10 Craziest Mini Golf Courses on Earth

I found this list on the Entertainment Designer website. They provide daily articles about all kinds of entertainment venues. This was a list of unusual (which translates to fun) miniature golf courses around the world. Enjoy the list and let me know if you have played any of the courses on their list. Or better yet, send me your own Top Ten Miniature Golf courses.

http://entertainmentdesigner.com/news/theme-park-design-news/10-craziest-mini-golf-courses-on-earth/

Coralville UMC Grand Opening Block Party

We had the great pleasure to be a part of the Coralville United Methodist Church's Grand Opening Block Party this afternoon. They are celebrating the completion of their remodel project. They invited the whole neighborhood to help them see their new building. There was plenty of food to enjoy and great activities including miniature golf.

Back to Chicago

We were back in Chicago this week for a Masters Party to kick off the Masters Golf Tournament. It was fun and challenging to weave the holes in and around the office cubicles. The flexibility of the holes was a great help.

Des Moines Ren Faire

Well it was back to Renaissance Scotland this weekend as we took part in the Des Moines Renaissance Faire. We had a good time (despite a bit of a sunburn for both me and my oldest son). We were right next to the fencing demonstration and the Highland Games demonstration. Both groups were great to get to know and really made for a fun experience. And then of course there were the patrons. I always love to see the costumes that people create for the faire. You can tell how much fun they had making them. We had pirate golfers, knight golfers, fair maiden golfers, a gnome golfer, and even a dragon golfer. If you haven't had a chance to get to the faire, there is still one more weekend to go. Huzzah!!!

Happy Birthday!!

We had the chance yesterday to be part of a great birthday party. Even though it was hot, a great time was had by all. Since there was limited shade in the yard, we set up in the driveway, through the garage and back onto the patio. It was a unique opportunity to set up the course and it worked out great. Plenty of shade and a chance to play both indoors and out.

Obstacles at a Glance - Acapulco

The Acapulco (so named by the designer because it reminded him of a water slide he once saw in Mexico), is another challenging hole. With its unique spiral design, it requires just the right amount of speed. Too little speed and the ball just rolls back down the spiral and you are back to where you started. Too much speed and the ball sails into waiting sunset. Either way, it's bound to be the talk of the round.

Obstacles at a Glance - The Tower

I've decided to give a brief description of the different obstacles that come with our miniature golf course. Along with some thoughts regarding each one.

First up is The Tower. Although this obstacle looks innocent enough, it has proven to be one of the more challenging holes of the course. The combination of accuracy (hitting between the turrets) and speed (up, but not over the hill) needed for this hole has invited the most skillful player to test their putting prowess.

First Corporate Event of the New Year

We had our first corporate event of the year last Friday in Chicago. An insurance company rented the course for their holiday party. A great time was had by all. We set the course up to meander around the cubicles and offices. They were very organized and held their own mini-golf tournament (complete with prizes). They were a great group to work with and gave excellent feedback regarding the challenge levels of the individual obstacles. The winner (most challenging) was The Tower (see picture). We had a great time and look forward to a return trip to Chicago.

Miniature Golf with a Renaissance Flair

The dates for the 2010 Iowa Renaissance Festival have been announced. They will be held on May 29th, 30th, and 31st (Memorial Day weekend) at Middle Amana Park (Medici Grove) - Amana Colonies, IA. See link to the Festival in the links section.

This is especially exciting for us because we will be joining the Festival as a vendor for the first time. Our hand crafted wooden miniature golf course will be making its debut there as Mulligan's Wee Bit O' Golf. As fans of Renaissance Festivals for the past 30 years, we are thrilled to be able to take part. We are also hoping to join the Des Moines Renaissance Festival in September, but we are still in negotiations. I'll keep you updated on this.

In the meantime, come out and join the fun at the Iowa Renaissance Festival and try your hand at a round of miniature golf. We have tried to stay as authentic as possible. However, since there is no evidence that miniature golf existed during the time period that covers the Renaissance Festival, we have obviously had to take some creative license. However, we will be using wooden golf balls and wooden golf clubs so in that sense we will be keeping with the period technology. We could have used stone golf balls, as history indicates these were also commons during the Renaissance time period, but we felt that wooden balls would be a safer option considering the number of children that attend the festival. Huzzah!!

Welcome to my Miniature Golf Blog

Welcome to my miniature golf blog. I own and operate my own miniature golf course rental business (Miniature Golf To Go), but I also have a life-long love for miniature golf. I still remember the first miniature golf course that I ever played - The Silver Boot in Clear Lake, IA. It was an traditional-style mini golf course of the 50's and 60's. It had all kinds of mechanical obstacles; the barn with doors that opened and closed, the castles with the draw bridge that went up and down, and of course the clown with the mouth that opened and closed. None of the obstacles were fancy, in fact a couple of them had to be moved by hand. But it still remains one of my all-time favorite courses. Unfortunately it closed down years ago.

Since then I have played many courses all over the country. In fact, whenever my family and I go on vacation, one of the first things we do when we get to our destination, is to look for a miniature golf course.

So I decided, why not start a blog about miniature golf. So here it is. I plan to post reviews of miniature golf courses I have played (and or will play in the future). I also want to add links to other miniature golf sites (as well as my own, of course). And I would love to hear from all of you miniature golf enthusiasts as well. Tell me about your favorite miniature golf course, or your funny (or interesting) stories about miniature golf.

Michael Young - Miniature Golf To Go