It is a pretty simple game to play, though it’s not the same as an ordinary game. Before digging into the essence of the discipline, every potential player must observe the historical features. In the article we collected all the necessary TOP facts about mini golf’s evolution and thus we will try to figure out why it’s so popular now.
Respect history, respect the future
The sport of mini golf in its original variants has been around for over a century. Strictly speaking, however, the competitions held in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as the “Tom Thumb” system of courses, clubs and tournaments developed in the pre-war USA, were more like knock-out competitions of the game of golf. The emergence of the discipline as an independent sport officially dates back to 1953, when the Swiss architect Paul Bongini built the first own course in the modern sense and patented the name mini golf. Five years later, Albert Hess created the first place in Germany with a modern artificial turf surface, after which mini golf quickly spread throughout Europe and later gained recognition on other continents.
In 1963, the International Mini Golf Federation was founded from the national associations of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The tournaments that had the unofficial status of European Championships were held back in 1959, but gained real status in 1970 after the unification of fields and rules. At the same time, it spread in Italy, the Netherlands and other countries, but the recognized leaders of world mini-golf remain Germany and Sweden. The importance of this sport in Europe is evidenced by the fact that, according to statistics, mini golf is the ninth most popular amateur sport in such a sporting country as Germany.
The first world championships were held in 1991, and in 1993, after the accession of the United States and Japan, the Federation was restructured into the World one.
Today, the WMF has 36 national federations and associations from five continents as full members, which was admitted to the International Federation in 2003. In total, official tournaments are currently being held in 56 countries. In May 2003, the World Mini Golf Federation was admitted to the special Association, which was a logical recognition of minigolf as a grassroots democratic and truly international game.
The gist of modern mini golf
Modern mini golf is the game to try today. It’s not only the tool to become a part of the circle of elite people, but the way to develop yourself. Except for intellectual development, you may keep fit. It’s the way to find new acquaintances and find plenty of like-minded people or even the ones with opposite points of view to observe.
Today you are free to google millions of tournaments if you want to compete with other players and increase the level of your proficiency. It doesn’t matter if you are a professional athlete or just an amateur, it’s not a problem to find the competition. Also special clubs arrange many occasions aimed to make the community stronger and promote the sport itself. Now it’s proven that playing mini golf is effective and healthy for kids. Children stay fit and their organism becomes accommodated to various physical activities. The muscles evolve in the right manner and the body structure is built almost perfectly.
So start playing, don’t waste the time
Mini golf is the way to rest. Sometimes there is a lack of such an opportunity. Just try and get the maximum pleasure.