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Why mini golf failed to take of as a televised sport in the uk -
Sometime ago after my last appearance playing pro mini golf - well not pro but amateur, I wrote a piece to miniature golfer.com, whom at the time was the hub of UK mini golf with dedicated forums to the subject. They are still going but you don’t get much of a reply these days (I may be wrong but I think the ham and egger files are the no 1 Crazy golf forum these days). In my article i was frustrated with the lack of foresight by the crazy golf community. They wanted to attract better media coverage, in the hope of getting the sport televised and exposing the sport to a wider audience. In around 2002 sky sports showed up at one of the tournaments and although it was to mock, it was thought that any promotion like this could propel the mini golf tour and all the participants. This could help ‘The sport’ to be successful. Not only this, but the dream was that this could lead to mini golf becoming an Olympic sport for London 2012. As you may or may not know at the Brazil 2016 games, regular Golf was played for the first time (Remember Golf is played on non standard courses). They sought to standardise mini golf courses by making the same few courses over and over, thereby making it a sport in much the same way that bowls is (erm bowls is not in the Olympics) with the standard being 18 holes, just like regular golf. And just like regular golf, you don’t need to standardise, you just need to make it popular. In my article i noted that, to tell a story to a TV audience, you would need 18 cameras showing the whole story, if it remained a score based game in the same way as regulation golf. No TV company would send 5, let alone 18 to film mini golf. I advocated a change of format to match play only, but I never got a reply and was soon out of favour. Back then UK mini golf was still in its infancy and there were jolly trips by the UK team, to take part in the world championships, to places as far flung as Lithuania. I remember well, one UK player being excited by the first perfect 18 holes by a Frenchman I think. His score of 18 holes in one was no fluke, as on a standard course you can perfect your skill. I don't wish to demean anyone who hits 18 holes in one, but to me golf is and should remain a difficult game which comes with great moments of skill and sometimes luck. Mini golf should be a viewed as a much funnier version of the game. You can strive for perfection but never achieve it, as it's the journey not the destination. Make it funny, tough cruel and most of all lucky and one day if only for a short time at least TV may be interested.
Scene from the 2002 mini golf masters at Southend
Focus on mini golf and the media