![]() ![]() At a mini-golf tournament, there’s lots of collective breath-holding. Miniature golf distills regular golf down to its most nerve-racking moments. When you watch PGA on TV, what do you see? They show them on the green, putting.” Once they start playing, they realize it’s the best part of golf. “When I got into miniature golf, the first thing I said was that we needed tournaments. A former physical education teacher and tennis coach, Detwiler is also the chief cheerleader seeking to legitimize the sport. ProMiniGolf Association and the owner of both Hawaiianthemed courses. Presiding over it all is Bob Detwiler, founder of the U.S. Yes, the players are here to have fun it’s still mini golf, after all, and this is still Myrtle Beach, “the Mini Golf Capital of the World.” But they take this not-so-serious sport quite seriously indeed-they are all here to win the crystal trophy, the green windbreaker (a nod to the PGA Masters’ green jacket) and the $5,000 first-place check. Yet, every fall, competitors from around the world arrive in Myrtle Beach to play with an intensity that any athlete would recognize. Until you watch this tournament unfold, it can be hard to fathom that mini golf-a game played on outlandish courses, often by kids and families on beach vacations-has a professional circuit. His tournament off to a good start, the 53-year-old from Beech Island gives a calm fist pump and moves on to the next hole. Every hole, you should have concentration.”įinally, with his head still and his stance widened, he hits the ball and watches it roll between the totems and into the cup. “If you get going too good and you’re not calm, you’ll lose it. “I’ve always been calm,” he says later, between rounds. And he knows what every golfer knows-that one mistake can ruin your chances at victory. The competitors will play a total of 216 holes over the course of three days-five rounds at Aloha Mini Golf and seven rounds, including the final two, at the Hawaiian Rumble Course. ProMiniGolf Masters is a test in concentration and stamina. It’s a simple “front door” shot, which means he won’t need to bank the ball off one of the red bricks encircling the Astroturf. To make an ace, players must gently roll their shot between two miniature tiki totems. Like all holes in the tournament, this is a par two. He chokes down, exhales and gives his Ping Anser putter a few short, swift practice strokes. In a striped golf shirt tucked neatly into white shorts, with his gray hair parted perfectly, he stoops in an L-shape, nearly horizontal over his tournament-custom gold Chromax golf ball. MiniGolf Hall of Fame inductee, Ward has been referred to as “the Jack Nicklaus of Miniature Golf,” and today he certainly looks the part. The winner of the inaugural event in 1997 and the first-ever U.S. On a cloudless October day in North Myrtle Beach, beneath a 40-foot volcano whose indigo waterfall sprays mist with each gust of wind, Bobby Ward lines up his first putt of the 20th annual U.S. ![]()
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