Mini-Golf Championship of 1961

In an earlier post, I bemoaned the fact that the "Putt Putt" championship was played on a course without all the signature mini-golf trappings. There's no ferris wheel, no windmill, no waterfall, nothing.

But if you go all the way back to 1961, things change ever so slightly. If you go all the way back to the 1961 PPA "Parade of Champions" and get to Hole 7, it has a barn with doors that periodically swing open and shut.

And it's all in glorious grey.

In later holes, there's a loop-de-loop hole, a ramp hole and a pipe hole. Finally. Thank You. Now that's a sport.

And speaking of sports, when we get to Hole 14, professional putter Frank Holt decides it's time to really 60s it up and lights up a cigarette during the match.

Athletes! Classic.

Other than the different styles and mannerisms of a different era, the 1961 Putting Championship broadcast is largely the same format as the 1985 edition. One notable difference is that in 1961, they refer to a diagram to show the layout for every hole.

Look at that style. They even have a pointer to refer to it. Here's Hole 11.

Remember I told you about the loop-de-loop hole? Here's what that looks like in brilliant abstraction.

Man, Wes Anderson, eat your heart out.