The yard course is more reminiscent of the British Open than Augusta
By Cort Reynolds
ADA–Having been a lifelong athlete and gamesman, I was looking for something constructive and fun to do this summer to help fill some of my sports void.
The regular basketball game at ONU that I organized and played in for years came to a screeching halt during the pandemic and has yet to be resuscitated despite my so-far fruitless efforts to start it back up.
I decided to put an idea that had been gestating for over a year in my head into action and create something the area lacks, something which used to be a fixture in many towns. An activity to add to my backyard basketball hoop and croquet set-up that would sharpen concentration skills.
Armed with a small spade, my imagination and determination to make up something fun and challenging, I created my own backyard miniature golf course this past month.
I was only going to make 18 holes, but I am up to 22 and counting, although I am starting to run out of good real estate spots despite the fun of creating them. I might get to 27 holes, but not 36.
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I used reinforced plastic cups and metal cans for the holes, usually about 4 inches in diameter (regular golf course holes are 4.25 inches across, I believe).
After figuring where to place them, I had to dig down 3-5 inches for each hole, and sometimes ran into tree roots and big rocks that were not very accommodating. I even waited a while through a mostly dry June for some rain to soften up the hard, dry ground.
I figured that would make my digging easier and give me more time to conceptualize the course after we went almost three weeks without any serious precipitation.
I strove to use the natural contours of the yard and its built-in obstacles, small hills and depressions. I stuck mostly to the perimeter and edges around the house, shed, fencing and bushes to place the holes.
With its rougher natural terrain and thick grass, the yard course is more reminiscent of the British Open than Augusta, but has a more authentic feel due to that.
Hole one was dug into the soft ground around an old, mostly removed tree stump. Some holes use poles as backdrops/bank aids.
A few holes have natural “bankboards” on the base of the house or other existing obstacles to aid in making shots. Some spots I placed bricks behind or near the hole for potential banking aid.
Three other holes run alongside front sidewalk rows leading up to the house. The penultimate hole at the bottom of a ramp is surrounded by gravel and concrete embankments.
The last hole utilizes the ramp in reverse, running down from the shed interior to the hole as a bit of an obstacle course. As such it is a little reminiscent of putt-putt courses from the past.
It has been fun and challenging to envision and design the course/holes, but less fun to dig them. It has been a good test to make the course fit the yard and its natural barriers.
In doing so I thought of Jack Nicklaus designing the Dublin Muirfield golf course that serves as the home for the annual Memorial tournament in central Ohio, and what an undertaking that must have been. Shows what a creative and active golf mind Nicklaus possesses.
I almost feel like thinking up the holes is the most fun part. Digging and maintaining them is the hard part.
I think I read somewhere that putt-putt or miniature golf courses originally sprang up along highways across the more affluent, leisure-oriented America of the post-war 1950s and '60s.
Apparently this was a new, fun way to break up long road trips in a suddenly much-more car-driven, travel minded society.
It seemed like most towns of any size had an 18-hole putt-putt course, often attached to a driving range and automated baseball batting cages. At least we had that in Westerville, where I grew up.
I even remember seeing professional putt-putt golf tournaments on TV as a little kid, with basketball analyst Billy Packer announcing the matches.
Having peaked in popularity, mini golf courses started disappearing in recent years. Maybe they weren’t making enough money, although it used to be a classic date-night activity.
I actually bent a putter in anger on a mini-golf date when my putt lipped in and out, causing me to lose the hole.
After finishing the 18th hole, I somewhat sheepishly returned the slightly-mangled putter to the course owner, Mr. Sadler. Looking at the club first and then at me with a quizzical glance, he needled me good-naturedly about how I managed to bend it “by accident,” as I had explained.
Despite his skepticism, he didn’t charge me for the damage.
Perhaps Sadler had seen a few damaged putters before and also didn’t want to embarrass me further in front of my date. She was a good college athlete, so it was an overly competitive outing, although I recall winning the overall match.
Maybe since he was our former high school baseball coach and recognized us (my girlfriend was a good pitcher), the owner let me off the hook.
It was a bit embarrassing, yet a little fun to recall since I had not thought of that incident in a while. But even back then I thought the putter was ill-designed and/or old, with a very slender shaft for it to bend so easily.
I didn’t smack the head of it that hard on the green surface–at least I don’t think I did, haha–just gave it a short thwack. I was not thinking that under the fake turf lay a concrete pad when my shot rimmed out and ticked me off.
Anyway, if you see someone in walking around their yard putting and chasing golf balls, you will likely have come across me playing and tinkering with my mini course.
And now I know better than to smack my better putter down when I narrowly miss a shot.
At least not on a hard surface.
