Tasmeem 3ajeeb! Artist-Designed Mini Golf – Doha, Qatar

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Played the week of March 8-12

Reviewed by Mr. Tee and the Pink Putter

Last November we made the trip from Minneapolis to Doha to work with the graphic design students of VCUQatar on the design and prototyping phase of their very own indoor mini golf course. After we left, we got to see the progression of the design and build via social media. We were thrilled to return at the beginning of March this year to see and play the final course as well as enjoy the workshops and speakers of the Tasmeem festival. In fact, we even led our own workshop where we worked with a group of six students to design and build one last hole for the course. We already featured our creation so we wanted to review the other 9 student creations.

Rating:

Birdie – We may biased, but this regionally-themed course is the only one of its kind in Qatar, and for that matter, in the Middle East. The students did a fantastic job of combining good design and fun game play with ideas and themes that are relevant to their lives including transportation, water consumption, workers rights, musical instruments and desert culture. From a dueling roundabout to a hole that traverses down a flight of stairs, the students literally took the game of mini golf to the next level. There were some functionality and construction issues that came up while we played and those are the little things that kept us from giving it our highest score, a Hole-in-One. We also want to give incentive to the students to continue to work and build more beautiful and playful objects that top this fantastic course. We’d give anything to play it again and to hang out with the wonderful new friends we made at VCU-Qatar.

Below we do a thorough photo review and include videos of each hole in use.

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Camel/Transportation themed hole. This hole was a massive hit. Everyone from the maintenance staff and the Tasmeem conference attendees were playing this all throughout the week.
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Camel detail.
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Truck cupholder!

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You start at the top of the stairs and work your way down.
Another section of the stairwell hole.
Another section of the stairwell hole.
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The lower tier of play below the stairs.

It's an oud! The hole even had a tambourine inside of it to make noise.
It’s an oud! The hole even had a tambourine inside of it to make noise.
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Eye on the prize. Photo by Michael Hersrud.

Mr. Tee playing the desert/Land Cruiser themed hole.
Mr. Tee playing the desert/dune bashing themed hole.
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Another vantage point of this desert / dune bashing themed hole.

Roundabouts in Qatar are cause for lots of traffic.
Roundabouts in Qatar are cause for lots of traffic and headaches.
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Player 1 Perspective
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Two difficult options are presented to each player.
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Player 2 Perspective

This hole had LED lights, chalkboard paint and the word "golf" in arabic.
This hole had LED lights, chalkboard paint and the word “golf” in arabic.
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Death Bridge. Photo taken by Michael Hersrud.

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Hole based on a Doha construction site. It had some moving pieces and parts.
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Start down the wrong path and you’ll be faced with a grim reality.
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Hit up the ramp and hopefully down the pipe in to the bucket. Photo by Michael Hersrud.
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Once you take the ball up the pulley elevator, the ball is dumped out on to the course. This photo is of our new friend Polie taken by Michael Hersrud
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This hole was themed around the issues of workers rights in Qatar. It was nearly impossible to get a hole-in-one and your strenuous journey was supposed to represent that of the workers.

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A water park themed hole that talks about water consumption.
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Signs representing water used. Photo by Michael Hersrud.
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Waterslide options. Photo by Michael Hersrud.

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This hole was inspired by traditional pigeon houses that can be found in Katara Cultural Village.

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Another view of the pigeon house hole.

Tasmeem Doha Mini Golf Page

Pros:

First public mini golf course in Qatar
Each hole was uniquely themed with a connection to Qatar
Wide variety of play styles
Creative use of materials and surfaces
Creative use of the game of mini golf to address larger socio-political issues
FUN!

Cons:

Parts of holes weren’t 100% functional
Few holes offered the chance of a hole-in-one

Nerdy Notes:

  • No par set for the course and no score card
  • Several different types of cups were used across the course
  • Play was free of charge

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