The game

There are different types of minigolf courses. In USA and United Kingdom the minigolf courses typically use similar designs as the greens (putting areas) of golf, having an oddly-shaped green area (made of felt rather than grass), and obstacles made of stone and sand.[http://www.miniaturegolfer.com/belfast.html Belfast, Adventure Golf - The Captain's Challenge ] Many minigolf courses in these countries also include fantasy obstacles such as wind-mills, dinosaurs, and just about anything imaginable, hence the UK term:' crazy golf'.

Course design

In mainland Europe nearly all minigolf courses are geometrically shaped, which gives them a visual appearance very much unlike the greens (putting areas) of golf. In Scandinavia minigolf courses usually have a rectangular wooden frame and a felt surface.1 In central and southern Europe the minigolf courses most commonly have a steel frame and a surface made of beton2 or eternite3 (which is hardened special beton).

As in golf, courses usually have nine or eighteen holes (or less commonly twelve), and the object is to hit the minigolf ball into the hole with as few strokes as possible. The distance to the hole from the starting area is rarely more than 10 meters in minigolf (while in regular golf the hole is up to 200 meters (656 feet) away from the starting area, or tee). Due to the short distance, minigolfers rarely use other golf clubs than the putter. Iron chippers are used on hole number 7 in the standardized beton courses (used in international competitions), which has a 30m long fairway of natural grass, and a round green made of beton.

Minigolf is less expensive and much easier than golf, and is therefore a popular pastime for adults and children of all ages. The costs of building a minigolf course are less than 10% of the costs of a golf course. Also the admission tickets to minigolf courses are remarkably cheaper than the admission tickets to golf courses. For these economical reasons, the number of minigolf courses and occasional players of minigolf is many times greater than the number of golf courses and golf players. In Germany alone there are several thousand minigolf courses, and 15 million Germans play at least one round of minigolf during each year.[http://www.miniaturegolfer.com/minigolf_olympics.html Minigolf: From Summer Holidays to the Summer Olympics ]