Like many good things, mini golf owes its origins to women. In this case, a group of 19th-century Scottish women banned from playing golf because swinging sticks was considered ‘unladylike’. This rebellious group of women commissioned a 9-hole putting-only course named The Himalayas, after its uneven terrain. The course still sits alongside St Andrew’s Golf Course near Edinburgh today.

The smaller course demanded precision, and its rolling terrain added challenge, chance, and amusement. The popularity of the ‘Ladies Putting Club’ format grew rapidly, with new courses cropping up across the United Kingdom.

By Prohibition Era DIY mini golf courses had become a craze across the USA. Thousands of courses in New York and LA were built on rooftops, in backyards and on nature strips. Many were equipped with loudspeakers and were open 24 hours a day. Eventually, late-night curfews shut them down. Years later, mini golf played a role in the civil rights movement, with a course in Washington becoming one of the first public recreational facilities to be desegregated.