A Couple of Putts and Golf Zone Chaska present…

The Inaugural Coziest Mini Golf Open
February 14-20th, 2022

Recap

Our inaugural Coziest Mini Golf Open is in the books! After being inspired by the re-opening of the Golf Zone in Chaska that has been closed for 3 years, we thought it would be nice to add another annual tournament in our home state of Minnesota during the coldest time of year.

We have very few tournament-quality indoor courses in Minnesota and none like Big Bear Mini-Putt at Golf Zone. Most of the holes give an opportunity for a hole-in-one but on a handful of holes throughout the course, you can land a zero on your first shot if you make a specific putt. It felt like a great counter-point to our Miniest Mini Golf Open tournament at Lilli Putt which has a par that is 24 strokes higher than Big Bear and few great opportunities to ace any hole. After six days of qualifying rounds, we had 18 people score par or better ultimately resulting in 14 people who could attend to compete for winter mini golf greatness.

We notified those who qualified to get into the hygge spirit and dress up in cozy attire and/or PJs for the two-round championship on Sunday, February 20th, 2022. This was the first tournament we have hosted and organized that the Pink Putter and Mr. Tee participated in and the first tournament win for Mr. Tee (aka Tom Loftus). The top two putters Matt Roalstad and Shawn Brown combined for a total of 65 each between their best qualifying round and the first round of the championship but Mr. Tee was able to repeat his personal best score at Golf Zone two rounds in a row for a 68 besting Shawn and Matt who both had shots on Hole 18 to win the tournament by landing the ace. Josh Benesh put an impressive showing in the 2nd round with a 32 to put him in a 3-way tie for 2nd place with Matt Roalstad and Shawn Brown. Initially, we had planned on non-first place tie-breakers to be decided by qualifying scores but Matt, Shawn, and Josh decided to play a 3 hole playoff. All three gots deuces on holes 1-3 but Josh ended up with 4th place after getting a 3 on Hole #4 and Matt couldn’t match the zero shot made by Shawn on #5 to hand Mr. Brown 2nd place. Pink Putter ended up in 5th place and we gave prizes to Matt Weimann for the best round (32) and Joe Holme for the most aces (6) of the day.

We’re hoping to do this all over again next winter so stay tuned!

Golf Zone’s Big Bear Putt Putt – Chaska, MN – 825 Flying Cloud Drive Chaska, Minnesota 55318

2022 Tournament Rules and Regulations

Scores from all attempts will count individually towards reaching the Championship round on 2/20. The individuals with the top 10 lowest scores under par (max of 20 competitors with the lowest scores accounting for tied scores) will compete for money, prizes, and glory.

Prizes

Champion: $100 cash or $125 Golf Zone Gift Card + Custom trophy + Golf Zone Hat + Pizza + Drink
Second Place: $75 Golf Zone Gift Card/Credit + Silver Medal + Golf Zone Hat + Drink
Third Place: $50 Golf Zone Gift Card/Credit + Bronze Medal + Golf Zone Hat + Drink
Fourth Place: 7th Avenue Pizza + A Couple of Putts mug with cocoa + Golf Zone Hat
Fifth Place: 7th Avenue Pizza + A Couple of Putts mug with cocoa

Additional goodies and awards for the lowest single-round (including qualifying) as well as most hole-in-ones (including zeroes) during the Championship.

All competitors who turn in their scorecard with their contact information will be eligible in a random drawing of a few extra prizes from Golf Zone and A Couple of Putts. The drawing will happen on the night of Saturday, February 19th.

$15 initial Qualifying attempt
$10 for each additional round to attempt to get the lowest score

For Valentine’s Day (Monday, February 14th), we’ll have a $20 fee that will get you two qualifying rounds.

Qualifying Rounds
Monday-Saturday, February 14-19th: top 10 scores (with a max of 20 competitors accounting for tying top 10 qualifying rounds) will be notified after 6 pm on Saturday night and move on to the Championship Round on Sunday.

Championship Round
Sunday, February 20th at 11 am: top qualifiers will play a two-round Championship. In the case of first-place ties in the Championship round, the tie will be broken with a 3 hole playoff starting on hole 1. If scores are tied after 3 holes, players will move into sudden death where the winner of the next hole will decide the Championship.  All other ties will be determined by the best Qualifying round scores. If there is still a tie, after this, the next tie-breaker will be most hole-in-ones and the tie-breaker after that is most 0s. If that results in another tie, prizes/ranking will be shared.

Tournament & Championship Details

1. All Qualifying rounds must be completed between 11 am on Monday, February 14th, and 6 pm on Saturday, February 19th to be valid and eligible for the Championship.
2. Valid scorecards must be turned into the clubhouse immediately after finishing and include contact info (phone) where we can reach you if you make it into the top 10 scores to compete for the Championship on Sunday, February. 20. 
3. Up to 20 competitors with the lowest scores at or below Par (42) will compete for the Championship on Sunday, February 20th. If there is a tie for the 10 best scores, all of those competitors will compete for the Championship as long as there are less than 20 competitors.
4. A Couple of Putts (Tom) will be contacting the top 10 scorers on Saturday, February 19th by 7 pm to confirm their availability to play for the Championship on Sunday, February 20th. You must confirm you will be able to return for the Championship by 9 pm on 2/19/22.
5. To determine who makes the cut for the Championship if more than 20 competitors have the top 10 scores during Qualifying, those who played earlier in the week will be favored. For example, if there are only 3 spots left and 4 players have a score of 42, the three who played earliest in the week will be given the spots.
6. The two-round Championship will start promptly at 11 am on Sunday, February 20th with the highest of the top 10 scores starting in the first group. The following groups will be determined by best scores with the lowest Qualifying scores going last. Championship play is at no cost for those who qualify
7. In the case of first-place ties in the Championship round, the tie will be broken with a 3 hole playoff starting on hole 1. If scores are tied after 3 holes, players will move into sudden death where the winner of the next hole will decide the Championship.  All other ties will be determined by the best Qualifying round scores. If there is still a tie, after this, the next tie-breaker will be most hole-in-ones and the tie-breaker after that is most 0s. If that results in another tie, prizes/ranking will be shared.
8. The Championship scores will be posted at acoupleofputts.com/cozyopen on 2/21/22 along with photos. If you do not want your score/photo to be posted, let Tom know.
9. If the math on your scorecard is not correct, a +1 stroke penalty is added to your score for the round. During the Championship rounds, any groups with scorecards that don’t match when turned in will result in a +2 stroke penalty for each member of the group

Rules of the Tournament

1. Players will complete the hole before others in their group play. 
2. For all tournament rounds, there is a 10 stroke limit. After your 9th putt, pick up the ball and move on.
3. Players will start each hole in the tee-off area. The tee-off area is defined as the turfed area near the beginning of each hole that is before the start of the concrete walls that border each hole.
4. The ball can be moved 6″ (or a little over one putter head length) away from any obstacle or wall for relief as long as it does not move the ball out of rough turf or provides a significantly better line for your next putt.
5. No intentional chip shots to jump walls.
6. The ball can only advance to the hole through the use of the putter.
7. If the ball goes out of bounds, the ball will be placed at either the place it exited the hole or the start of the hole if there is not an adequate place to set the ball at the location where it went out of bounds. Take a +1 stroke penalty.
8. If the ball returns back past the tee-off area, the ball will be reset at the start without a stroke penalty. If the ball exits the playing area by way of a handicap-accessible area on the hole, the ball will be reset at the location where it exited without a stroke penalty. 
9. On holes with multiple cup placements, any of the cups can be played to complete the hole.
10. On holes #5, #14, #17 & #18, there are opportunities for a zero score on specific cups only on the first putt. 
11. On hole #7, if the ball gets stuck in the pipe or the pipe sends the ball out of bounds, the ball will be re-dropped into the pipe until it exits and remains in bounds.
12. On hole #10, if the ball falls into the valley and into the rock area, you must reset the ball to the start of the hole with a stroke penalty. Do not play the ball out of the rocks.
13. On hole #12, if the ball goes into the sand trap, you must follow the posted rules for the penalty.
14. On hole #18, only two scoring options are possible: zero if it is in the cup or 2 if you miss the cup. 
15. All other applicable posted course rules apply if they are not listed above
16. Be cool to each other & have fun. Mini Golf is for EVERYONE!