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Mini golf, the latest sport in town, offers challenges and thrills on a colourful course in Etul Kotte
Take a shot
By Thiruni Kelegama
'Tis the holiday season again... Wondering what to do if you are bored at home, if you have already done all the numerous things you wanted to do before you were on holiday?

Well, head on down to Etul Kotte, and there you will find something new. Something exciting.

You can then take your best shot at the newest and most challenging game around – mini golf!

The Mini Golf Course, which was opened just a little more than a week ago, is the first of its sort in Sri Lanka. However, it is also something that many have not heard about.

"Mini golf is a recreational sport enjoyed by many in America, Britain, Australia and Europe," says Shamin Senaweera, the owner of the Mini Golf Course.

"However it is not golf in miniature form," he is quick to add. "Yes, it does share certain similarities with regulation golf, but mini golf is a sport by itself."

Sixty percent of the game of golf is putting. Unlike regulation golf, which uses many clubs to finish the course, only one club is used for mini golf, which is generally known as the putter. The 18-hole course consists of a variety of attractive and colourful obstacles that makes putting fun and challenging to everyone.

Having been introduced to the sport in Australia, Shamin and wife Landani, decided it was time that all Sri Lankans were introduced to this innovative and entertaining game. "It is played in Australia as a competitive sport. Throughout the US and Europe, it is played on a highly competitive level. There is also a World Mini Golf Federation which organizes World and European championships in alternate years," explains Shamin.

Serious golfers as well as recreational players can enjoy mini golf, as the course is designed to reward accurate putting and each hole has its own unique putting challenge. It is also a great way for the serious golfer to improve his putting skills.

Mini golf has miniaturized and intensified the game of golf, packing all the thrills and challenges of 18-hole golf into one small green garden, which is precisely what the Mini Golf Course in Etul Kotte is. It is not only a mere putting green, it also provides hazards, dangers and the pleasures of skilled competition.

The course is like the 'yellow brick road'. You follow the bricks and the next hole that you face gives you a bigger challenge and a bigger thrill. All the holes are covered with the highest quality of synthetic turf specially made for mini golf from Australia and the balls and colourful putters have been specially bought from the US.

There are, of course, the easy holes. Though interspersed amongst the more difficult ones, they are equally daring. Most of the holes are beset with numerous obstacles. There are the ones where you need to drive the ball into the hole through a house and others with a windmill as the obstacles.The ones with obstacles are the difficult ones, says Landani, but once you do get the hang of it, it can be rather fun. All you need to do is concentrate and decide how to hit the ball. If there is the house, all you need to do is make sure that the ball is in alignment with the hole through the house. And voila.... you can do it! The ball is in the hole.

The more challenging holes do seem daunting at the beginning, adds Shamin. "But as long as you calculate on how to get the ball where you want it to go, you are ready."

"For example," he says pointing to the hole which is at the bottom of a small cliff, “you have to get the ball to the hole, which you cannot see by driving it through the cliff, and the secret behind it, is the fact that you need to align the ball with the middle brick of the small wall around that particular challenging hole.”

The scoring system is related to how many shots you took to get the ball in the hole. You will be provided with a scoring card, where you jot down the number of times you took, and in the end you can compare it with the people who are playing with you to decide who the winner is.

"No, you do not need any prior knowledge of golf or training in golf to play mini golf," assures Shamin when asked whether you need to be experienced at the game to enjoy it. "We will provide you with the equipment and the balls, and will always be there to teach you how to play and answer your questions. No membership is required."

So all you need to do is just walk in... take one of the glitter putters or one of the neon ones or even a plain metal one and just play.

Who knows, maybe you could be the next mini golf champion!

Mini golf: Its history
Mini golf first came into being in 1916 when James Barber of Pinehurst, North Carolina, US with the help of "an amateur architect of fiendish ingenuity" – Edward H. Wiswell – laid out a miniature golf course on the grounds of Barber's estate.

Mr. Barber created the embryonic stage in the growth of miniature golf. However, the course was locked away on Barber's private estate and not open to the public.

The first public course was constructed by Drake Delanoy and John Ledbetter in New York buildings. Soon after, they announced similar courses in New Zealand, Australia, Italy and France. Throughout the years, as fads came and went, mini golf survived and grew to unprecedented heights throughout the world. It has now spread to China and India as well.

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