
Schröder had been inspired by his visit to the United States, where he had seen minigolf courses spreading across the country. One of the first documented minigolf courses in mainland Europe was built in 1926 by a man surnamed Schröder in Hamburg, Germany. The "Mapes" was constructed as a summer home in the 1890s but was renovated into a club in 1902, opened to the public in 1914, and had a miniature golf course in 1930. The first miniature golf course in Canada was at the Maples Inn in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. A rare surviving example from this period is the Parkside Whispering Pines Miniature Golf Course located near Rochester, New York, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Nearly all minigolf courses in the United States were closed and demolished before the end of the 1930s.

This American minigolf boom of early 20th century came to an end during the Great Depression in the late 1930s. With this discovery, miniature golf became accessible everywhere by the late 1920s there were over 150 rooftop courses in New York City alone and tens of thousands across the United States. Thomas McCullough 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.

The first standardized minigolf courses to enter commercial mass-production were the Thistle Dhu ("This'll Do") course in 1916 in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and the 1927 Tom Thumb patent of Garnet Carter from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. The earliest documented mention of such a course is in the June 8, 1912, edition of The Illustrated London News, which introduces a minigolf course called the Gofstacle. Geometrically-shaped minigolf courses made of artificial materials (carpet) began to emerge during the early 20th century. The term "minigolf" was formerly a registered trademark of a Swedish company that built its own patented type of minigolf courses. The term "putt-putt" is sometimes used colloquially to refer to the game itself. The name Putt-Putt is the trademark of an American company that builds and franchises miniature golf courses in addition to other family-oriented entertainment. While the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) prefers to use the name "minigolf", the game has several other names which vary between countries, including: minigolf, mini-golf, midget golf, goofy golf, shorties, extreme golf, crazy golf, adventure golf, mini-putt, and putter golf. When miniature golf retains many of these characteristics but without the use of any props or obstacles, it is purely a mini version of its parent game.Ī miniature golf course in Cape May, New Jersey Nomenclature The game uses artificial putting surfaces (such as carpet, artificial turf, or concrete), a geometric layout often requiring non-traditional putting lines such as bank shots, and artificial obstacles such as tunnels, tubes, ramps, moving obstacles like windmills, and walls made of concrete, metal, or fiberglass.
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It is played on courses consisting of a series of holes (usually a multiple of 9) similar to those of its parent, but the courses are characterized by their short length (usually within 10 yards from tee to cup). The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. For video game series, see Putt-Putt (series).

For video game, see Mini-Putt (video game).
