In the early 1900's, miniature golf was actually the short game of regulation golf. The name quite frequently used in the early years was "Garden Golf" and it was played with a putter on real grass.

In the 1920's & 30's, "rails" or "bumpers" started to appear, confining the ball within a boundary. The playing surface was changed to hard pressed cottonseed hulls, which created a smoother putting surface. The game of mini golf was extremely popular among movie stars and celebrities, which helped spawn new links all across the nation. During the 1930's, there were approximately 30,000 links throughout the country with over 150 rooftop courses in New York City alone. The American population was hooked on miniature golf, as not only a leisure time game, but also a sport that any gender, any age could excel without any handicap or without being a well-conditioned athlete.

Many new and ingenious obstacle or hazard holes were created by using what could be scavenged, such as old tires, old wagon wheels, rusty stove pipes, sewer pipes, barrels, rain gutters, etc. Some of these became so popular they were incorporated into courses across the country, and were the models for the obstacle-laden miniature golf that we still think of today. Self-styled miniature golf course architects became local celebrities overnight and the depression actually increased the popularity of miniature golf.

Garnet Carter was the first person to patent a game of miniature golf called "Tom Thumb Golf" in 1927, but there were a few earlier unpatented versions of miniature golf. Carter built his course on Lookout Mountain in Tennessee, to draw traffic to the hotel he owned.

For nearly 100 years Crazy Golf, Adventure Golf and Miniature Golf have been providing entertainment to millions of people all over the world. Whatever the game, the rules and principles are similar but there are some subtle and some not so subtle differences.

Adventure Golf, is a tourist and family orientated game that originated in America. It is played on themed courses with manmade models, ornaments and gimmicks, dotted along each hole. Pirate and Jungle themes are the most popular and these often see holes created on mock pirate ships or in caves with replica stalactites hanging overhead.

Crazy Golf is the type of course usually associated with British seaside towns and holiday resorts like Butlin's. Crazy Golf courses can be constructed in a smaller area than adventure golf and the style of play is very different. The game concentrates on shorter holes with different obstacles on each hole. These obstacles can range from windmills and tunnels to smaller models of famous bridges, buildings and monuments.

Miniature Golf is a generic American term that can be used to describe any variants of the game played in the United States, Crazy Golf, Minigolf, Adventure Golf and the "Tom Thumb" and "Putt Putt" Systems, which you will hear about later.

In 1953, Paul Bongni standardised the sport and patented the name "Minigolf" and thus set the wheels in motion for a sport that is currently.

While the previous two versions of the game are widely recognised as past-times and a great way to spend a day out, Minigolf is the only variant recognised as an official sport. The main establishing factor is that Minigolf courses are standardised whereas before these yardsticks were set different towns, districts and countries had different course types and rules. There are 5 course types recognised by the World Minigolfsport Federation (WMF), the sports governing body, and while Cobigolf and Stargolf are not sanctioned in world ranking events, Eternit, Beton and Swedish Felt are.

International players clubs are now in 24 nations with 8 nations now organizing. The WMF World Championship is also held every other year all over the world.