A Couple of Putts and Lilli Putt present…

The 5th Annual Miniest Mini Golf Open
September 29, 2024

Short Recap

In 2021 when the Miniest Open was a single round, local pro Shawn Brown set the course record of 46 that had not been beaten until the 2024 Miniest Open. Shawn shot a 1st round of 49 and aced Hole #18 to set the new single-round course record at 45 in the 2nd round. This is the best two-round score (94) which was previously 98 by Mick Cullen in 2022. Shawn has the largest margin of victory in the history of the Minest Open by winning by 8 strokes over Matt Liles of Connecticut. 2022 Miniest Open winner Mick Cullen came in 3rd with a 103 with 2023 Winner Matt Roalstad just one more stroke behind with a 104. 10 strokes separate the competitors who finished between 2nd and 15th in one of the most competitive years for the tournament. American Mini Golf Alliance members showed up from 8 states (Maine, Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota) to play in the pro division.

In the amateur division, Nick Windyk wins his first event by 4 strokes over Robin Schwartzman. New Jersey’s Lisa Cimino finished 3rd.

Hunter Ward took home the junior division championship

Tom Loftus, Shawn Brown & Erik Haselius tied for most hole-in-ones with 2 and Tom won the tie-breaker.

22 amateur competitors and 20 pro level competitors started the tournament with the largest turnout to date of 42.

Photos and videos to follow soon. Full round by round results at the AMA event page

No qualifying. 2 Rounds. Pro & Amateur divisions

2024 Tournament Rules and Regulations

Lilli Putt Mini Golf – Coon Rapids, MN – 1349 Coon Rapids Blvd. Coon Rapids, MN 55433

Find a recap, results, and fun documentation of the 2023 tournament at acoupleofputts.com/open2023

Registration: We want all competitors to fill out the REGISTRATION FORM this year

Payment: 3 options

1. Venmo to @tomrloftus – https://venmo.com/tomrloftus –

2. Paypal with a $2 fee to acoupleofputts@gmail.com –

3. Eventbrite at https://2024-Minest-Mini-Golf-Open.eventbrite.com – Feels run between $3-5

Eventbrite has the largest fee of the three options

Please note in your payment which people you are paying registration for.

If the weather on September 29th is bad enough we have to postpone the start or reschedule for a new date, we’ll share details on A Couple of Putts and American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) social media as well as our Facebook event page. We will play if it is raining and the course is not flooded with water.

Prizes

Pro Champion: $250 cash + Custom Made Championship Trophy + Name added to the Miniest Open “Yellow Jacket” + Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies + The Miniest Winner will now get an entry into a future Putt Tour event, along with travel accommodations. Current Putt Tour events are taking place in Branson, Missouri.
Pro Second Place: $200 cash + “Silver” Medal + Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies
Pro Third Place: $150 cash + “Bronze” Medal + Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies
Pro 4th-5th Place: Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies

Pro Skins Round: $5 per hole on the front 9 and $10 per hole on the back 9.

Most Hole-in-Ones: OneShotGolf game swag pack including a hat, t-shirt, and stickers.

Amateur Champion: Mini Trophy + Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies
Amateur Second Place: Amateur “Silver” Medal + Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies
Amateur Third Place: Amateur “Bronze” Medal + Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies

*Junior Division Winner: Junior Division Trophy + a Prize
**Women’s Division Winner: Women’s Division Trophy + a Prize

*For competitors 15 and under. There must be at least 3 people who meet these criteria to give out this award
**For women or women-identifying competitors. There must be at least 3 people who meet these criteria to give out this award

Pro Championship $40 fee includes:

Entry into the pro division of the tournament
Opportunity to earn AMA points toward national ranking
Two rounds of 18 holes at Lilli Putt
A chance to achieve mini golf greatness.
Entry in to the bonus skins game (see details below)
Limited edition Miniest Open Couple Putts anniversary Chromax ball!
Opportunity to get an expenses paid trip to play in a future Putt Tour event

Amateur Championship $30 fee includes:

Entry into the amateur division of the tournament
Opportunity to give competitive mini golf a whirl & earn 1 point for the 2024 AMA season
Two rounds of 18 holes at Lilli Putt
A chance to play with other people new to the game
Limited edition Miniest Open Couple Putts anniversary Chromax ball!

Practice rates for the week of and the day before the tournament will be available. There is a plan for a mid-week 2-round warm-up event.

Pro vs Amateur

Pro: Open to anyone. The top-round scores are expected to be in the high 40s to mid 50s. Pros will be playing for trophies, medals, Putt Tour event invite/expenses paid trip, prizes, AMA scoring points per the current rubric, potential entry into the cash skins game, and a cash purse.

Amateur: Players newer to the competitive putting game or who have not finished in the top 3 of local or regional mini golf/golf events in the last 2 years. Amateur competitors will be playing for trophies, medals, prizes, and 1 AMA scoring point each.

Two-Round Championship
Sunday, September 29th at 9 am: pro and amateur players will play a two-round championship to determine the winners. Any ties between 1st and 3rd place will be broken by 2-hole putt-offs on Holes 1-2. If scores remain tied after two holes, the players will compete until one person has a lower stroke than the other(s) on the next hole on the course. If there is a tie for most hole-in-ones, there will be a hole-in-one-only wins playoff on hole #4. Each competitor will have an equal number of opportunities. All other ties for prizes will be determined by the lowest round score. If there is still a tie, we’ll look at most hole-in-ones and then most 2s. All competitors who are American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) members will receive points toward national ranking based on the current scoring rubric.

Bonus Skins Round (Pros Only)

All registered pros will be entered into a drawing for a bonus 3rd round skins game. 4 players will be drawn into a group and they will compete for $5 per hole on the front 9 and $10 per hole on the back 9. The cash for this event is provided by A Couple of Putts and no extra fee is asked of players who compete in this bonus event. This will occur after all other tie-breakers are settled and all other awards are given out. The number of entries into the drawing will be based on the pro player’s finishing position. For example, 1st place will only have 1 entry, and 15th place will have 15 entries for the drawing.

Honors will rotate each hole with the first honors going to the first person drawn into the skins game and the last person drawn in going 4th. Each player will have an equal number of chances to go first or last through the first 16 holes. The order for the final 2 holes will be determined by who won the 16th and 17th holes. If there is not a person who won those holes then it will be the person who last won a skin to go first on hole #17.

A skin is won when a single player has the lowest score in a group on a hole. Once a score is set for a hole, players will not take any more strokes than the lowest recorded score. If two people tie on the hole, then the skin moves forward to the next hole increasing the amount at stake. This continues to happen until one person has the lowest score on a hole.

If there is a tie on hole #18, only the players who tie will replay that hole to determine that skin/payout. If players tie 2 more times on #18 then the final skin is split between those players who tie.

Rules of the Game

Players will start each hole within the yellow-turfed tee-off area at the start of each hole. No other starting positions are allowed
No intentional chip shots to jump walls.
The ball can be moved the length of the AMA branded relief rulers (20 cm or around 8 inches) away from any obstacle or wall for relief as long as it does not move the ball out of hazard or provides a significantly better direct line to the cup for your next putt.
Relief from an obstacle or wall cannot be used to give a line to the cup where it does not already exist. The player can move the ball further away from the cup to take relief to prevent creating a line that does not already exist.
If the ball goes off course into the water or out of bounds (OB), the ball will be placed at the place in the bounds of that hole where the ball last made contact with the green or playing area with relief with a one-stroke penalty added.
- The one exception to this rule is Hole #10. There will be no out-of-bounds on the tee off shots. If you go OB on Hole #10 after hitting the jump and the ball does not make contact with the 2nd half of the hole after the jump, the ball will be reset by the player in the tee-off box.
If the ball goes into the rock traps, you must either play the ball where it lays or take a stroke penalty to place the ball 8.5″ from the point of entry into the rock trap.
- If the ball is partially in the rock trap and partially on the turf, the ball may be moved fully onto the turf but no relief will be given.
No relief from rock traps or turf berms and if you’re on top of a berm or in a rock trap, you do not receive relief from the wall within them.
On any putt, if the ball bounces back and returns back to the yellow-turfed tee-off area, the ball can be reset in any place in the tee-off area by the competitor without a penalty stroke.
For all tournament rounds, there is a 7-stroke limit. After your 6th stroke, you pick up the ball and move on to the next hole. This is a change from previous years and is conforming to the international standard.

Rules of the Tournament

All holes will be played with each person completing the hole before others in their group play.
This is a golf ball-only event. Players must start and complete each round with the same ball. You are not required to play any specific ball but it must be a golf ball. A change of golf ball is only allowed if a ball is permanently lost or damaged during play or if the player opts to use a different ball for the 2nd round.
The ball can only advance to the hole through the use of the putter head.
The championship rules meeting will start promptly at 8:30 am on Sunday, September 29th. All players must arrive before 8:30am to check in. We want to start play before 9am. The course will be open and available for practice and check-in starting at 7:30am. The order of competitors will be selected in advance. Pros will start on Hole #1 and the amateurs will start on Hole #9.
- The last pro group to go out will be previous tournament winners
- The rest of the groups will be determined by the tournament organizers. Some exceptions will be made for players to go off in the earlier groups in a case-by-case situations
All competitors in the championship rounds must score their rounds as well as the other competitors in their group. In the pro division, if scores on all scorecards in the group don’t match when turned in, each competitor in that group will receive a stroke penalty.
No group in the champions rounds will be less than 3 putters and no more than 4.
Groups will play two rounds consecutively with no re-pairing after round 1. Pros will start on Hole #1 and Amateur competitors on Hole #9
One scorecard signed by each member of the group will be turned in after each round
In the case of any ties for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place on 9/29/24, the tie will be broken by 2 hole putt-off on Holes 1-2. “Honors” (aka putting first) on Hole #1 will be determined by a coin toss. “Honors” will alternate each hole regardless of the outcome of the previous hole. If scores remain tied after two holes, the competitors will play until one person has a lower stroke total than the other(s) on the next hole on the course.
If there is a tie for most hole-in-ones, those competitors will have a hole-in-one-only wins putt-off on Hole #4. Each player will have an equal number of attempts to get an ace. If multiple competitors get a hole-in-one in any given set of attempts, the playoff will continue until a winner is determined by hole-in-one in a round whether the other competitors do not get a hole-in-one
All other ties for prizes will be determined by the better single round in the championship. If there is still a tie, then tie is broken by hole-in-ones and if there is still a tie, by most 2s. If a tie remains, prizes will be split.
All competitors who are American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) members will receive points towards national ranking based on the current scoring rubric
All scores will be posted at acoupleofputts.com/open within a week of the tournament