World Minigolf Sport Federation

Info

The WMF is the umbrella organisation of minigolf sport associations worldwide and continental associations in Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Geschichte

Minigolf is well known as an amateur sport and a lot of governments support the national federations with a yearly budget for sport and social activities for players. At present Minigolf is not established as a professional sport. The WMF and its members do have tournaments in place where players can win prize money, but it is not enough for players to live exclusively from. Minigolf as an amateur activity is growing very well with new players taking up the sport, new clubs created and new national governing bodies being formed around the world.
The WMF and the member associations are keen to work with new partners and sponsors as the sport appeals to people of all ages and promotes friendship, health and wellbeing and there are plenty of opportunities for brands to get involved in the sport.
Minigolf is a very popular family and leisure sport that millions of people play around the world at least once a year and the determination to become a sport within the World Games and achieve Olympic recognition has given the WMF a big push regarding the membership of new nations. The WMF is now pushing to reach the next goal of 60 national federations as members and there is a lot of potential to get even more members.

• The first international Minigolf federation was officially formed in 1963 with Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany as founding members. In 1980 the WMF was formed in Hard, Austria when the most important international federations joined together.
• One big event in the development of Minigolf as a sport was the staging of the first World Championships 1991 in Oslo, Norway, when the WMF sent a sign to the world that Minigolf was a worldwide organised competitive sport.
• The WMF has organised Minigolf as a sport, not just as a leisure activity or pastime. The introduction of the World Ranking systems, World and Continental Championships and developing relationships between players and associations from different countries is something that the WMF is very proud of.
• There are over 1,300 events held on Minigolf courses each year and the WMF is pleased to be a part of helping the sport develop and grow.

Minigolf – the basics
• For those people not familiar with the sport, Minigolf is a game where the goal is to get your ball into a hole, using a Putter, in as few shots as possible. In tournaments players use Putters designed for the needs of Minigolfers as well as special Minigolf balls made mostly of rubber. There are thousands of different Minigolf balls available, varying in bounce, hardness, weight and surface properties. Players train to find the optimal ball for each lane as well as the perfect line to the hole to achieve the highest possible chance of a hole-in-one. Players aim to score as close to 18 shots per round, with the record on the Miniaturegolf system a perfect score of 18, with holes-in-one on every hole. In total more than 10,000 different Minigolf balls have been produced in the last 40 years.
• The WMF recognises four types of Minigolf playing systems. Each type has its own special design, construction and obstacles. Details are below:

1. Miniaturegolf
- The most common type of approved tournament Minigolf courses in the world are Miniaturegolf courses. These courses are mostly built using Fibre Cement and consist of 18-holes (also known as lanes). The Miniaturegolf type of Minigolf course offers 28 standardised hole designs and obstacles and courses are created using a combination of these holes. You will find these courses in many cities and holiday sites all over the world.

2. Feltgolf
- Sweden and Finland are known for their felt courses. The surface is felt as indicated in the name and the borders are made of wood. There are almost 32 different hole designs. Nowadays this type of course has grown all over Europe and it has become quite popular to play on felt.

3. Concrete
- Concrete Minigolf courses are predominantly found in Switzerland, Austria, northern Italy and southern Germany, but you can find international tournament concrete courses all over Europe and Scandinavia. There are only 18 types of obstacles and these have mostly the same number on every course. As the name suggests the courses are constructed in concrete and the borders around them are made of steel.

4. Minigolf Open Standard (MOS)
- Minigolf Open Standard courses are those built with a surface of artificial grass and are most common in North America and Great Britain. Minigolf Open Standard (MOS) courses are also commonly known as Adventure Golf and Crazy Golf. This type of tournament course was officially approved by the WMF in 2007, in order to strengthen the position of the WMF and to spread the Minigolf movement all around the world. The size and shape of the lanes are quite different from Miniaturegolf, Feltgolf and Concrete courses. As MOS courses contain many different hazards to the other three approved course type