Types of courses

1. Features of Minigolf  Course:

The size of a Minigolf course is flexible. It can cover a small area, require small investment, and have various forms. The sports field can be designed according to the user's interests, combined with the terrain of the land, and the natural environment of the field. There are no fixed standards for the size, structure, material and shape of the hole area. The obstacles in the hole area and the decorations outside the hole can be especially ever-changing and innovate at will. Minigolf does not require special training or a big investment.

Minigolf features:

(1) A Minigolf course is small.

In general, a standard 18-hole Minigolf course is only 400 square meters. Even the larger garden-type Minigolf course is only 3000-5000 square meters. The small area needed allows flexibilities in where Minigolf can be constructed e.g. city parks, green areas in the district, children’s playgrounds, etc. They can be even built in schools, kindergartens, and malls.

(2) Minigolf courses are easy to build and only require a small investment

Minigolf courses do not require real grass, although that can be used. Various materials can be used for building, and they can be produced in batches or purchased directly from the market. Additionally, there is no need for large-scale remodeling of the space. This makes it relatively simple to build a Minigolf course. For European-style Minigolf courses, an entire lane can be produced in a factory, and then installed on-site. It can also be moved any time. Therefore, the construction cost of the Minigolf course is fairly low.

(3) The style of Minigolf is diverse

A Minigolf course can be integrated with various garden construction techniques, designed with elements such as rockeries, fountains, castles, fences, bonsai, sculptures, toys. Modern technologies such as sound, light and flash can be added to give a marvelous effect. With this, Minigolf can have different styles, such as a Chinese garden style, fairy tale style, modern sci-fi style, tropical garden style, circus style, and cartoon style, etc.

2. Minigolf Course Type:

There are four types of competition courses: Concrete Course, Miniaturegolf Course, Felt Course, and MOS Course. The first and second types are German-style courses. The third is a Swedish-style course. The last is an American-style course, which is more popular and recognized in the United States and Britain. The first three have standard course lanes and approval processes for the balls and putters. For the American course, players can use traditional golf ball and clubs. For all four types of courses, players can only use putters to play.

Features of the four types of Minigolf course 

The four types of Minigolf course above are recognized by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF). Each type of the course has its own lane design, structure, and obstacles.

Miniaturegolf Course

The most commonly recognized Minigolf course in the world is Miniaturegolf Course. This course is mainly composed of chemical fibrous clay. An Miniaturegolf Course occupies a relatively small area. A complete 18-hole course only requires 600 To 800 square meters.

There are 24 different lane styles to choose from when building an Miniaturegolf Course.These lanes can be found in many cities and resorts around the world. The Miniaturegolf Course has been received by the public. Many are surprised to find that even with short holes, some lanes are often very challenging. An Miniaturegolf Course needs maintenance and refurbishment in early spring, right after winter. When playing on an Miniaturegolf Course, the lanes and obstacles are not allowed to be stepped on, but it is not necessary to step on them when playing anyways.

Felt Course

The two countries known for the Felt Course are Sweden and Finland. As the name already indicates, the surface of the Felt Courseis is felt, supplemented by wood siding or stainless steel combined siding. This kind of course requires high-level Minigolf skills, because some lanes are much longer than those of Miniaturegolf Course. Nowadays, Felt lanes are flourishing all over Europe, and it is becoming more popular to play Minigolf on felt lanes. A Felt course requires more space, with a standard course requiring 1,000 to 1500 square meter. The total length of a felt lane is at least 180 meters. Some felt lanes having various styles can much longer than 200 meters in length.

A felt course can be built according to the terrain and the shape of the area. There are nearly 40 different Felt Course styles that can be selected from. Not all lanes are approved for tournaments; manufacturers can inform which are approved. Many international competitions take place on felt courses every year due to it’s popularity. On a felt course, players are allowed to stand on it when playing; however, they are not allowed to walk on it to prevent dirt or holes damaging the felt. 

Concrete Course

The third type of Minigolf course is the Concrete Course. The Concrete Course was created in the 1850’s by Paul Bogni, who was from Switzerland. As a result, Beton lanes are mainly distributed in Switzerland, Austria and southern Germany, but you can also find concrete lanes in Europe. There are only 18 styles of Beton lanes, so the style and number of concrete lanes are completely the same in each Concrete Course.

Concrete Courses are built of concrete and surrounded by steel. Their construction cost is very high, and the required space is even larger than that of a Felt Course. Beton Lanes are 10-12 meters in length, and the longest ones are 20-25 meters. Although construction costs are expensive, Beton lanes are very attractive to players and are usually run by some of the bigger Minigolf clubs. Players are allowed to hit the ball at a specific position on the Beton lanes when necessary. Following the same rules of the Felt Course, players are not allowed to walk on a Concrete Course.

MOS Course

Minigolf Open Standard Courses (hereinafter referred to as "MOS") are usually built on artificial turf, which is quite popular in North America and the United Kingdom. A MOS Course is also often called Adventure Golf or Crazy Golf. The MOS Course was officially recognized by WMF in 2007, and it can be used as a tournament course. The reason for this is the WMF hopes to increase its capacity and further expand Minigolf worldwide. The WMF allows all its member countries to develop their own MOS courses and build personalized (non-standardized) lanes under the basic framework and rules. This open strategy of the WMF allows each member country to recognize the existing Minigolf Courses in the name of the WMF, so they can participate in international and host domestic Minigolf tournaments later.

The size and shape of MOS lanes are very different from those of Eternit, Felt, and Beton. Compared with the other three courses, it has more variety of obstacles and challenges. Therefore, the MOS Course will have specific rules distributed in advance to all players, or they will explain these rules to all players before the game. Various new styles of MOS Course surface materials, lane frames, obstacles, and lane sizes are included in the WMF MOS catalogue. 

Many WMF newly recognized Minigolf associations in different countries and new MOS courses under construction will form the capacity to promote the development of Minigolf in the country. Even though these lanes look like a deflated version of a greens in golf course , Minigolf (including MOS) is recognized by the Sport Accord / AGFIS and the International Golf Association as an independent and worldwide sport. Although there are a large number of well-designed Minigolf courses around the world, it is very likely that deleted certified MOS courses will help improve the popularity of Minigolf. Further increasing the member countries in the WMF will also likely make Minigolf an independent public sport. 

The European Minigolf courses have been developing rapidly since their beginning. Minigolf has quickly become a popular sport and entertainment activity in Europe. Germany and Sweden have developed the fastest in Europe. Statistics show that, Germany alone has more than 4,000 Minigolf courses. However, a very small number of courses have been certified by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) for competitions. According to WMF statistics, there are 301 certified Minigolf courses in Germany, as of April 30, 2013, and only five in the United States have passed certification.