95 years since the first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place

The first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place almost 100 years ago.

The first National Tom Thumb Championship was contested in Chattanooga, Tennessee 95 years ago today.

Garnet Carter created the first artificial miniature golf course in the USA in 1926. The first of the 'Tom Thumb Golf' brand of miniature golf course was an 18-hole layout located near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

By 1930 there were some 25,000 miniature golf courses in the USA, 3,000 of which were the now patented Tom Thumb course franchises.

The course and fantasy theming caught the imagination of visitors and on the 23rd October 1930 the final of the first-ever National Tom Thumb Championship took place.

Qualifying events had taken place in all of the then 48 states of the USA, with 200 players representing 30 states in the grand final. The event had a total prize fund of $10,000, with the champion winning $2,000!

We haven't played a Tom Thumb Golf course on our travels, but we do have some nice old postcards of Tom Thumb courses in our collection. This one is of a course at Westende Bains in Belgium

Check out the Crazy Golf Museum for more minigolf history.

A minigolf postcard from Ostend, Belgium

A look at an old Tom Thumb minigolf postcard from Ostend, Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - Ostende Golf miniature. Oostende Klein Golfspel. Ostend Tom Thumb Golf. ARTCOLOR BRUXELLES. 17. Posted on the 19th July 1955

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
• Ostend
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• Tom Thumb Golf

A minigolf postcard from Knokke-Zoute, Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Knokke-Zoute, Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - 72 - Knokke-Zoute - Kleine Golf. Golf miniature. Miniature Golf. Minigolf. Anciens Ets Ern. Thill s. a. - Bruxelles. Photo Véritable. Unposted. Undated

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• Postcard
• Ephemera
• Knokke-Zoute
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A minigolf postcard from the Hotel Britannique in Knokke-Zoute, Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Knokke-Zoute in Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - HOTEL BRITANNIQUE. Belgium. Knokke-Zoute - Golf miniature. Kleine Golf. Photothill, Bruxelles. Unposted. Undated

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
• Knokke-Zoute
• Belgium

A minigolf postcard from Ostend, Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Ostend, Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - Ostende Le Golf miniature, la nuit. Oostende Klein Golfspel bij nacht. Ostend Tom Thumb Golf at night. Ern. Thill, Bruxelles, No. 28. Unposted. Dated 1952

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
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A minigolf postcard from Noordwijk aan Zee in Holland

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Noordwijk aan Zee in Holland.

Minigolf Postcard - NOORDWIJK AAN ZEE HOLLAND Midget Golf ,,Huis ter Duin''. Posted to Hinkley, Leicestershire in 1974

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
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• Holland

A minigolf postcard from Blankenberge, Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Blankenberge in Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - BLANKENBERGE. Miniatuurgolf en tennis. Golf miniauture et tennis. Miniature golf and tennis. Minigolf und Tennis. 1012. Edicionnes FISA. Printed in Spain. Unposted. Undated

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
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A minigolf postcard from Middelkerke, Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Middelkerke, Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - MIDDELKERKE. Tennis en miniatuur-golf. Tennis et golf miniature. Lawn-tennis and golf miniature. Tennis und Golf Miniatur. Uitgever VAN MIEGHEM A. Oostende Posted on the 18th June 1978

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
• Middelkerke
• Belgium

A minigolf postcard from Blankenberge, Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Blankenberge, Belgium.

BLANKENBERGE. Tennis en Miniatuur Golf. Tennis courts and Miniature Golf sites. Tennis et Golf Miniature. Tennis- und Minigolf - Plätze. KRUGER 95912. Unposted. Undated

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
• Blankeberge
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A minigolf postcard from Knokke-Zoute in Belgium

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Knokke-Zoute, Belgium.

Minigolf Postcard - Knokke-Zoute - Golf miniature. Kleine Golf. Photothill, Bruxelles. No. 72. Unposted. Undated

Related blog posts:

• Postcard
• Ephemera
• Belgium
• Knokke-Zoute

Crazy Golf at the Rhos Fynach in Rhos on Sea

The Crazy Golf course at the Rhos Fynach in Rhos on Sea, Wales is being refurbished.

The outdoor Crazy Golf course at the Rhos Fynach pub and restaurant in Rhos on Sea will shortly be receiving a refurbishment. This will see the course closed from Monday 16th June and reopening on Saturday 28th June.

We're looking forward to seeing what the refreshed course looks like.

We played the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at the Rhos Fynach pub and restaurant in Rhos on Sea on Miniature Golf Day back in 2017. The course was the 462nd played and 781st visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've got a nice old postcard showing a previous course that was in the same location.

Putting Course. Rhos-on-Sea. C1542. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd

If you look past the course and to the right of Emily you can see the arched window on the seafront that also appears in the old postcard above

Check out the Rhos Fynach website for more information.

A minigolf postcard from Sasbachwalden, Germany

A look at an old miniature golf postcard showing the Miniatur-Golfplatz in Sasbachwalden, Germany.

This postcard was posted on the 5th August 1974.

MINIATUR-GOLFPLATZ SASBACHWALDEN mit Pension Bohnert. PERUTZ-Coloraufnahme Nr. OI4279. Müller-Fotokarten - Freudenstadt-Schwarzwald. Posted 5th August 1974

The course is still there - and my brother Christopher actually visited it in 2023!

Höfner Stübl Minigolf in Sasbachwalden. Photo by Christopher Gottfried, August 2023

Check out the Höfner Stübl Minigolf Facebook Page for more information.

A minigolf postcard from Hotel La Toja in Pontevedra, Spain

A look at an old miniature golf postcard of the course at the Hotel La Toja in Pontevedra, Spain.

LA TOJA (GALICIA) Gran Hotel y golf miniatura. Grand Hotel et petit golf. Grand Hotel and miniatura golf. Serie II - Num. 9760. Unposted. Undated

Interestingly the course is called 'golf miniatura', 'et petit golf' and 'miniature golf' to cater for the languages of different guests.

Looking online, while the hotel (Eurostars Gran Hotel La Toja) is still there it no longer has a minigolf course.

A minigolf postcard from Holiday Club Playa del Sol, Estepona, Spain

A look at an old miniature golf postcard showing the course at the Holiday Club Playa del Sol in Estepona, Spain.

The card is unposted and undated.

No. 631 - HOLIDAY CLUB PLAYA DEL SOL. Estepona (Costa del Sol-España). DELTA. Unposted. Undated

A minigolf postcard from the Galeries Fleuries in Cannes, France

A look at an old minigolf postcard showing Le Golf Miniature at the Galeries Fleuries in Cannes, France.

This postcard is unposted and undated.

CARTE POSTALE. 512. CANNES. Galeries Fleuries. Le Golf Miniature. Unposted. Undated

"Galeries Fleuries" translates as "Flowery Galleries" and the area was a popular attraction in the 1920s and 1930s.

A minigolf postcard from Hotel Palma Nova, Mallorca

A look at an old miniature golf postcard from Hotel Palma Nova in Mallorca, Spain.

331 - HOTEL PALMA NOVA. PALMA NOVA. MALLORCA. Posted to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Date unknown

Looking online it doesn't look like the hotel's course is still there.

A minigolf postcard from Zagreb

A look at an old miniature golf postcard from Illica, Zagreb.

Izdavač Zadružna štampa. Zagreb, Illica 35. Posted, date unknown

This postcard was posted and has a stamp from Yugoslavia on it, however the postmark with the date on it is unclear.

Looking online the course could have existed next to Lake Jarun.

There is a course nearby at Mini Golf igralište.

A minigolf postcard from Bredene Aan Zee in Belgium

A look at an old miniature golf postcard of a course in Bredene Aan Zee, Belgium.

This postcard shows the Klein Golfspel / Golf miniature course and was posted to Croydon, England on the 19th August 1968.

BREDENE a/ZEE - Klein Golfspel. BREDENE s/MER - Golf miniature. L 18. NELS. MEXICHROME France. Posted to Croydon on the 19th August 1968

The course is still there, having opened in 1950, with the business expanding over the years.

Visit the Minigolf Bredene website for more information.

Bredene Aan Zee is a small seaside town in Belgium. It's next to Ostend.

While checking out the old postcards of minigolf course in Belgium and the online maps of the locations there are still plenty of places to play the game. This stretch of the Belgian coast would be superb for a minigolf tour.

A minigolf postcard from the Sport-Motel Zweisimmen in Berner Oberland, Switzerland

A look at an old miniature golf postcard from Switzerland.

This postcard was posted to Ingatestone, Essex, England. However the date is unknown as the postmark is unclear.

Mini-Golf Sport-Motel. 3770 Zweisimmen, Berner Oberland. 8217 Photoglob-Wehrli AG, Zürich. Printed in Switzerland. Posted to Ingatestone, Essex. Date unknown

Looking online the Sport-Motel is still there, however the minigolf course doesn't look to be there anymore.

A postcard from a Crazy Golf course in Fleetwood - sent on this day in 1966

A look at an old postcard from Fleetwood, Lancashire.

This old minigolf postcard from my collection was sent from Southport to Solihull on the 24th May 1966.

The card shows a now long gone Crazy Golf course. As well as the pier, itself demolished in 2008 following a fire.

Minigolf Postcard - 425 Crazy Golf Course and Pier, Fleetwood. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC GREETING CARD CO. LTD. LONDON. Posted 24 May 1966

We've played minigolf in Fleetwood on our Crazy World of Minigolf, at the also now long since demolished Crazy Golf course at Marine Gardens. We've also visited the course between the Pitch & Putt and the beach. That particular course has recently been refurbished and reopened, and is one we need to play.