Miniature golf, also known as mini-golf, midget golf, goofy golf,
or crazy golf is a game modelled after the sport of golf. The term
Putt-Putt is a registered trademark of a miniature golf company,
but is commonly used to describe the sport in general.
There are a variety of miniature golf courses, five of which are
officially recognised: the most common of these are beton and
eternit. As in golf, courses are commonly nine or eighteen holes
long (or less commonly twelve) and the object is to hit the golf
ball into the appropriate hole in the fewest number of strokes;
however, in the miniature game, the holes are significantly shorter
and consist of only a putting surface. The game is made challenging
by an arrangement of obstacles, ramps, and bunkers. It is a popular
pastime in many areas of the world, especially among families.
The first miniature golf course is often misattributed to one of
two epochs: 1. The 1916 backyard Thistle Dhu ("This'll Do") course
in Pinehurst, North Carolina, or 2. The 1927 Tom Thumb patent of
Garnet Carter from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Neither of these
courses—though each revolutionary in its own right—was the true
"first" miniature golf course. The Ladies' Putting Club of St.
Andrews, Scotland was the first miniature golf course, formed in
1867. Then, it was unacceptable for women to swing a club past
their shoulders, so a miniature version of regulation golf was
adapted for women to play.
Miniature golf rose to popularity in the late 1910s and early
1920s as a way for early golf fanatics to replicate major golf
courses on a small scale. The game was commonly called "garden
golf," and was played with a putter on grass. Thomas McCulloch
Fairbairn, a golf fanatic, revolutionized the game in 1922 with his
formulation of a suitable artificial green—a mixture of cottonseed
hulls, sand, oil, and dye. With this discovery, miniature golf
became accessible everywhere; by the late 1920s there were over 150
rooftop courses in New York City alone.
Mini golf amounted to a popular culture craze in the first years
of the Depression but its popularity waned dramatically by 1935 or
so.
In 1938 Joe and Bob Taylor from Binghamton, New York started
building and operating their own miniature golf courses. These
courses differed from the ones in the late 20s and early 30s, they
were no longer just rolls, banks, and curves, with an occasional
pipe thrown in. Their courses not only had landscaping, but also
obstacles, including windmills, castles, and wishing wells.
Impressed by the quality of the courses, many customers asked if
the Taylors would build a course for them. By the early 1940s, Joe
and Bob formed Taylor Brothers, and were in the business of
building miniature golf courses and supplying obstacles to the
industry. During both the Korean and Vietnam Wars many a G.I.
played on a Taylor Brothers prefabricated course that the U.S.
Military had contracted to be built and shipped overseas.
By the late 50s most—if not all—supply catalogs carried Taylor
Brothers' obstacles. In 1961 Bob Taylor, Don Clayton of Putt-Putt,
and Frank Abramoff of Arnold Palmer Miniature Golf organized the
first miniature golf association known as NAPCOMS (or the "National
Association of Putting Course Operators, Manufacturers, and
Suppliers"). Their first meeting was held in New York City. Though
this organization only lasted a few years it was the first attempt
to bring miniature golf operators together to promote miniature
golf.
In 1955, Lomma Enterprises, Inc., founded by Al Lomma and his
brother Ralph Lomma, led the revival of wacky, animated trick
hazards. These hazards required both accurately aimed shots and
split-second timing to avoid spinning windmill blades, revolving
statuary, and other careening obstacles.
THE
CACHE
This is my dedication to one of Memphis' last destinations of this
kind. You are searching for a micro with natural camo nearby.
PLEASE put back as found as it will certainly be lost if not.
Thanks!