10 Of The Best Mini Golf Courses In The World

What is mini golf, crazy golf, adventure golf, or simply a putting green? Putt putt golf, in fact a trademark, is also often used to describe one or more of the aforementioned.

Aficionados will tell you there are subtle differences, but for this article we are using the definition that a mini golf course is one where you only use a putter to play it.

Below, we've rounded up some of those courses that best showcase the variety these layouts offer...

Zip World, Llechwedd, Wales

Whether you need to pack your golf rain gear for a round of golf is a common question. Well, you know you won’t for a round at at Zip World in Llechwedd as the 18-hole course is set over four storeys in an old slate mine.

But do dress for cold, though, as the temperature in the mine, 500ft below the ground, is between six and eight degrees Centigrade. Players don hard hats and are taken to the course by Europe’s steepest cable railway.

Chuckster’s, Chichester, New Hampshire, USA

How maxi can mini be? The 13th hole here runs to 201ft, which the owners claim as the longest mini golf hole in the world. We have not verified this, nor their statement that the course has 1,000 tons of boulders, 4,600 bricks and nine streams and ponds. Okay, the ponds/stream one was within our mathematical capabilities. We're just lazy.

PopStroke Palm Beach, Florida, USA

At PopStroke, you can pit your skills against Tiger Woods. Well, sort of. Tiger Woods' design team have been designing the courses for PopStroke, an expanding chain of mini golf courses in America.

Many of them are in Florida, including their flagship venue adjacent to Palm Beach International Airport. PopStroke venues have two Tigerish synthetic turf 18-hole putting courses.

Hastings Adventure Golf, England

There are three 18-hole courses here, with the Crazy Golf course hosting the annual World Crazy Golf Championships. But the hardest of the courses is Adventure Golf, which has 13 fountains, five waterfalls and a cave.

Hastings is famous for the nearby battle of the name in 1066. A less famous battle is played out daily on The Pirates Course between two warring pirate ships firing canons – avoid being the splash zone when the balls land or on a cold day your timbers may be shivered.

St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club, St Andrews, Scotland

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the earliest documented mini-golf course was the St Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club. It was laid out as a 15-hole 'miniature links' by Old Tom Morris and required a cleek and a putter.

But Old Tom gradually smoothed out the surface so that only putters were needed. In 1893 the layout was extended onto some hilly terrain which gave rise to the course’s nickname of the Himalayas.

Midgetgolftuinen, Lage Vuursche, Netherlands

The Minigolf Gardens in Lage Vuursche has three 18-hole courses. But in this case the variety is ramped up by the three having been built with different surfaces: concrete, gravel and grass. The Grass course runs through a beautiful garden landscape.

Mount Atlanticus, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

This 36-hole facility was built at a reputed cost of $3 million. Make a hole-in-one at the bonus 19th hole, which involves a downhill putt along a narrow putting surface between water hazards, and you win a free lifetime pass and your picture goes on the Wall Of Awesomeness. There have been over 10,000 winners so far.

Village Greens, Strasburg, Pennsylvania, USA

This is a beautiful place to play mini golf, with its two 18-hole courses set in 13 acres of attractive gardens, with its flowers, trees, streams and vibrant seasonal colours.

Quinta Do Lago Mini Golf, Almancil, Portugal

The mini golf course at Quinta do Lago is based on famous holes from around the world. The opener is its take on the 10th at the Belfry, the water in front of the green represented by a blue-painted ditch.

This hole is the only par 4 on what is otherwise a par-3 layout, bar its par-5 7th, based on the 13th hole at Augusta National, which follows its representation of Augusta National’s 12th.

For many, these will the be the nearest they will get to playing Augusta – although there are ways to get a game at Augusta National.

Bubbeljungle Golf in the Dark, Leiderdorp, Netherlands

The pop singer Diva Lagine has been kidnapped. You can solve the mystery of her disappearance as you play 18 holes of glow-in-the-dark golf, collecting clues as you go round which will lead you to the villain.