How to play Mini golf: rules and scoring

• 9 or 18 holes
• Usually 6 strokes max

Goal: Finish every hole in as few strokes as you can.

Setup

• Everyone has a putter and a ball in their own colour.
• Before you start, agree on the maximum strokes per hole (6 on most courses).

How to play

1. On each hole everyone putts from the tee.
2. The player farthest from the hole goes next, or the table plays in turn.
3. You keep putting until the ball drops.
4. A ball that leaves the course goes back to where it left, with a one-stroke penalty.
5. Touching the obstacles (bridges, tunnels, ramps) is fine.

Scoring

• Write down your strokes for every hole.
• A hole in one scores 1.
• Anyone who reaches the limit without holing out picks up and scores one more (7 with a limit of 6).
• Par is the expected number of strokes for a hole; finishing under par is a good result.

Winning

• After the last hole, the fewest strokes in total wins.
• To break a tie, look at the last hole or count the holes in one.

Note

• Some courses use a limit of 5 or 7; change it when setting up.
• With children a lower limit keeps the game moving.
• Teams playing “best ball” can write the team’s best score on each hole.