# Where and when did miniature golf originate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857 "2004-02-18T19:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Limbo\_Donni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Limbo\_Donni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limbo_Donni)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/1 "2004-02-18T19:58:01Z")
* * * First you spread your limbo feet, then you move to limbo beat Limbo ankle limbo knees, bend back like the limbo tree - Chubby Checker ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/2 "2004-02-18T20:29:01Z")
Can’t help you with the origin, but I can tell you that the city of Branson, MO has taken it to a Science and Art form. * * * Branson, MO: The mini-golf mecca and Entertainment Gulog of the American South ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/3 "2004-02-18T20:43:08Z")
By my reckoning, it was in the Shetland Islands, home of the Shetland ponies and the Shetland Sheepdogs. Folklore claims the Mini-Cooper S was drawn up there, and the 8-ounce beer can as well. Research for the fun-size candy bar was sketched out there, although the product planning was done in Rhode Island. Rudi Gernrich never did admit to vacationing there on that fateful summer. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/4 "2004-02-18T20:45:13Z")
Golf Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Golf, quoted at [this](http://www.thegolftee.net/ahismg.html) site, credits James Barber of Pinehurst, NC, in 1916. Other similar games may have been played in England a few years before, but Barber seems to get the most credit. ---
**Author:** ![Uncivil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ccd318/32.png) [@Uncivil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncivil)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/5 "2004-02-18T23:18:50Z")
Golf originated in Scotland, where they needed a game that didn’t require a flat pitch to play on. Miniture golf came into being when Scottish dwarves adopted the game. /bad taste mode off. I said **off** godammit. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/6 "2004-02-19T01:36:43Z")
According to Snapple “Fun Facts” it was on the roof tops in Manhattan. Then again they also claimed a ducks quack doesn’t echo. In any event I believe the year they said it started was after 1916. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/7 "2004-02-19T02:13:08Z")
I found an Atlanta _Constitution_ story from 1915 about a department store in town which had converted their entire third floor into a miniature course. So it goes back before the _Golf_ magazine cite, attributing it to the guy in NC. The Titanic also had a miniature golf course on the top of its 12 decks, giving new meaning to _sinking_ a putt. :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/8 "2004-02-19T02:43:02Z")
Far more information than you really need can be found at the history section of the [USProMiniGolf Association](http://www.mastersnationalchamps.com/history.html) site > [@](#): > > In the early 1900’s, miniature golf was actually the short game of regulation golf. The name quite frequently used in the early years was “Garden Golf” and it was played with a putter on real grass. In the 1920’s & 30’s, “rails” or “bumpers” started to appear, confining the ball within a boundary. . . During the 1930’s, there were approximately 30,000 links throughout the country with over 150 rooftop courses in New York City alone. . . . representing an investment of $325,000,000. An estimated four million Americans were playing miniature golf. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/9 "2004-02-22T05:41:19Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > Far more information than you really need can be found at the history section of the [USProMiniGolf Association](http://www.mastersnationalchamps.com/history.html) site None of which predates my 1915 cite. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/10 "2004-02-22T08:07:03Z")
Except your uncited 1912 cite. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-and-when-did-miniature-golf-originate/229857/11 "2004-02-23T06:21:30Z")
> [@NYR407](#): > > According to Snapple “Fun Facts” it was on the roof tops in Manhattan. Then again they also claimed a ducks quack doesn’t echo. > > In any event I believe the year they said it started was after 1916. In _Harpo Speaks,_ Harpo Marx’s autobio, he claims a group of his pals leased a Manhattan rooftop for a croquet league. Somebody in city government frowned on it, and that was that. Now, to update **“And Bob’s your uncle,”** the above situation would be, **“And Bob said you once were an inlaw, but there was a divorce.”** 😉