Minigolf has so far not reached wide popularity outside Europe and United States. 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, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil and the Eastern Bloc.^[19] Minigolf courses are found in all parts of the world, but their popularity is by far highest in USA, UK, Scandinavia and central Europe.

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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.^[20] 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.^[21]

World Minigolfsport Federation represents some 40,000 registered competition players from 37 countries.^[22] The national minigolf federation of Germany has 11,000 members with a competing license^[23], and the Swedish federation has 8,000 registered competition players.^[24] 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 sceptre of competitive minigolf rests quite firmly in mainland Europe: no player from other countries (such as UK, USA, Japan et cetera) has ever reached even the top 50 in World Championships (in men's category).^[20] Nearly all national federations outside Europe were founded only quite recently (within the last 10 years), and it will take time before the players of these countries learn all secrets of the game. USA has a longer history of minigolf competitions, but the standardized European competition courses are practically unknown in USA, and therefore the American players have been unable to learn the secrets of European minigolf. On the traditional American courses the best American players are able to challenge the European top players into a tough and exciting competition.^[25]

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.^[26]

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.^[27]

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.

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Course types

All competitions approved by World Minigolfsport Federation are played on standardized courses, whose design has been checked to be suitable for competitive play. The WMF currently approves four different course types:

• beton (abbreviated B, sometimes called "Bongni", "Minigolf" or "Abteilung 1")^[28]
• eternite^[29] (abbreviated E (in Sweden EB), sometimes called "Europabana", "Miniaturgolf" or "Abteilung 2"),
• felt^[30] (abbreviated F or SFR, sometimes called "Swedish felt runs"), and
• Minigolf Open System^[31] (abbreviated "O", "OS" or "MOS"). The latter non-standardized playing system, MOS, covers all minigolf courses that the three standardized systems (B, E, F) do not cover.

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.^[32]

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International tournaments

World Minigolfsport Federation (WMF), a member of AGFIS, organises World Championships bi-annually (on odd-numbered years), while the continental championships in Europe and Asia are organized on even-numbered years. Many of these competitions are arranged for three age groups: juniors (under 20 years), adults (no age limit), and seniors (over 45 years).^[33] Men and women compete separately in their own categories, except in some team competitions and pair competitions. The difference in the playing skills of men and women is very small on top level, however: it is not unheard-of that the best player in a major international tournament is female. Typically the winner in women's category would be very close to medals also in men's category.^[34]

The reigning minigolf world champion (2007)^[35] 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)^[36] 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.^[37] 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.^[38]

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^[39]
• US Open 2007: Greg Newport of USA^[40]
• British Open 2007: Jouni Valkjärvi of Finland^[41],
• Irish Open 2007: Ricard Lockner of Sweden^[42], and
• World Crazy Golf 2007: Chris Harding of Great Britain^[43].

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.

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See also

• Professional Putters Association
• M.C. Mini Masters, a unique annual amateur miniature golf tournament
• Défi mini-putt, a 1990s televised mini-golf series Quebec
• Sholf

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References

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External links

• World records in minigolf
• WMF - World Minigolfsport Federation (WMF)
• EMF - European Minigolfsport Federation (EMF)
• 2008 European Championships- European Championships 2008, Tampere Finland
• Miniature Golf Courses in the United States
• Minigolfpics - Minigolfpics (thousands of photos from minigolf competitions)
• Champions and Hall of Fame Members of the Pro Putters Association and Amateur Putters Association
• Miniature Golf Courses by State
• "Lilli-putt-ian Landmarks" by Susan R. Chandler
• The Artistic History of Miniature Golf
• History of miniature golf
• The Putting Penguin - Miniature Golf Course review site, with courses from around the world
• The Mini Golf Enthusiast. Miniature golf news, resources, history, and photo collections
• Team USA Minigolf Training Center
• British Minigolf Association - British Minigolf Association

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