantasia Gardens is also considered the hardest, and it has once been voted as the most challenging mini-golf course in the world by Golf Digest.
- Myrtle Beach, a city and vacation resort in South Carolina, is known as the seaside golf capital of the world, with over 100 golf courses. It’s also the miniature golf capital of the world, as it has close to 50 miniature golf courses.
- One of the strangest courses ever built is “Ghetto Golf” in the UK, featuring graffiti-covered walls and bizarre obstacles like a bathtub with a mannequin.
- “Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf” in Canada, where neon lights and blacklight effects create an eerie, sci-fi atmosphere.
- Japan has even experimented with robotic obstacles, where moving animatronics make the game extra challenging.
- The largest mini-golf course is in the Czech Republic. It has 18 courses with over 150 unique holes, spread across acres of land. Each section is themed differently, including an ancient Egyptian pyramid area and a futuristic space station course.
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