Happy National Mini-Golf Day! On the second Saturday in May, you can play mini-golf in honor of this special day. Mini-golf is a fun game for family and friends. But how did it start?              

In the late 1800s in Scotland, golf was very popular. But people wanted to play a shorter game. They wanted to be able to play in a smaller space. So they invented mini-golf. The first course was built at St. Andrews in Scotland.             

The first American course was made in 1917 in North Carolina. James Well Barber built it in his back yard. In the 1920s, many people didn’t have enough space in their back yards. They built mini-golf courses on their roofs instead.           

During the Great Depression, people didn’t have much money. They played mini-golf in the streets. They used any materials that they could find to build their courses, like trash can lids and tin cans. At this time, over 4 million people in the U.S. played mini-golf.

Don Clayton changed the game of mini-golf in the 1950s. He made a course with very short holes and metal rails. He did this so that players could get a hole-in-one.              

Don’s style of mini-golf courses spread all over the country. Then they spread all over the world. People added fun mechanical obstacles to make the shots harder. Obstacles like flashing lights and twirling windmills were popular.              

Over the years, mini-golf courses have gotten more and more complicated.  They’ve also gotten more and more fun! In Scandinavia, where they have long nights and short days during the winter, they invented glow-in-the-dark golf. Who knows what they’ll think of next!