While it was not officially part of the Games programme, the participants in the Golf tournament at the 1904 Olympic Games held in St Louis, USA also competed in a Putting Championship on a specially built miniature golf course.
The 9-hole Putting Course was specifically built at the Glen Echo Country Club for a Putting Championship and was constructed with electric lights surrounding the layout.
The Putting competition was won by Burt McKinnie of Normandie GC. McKinnie defeated Clement Smoot of the Exmoor Club in Chicago for the trophy after McKinnie scored a total of 21. Both players had been tied going into the last hole!
Check out the Olympic Golf Replica Program from 1904 and the 'Little Known Olympic Facts' section on the Glen Echo Country Club website for further info on the event.
On this year's Olympic Day (23 June) I tweeted about the Putting course and championships and Glen Echo tweeted back.
The 1904 Games were quite a wild affair - with a number of other sporting events taking place out of the scope of the 'official' sports. They also took place over several months and organised alongside the World's Fair, rather than as a standalone event.
More information about the 1904 Olympic Golf Matches can be found on the Glenn Echo Country Club website.
On a related note, the Olympiapark München is home to a Miniature Golf course that was set-up in the athletes village for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Now open to the public you can find more information on the Olympiapark München and the Minigolf & Pit-Pat Olympiapark München websites.
International Minigolf Sport is governed by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF). The WMF currently has 46 member associations. The WMF is a member of SportAccord, an organisation comprised of a wide-range of Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations.
.JPG "Richard Gottfried playing a shot on the World's First Miniature Golf course in April 2012 - The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland. The course was founded in 1867 when The Ladies' Putting Club began playing.") |
| Richard Gottfried playing a shot on the World's First Miniature Golf course in April 2012 - The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland. The course was founded in 1867 when The Ladies' Putting Club began playing. |
Links:
- Glen Echo Country Club website
- Glen Echo Country Club on Twitter
- Glen Echo Country Club on Facebook
- 1904 Olympic Golf Matches
- Olympic Golf Replica Program from 1904
- St Louis 1904 at Olympic.org
Related blog posts:
- The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland
- Two Miniature Golf Firsts
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- The Other Olympics
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