A Couple of Putts and Lilli Putt present…

The 6th Annual Miniest Mini Golf Open

& American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA)

Midwest Regional Championship
September 28, 2025

No qualifying. Pro & Amateur divisions

 

2025 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 2024 tournament at acoupleofputts.com/open2024

Registration:

REGISTER

We want all competitors to fill out a registration form in advance again this year. Date you register in the pro division will determine the number of entries for you into the cash skins game drawing. See breakdown below in the section on the Bonus Skins Game

Payment: 3 options

1. Venmo to @tomrloftus – https://venmo.com/tomrloftus – Add $1 if you’re paying with a credit card vs bank or debit card.

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

3. Eventbrite  – Fees 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 28th 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”
Pro Second Place: $200 cash + “Silver” Medal
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:Lilli Putt, A Couple of Putt goodies & AMA sponsor goodies

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:

1. Entry into the pro division of the tournament
2. Opportunity to earn AMA points toward national ranking
3. 2 rounds of 18 holes at Lilli Putt and a chance to play a 3rd round for the top 12 scores after 2 rounds
4. A chance to achieve mini golf greatness.
5. Entry in to the bonus skins game (see details below)

Amateur Championship $30 fee includes:

1. Entry into the amateur division of the tournament
2. Opportunity to give competitive mini golf a whirl & earn points for the 2025 AMA season
3. Two rounds of 18 holes at Lilli Putt
4. A chance to play with other people new to the game

Practice rates for the week of and the day before the tournament will be available. $20 for the 27th of September (Saturday) all day or $25 for free practice all day Monday, September 22nd through Saturday, September 27th. Players can only practice at normal operating hours for the course which can be found at lilliputt.net. The expectation is that players practicing will operate on the course in a way that won’t hold up the regular paying public and allow other players practicing to play through if you’re working on a specific hole for an extended period.

Pro vs Amateur

Pro: Open to anyone. For the first time, the pro division will have a 3rd round for the top 12 competitors through the 1st 2 rounds. The top-round scores are expected to be in the high 40s to mid 50s. Pros will be playing for trophies, medals, prizes, AMA scoring points per the current rubric, potential entry into the cash skins game, and a cash purse. We are going to utilize live scoring using the Bangolf Arena System. Competitors will receive information in advance of the tournament but one player in the group will score the group digitally and at least one other person on paper.

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.

Sunday Championship
Sunday, September 8th at 9 am:  pro and amateur players will play at least two rounds. For amateurs, these 2 rounds will determine the amateur division winners. For pros, the top 12 competitors through 2 rounds will play a 3rd round to determine the top 12 positions of the tournament. In both pro and amateur divisions, any ties after the last round 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) – Sat. September 27th

All registered pros will be entered into a drawing for a bonus skins game that will take place during practice on Saturday, September 27th. 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. A Couple of Putts provides the cash for this event, and no extra fee is asked of players who compete in this bonus event. The number of entries into the drawing for the skins game will be based on when pro players have completed registration and sent in their entry fee. Here is the breakdown of entries based on when you have paid and registered:

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 no person has 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 the 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

1. Players will start each hole within the yellow-turfed tee-off area at the start of each hole. No other starting positions are allowed
2. No intentional chip shots to jump walls.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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

1. All holes will be played with each person completing the hole before others in their group play.
2. 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.
3. The ball can only advance to the hole through the use of the putter head.
4. The championship rules meeting will start promptly at 8:30 am on Sunday, September 28th. 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
5. Competitors must score their rounds as well as the other competitors in their group. At least 2 different people in your group should be scoring the group. In the pro division, one person will score the group digitally and one on paper.
6. No group in the champions rounds will be less than 3 putters and no more than 4.
7. Groups will play two rounds consecutively. Pros will start on Hole #1 and Amateur competitors on Hole #9
8. For the top 12 pros that advance to the 3rd round, they will be paired by their finish through 2 rounds, with the top 3 players going out as the last group.
9. If there is a tie for 12th place through 2 rounds, all of those players advance to the 3rd round.
10. One scorecard signed by each member of the group will be turned in after each round
11. In the case of any ties for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place on 9/28/25, 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.
12. 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
13. 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.
14. All competitors who are American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) members will receive points towards national ranking based on the current scoring rubric
15. All scores will be posted at acoupleofputts.com/open within a week of the tournament