WEBVTT - How Miniature Golf Works 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:03.559 Hey, everybody. I don't know if you've heard, but we 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.040 have a book coming out finally, finally, after all these years. 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.120 It's great, it's fun. You're gonna love it. It's called 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:14.600 Stuff You Should Know Colon, an incomplete compendium of mostly 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:19.760 interesting things. Ye. And it's twenty six jam packed chapters 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.640 that we wrote with another guy named Knowls Parker, who's 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:27.720 amazing and is illustrated amazingly by our illustrator Carl Manardo. 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.560 And it's just an all around joy to pick up 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:32.960 and read. Even though we haven't physically held in our 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.360 hands yet, it's like we have Chuck in our dreams 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.480 so far. I can't wait to actually see and hold 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.040 this thing and smell it. And so should you, so 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:43.800 pre order now. It means a lot to us. The 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:46.720 support is a very big deal, So pre order anywhere 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:50.519 books are sold. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:59.200 production of our Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, and 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.240 welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.040 w Chuck Bryan over there, and there's Jerry there figuring 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:10.000 out all the new contrivances of modern life. Yeah, I 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:11.600 mean we should tell people what's going on. I think 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:17.120 it's interesting, right, No, well, I'm gonna tell him. So 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.120 Jerry has figured out now how to operate the studio 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:28.400 McIntosh recording system and not be in the office. It's 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:32.560 pretty great. It's it's covid riffic actually. And so she 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:34.920 was just up on our skype on video and she's 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.400 still there. But when she switched it to mute, it 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:42.000 went to the distressing picture. Do you see that thing? No, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.640 I just see j R. Like the letter J and 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.360 the letter are. Oh see there she is. She's back. 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:50.600 When she turned it off, there was I get a 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.440 photograph of Jerry that looks like she's like sick in 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.600 bed or something. It's weird. This is uh, well, it's 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.760 just Jerry's look maybe. So no, that's that's a diet 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.560 of nothing but me. So for fifteen twenty years, we'll 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:06.640 do for you. The weirdest thing is this is as 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.360 close as we've come to normal in the four months. 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:12.639 I know. Not only is it like normal, it's almost 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.960 like a throwback. Remember when we had the studio where 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.359 we would look out the window and she was there. Yeah, 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:20.280 that was great. That's kind of like this again. She 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:25.520 was a window creeper. Yep, professionally and in her personal 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:29.400 life too. So this is stuff you should know everybody. 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.320 I don't know if I said it. There are probably 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.720 a few people who are confused and aren't anymore. Um, 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.120 but we haven't gotten started yet, so prepared to be 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:43.400 confused again when we explained something in particular, Chuck, miniature golf, 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:47.720 I gotta ask, are you a fan? Uh? This made 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.919 me want to play again? Like I grew up playing 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.920 putt putt charm and have very fond memories of all 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:57.280 the different colored golf balls, you know, all like the 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:00.239 water trap that was really just a stagnant little pull 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.600 of concrete. You know. Put Pa was wonderful and great, 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:08.240 and there were arcades and birthday parties there that featured 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.000 heavily with g I. Joe action figures and stuff like that, 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.639 the good kind of three and three quarter inch ones. Um. 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:19.920 And yeah, I am a fan, if not just nostalgically, um, 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:24.640 in general. Yes, and which style And as you as 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.120 a listener will see soon, there are a couple of 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:30.399 different things. But did you grow up playing just sort 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.679 of the bare bones putt putt or the more miniature 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:40.320 golf clown's mouth windmill volcano. Well, Chuck. If you ask 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.440 me if I had a rich childhood, I will always 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.280 tell you, yes, sir, Yes I did. And the reason 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.320 why is because I grew up having putt putt close 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:51.720 by and Toledo when we played that a lot. And 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.480 then when my family would vacation in the summers on 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.120 Cataba Island on Lake Erie, and this is like pre 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.680 cleaned up like Gary, there was a like a run 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:06.040 down little like mini golf with like clowns, bows and 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:09.160 windmills and all that stuff right by the place where 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.880 we used to stay, like walking distance, and so we'd 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:13.800 play there a lot too. So I had the best 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.960 of both worlds, a really great, just top notch childhood. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.520 So I grew up playing putt putt at Stone Mountain Park, 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.960 which we went to a lot because it was near 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:25.800 our church, and the youth group would go and do 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.000 put putt nights and stuff. So that was a lot 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.640 of fun. Uh. And I was sort of partial to 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.360 those that were like, you know, the real put putt 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.640 where it requires a little bit of skill. But I 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:46.160 am also a sucker for the beach town uh volcano, waterfall, 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:56.239 uh go kart bumper boat arcade scene Yep, don't forget 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.200 a laser tag. I never really did laser tag that. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.240 I think that came around a little after I was, 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.760 you know, in my prime years for this kind of thing. Yeah, 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.360 it wasn't the same here, but I was looking up. 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.240 Now they have laser tag at Putt putt places. But 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.400 I still love those go carts. Man. When we go 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.960 to Aisle of Palms last year, I found a place nearby, 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:18.440 I was like, we gotta go, and everyone was kind 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.000 of oh, I don't know, and the kids are sort 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:21.200 of like, yeah, I guess I'll do it. And I 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.839 was like, guys, we gotta go right, Like, what is 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:27.040 wrong with all of you? Who are you vacation? Man? 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.600 It was so much carbon monoxide bleak at the house. 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:32.159 You read no theo's go carts. I could do that 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.039 all day long, Yeah, for sure. And of course I 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.120 got the guy, you know, the teenager squeaky boys, teenager, 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:41.960 and I said, hey, man, which which one? Which was 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:46.480 Which is the fast one? And he was like number eight? Really? 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.560 Oh yeah? And sure enough it was really fast. He 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.560 just rain circles around everybody. I did such that I 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.279 even laid off on the gas a little bit, just 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.440 to catch up and let people, you know, act like 0:05:56.480 --> 0:06:02.279 they outrace What a what a sportsman? Oh my goodness. 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.000 Well we'll talk about go carts one day more in depth, 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.039 but today we're just going to focus on the miniature 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.720 golf Okay. Yeah, this is a pretty interesting history, I think. Yeah, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:12.839 I had no idea how far back it went until 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.479 we started researching this, and actually it goes all the 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.120 way back to the nineteenth century. And this is one 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.520 of those rare things that's been around a while, but 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.840 you can actually pinpoint like the first one and the 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:27.520 first miniature golf course in the world as far as 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:31.360 anybody knows, is that St Andrew's. It's the Ladies Putting 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.080 Club of St Andrew's Um and it was built in 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:38.599 eighteen sixty seven strictly for the women members of the 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.680 Ladies Putting Club. Yeah, there's a couple of things that 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.600 play here. Actually really just one thing, which is, uh, 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:51.160 not letting women do things, because there was a decree 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.760 basically that women shall not take the club back past 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:59.880 their shoulder, um commandment. Yeah, like a real golf swing. 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:02.760 In other words, was I guess improper for a for 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:06.640 a lady to do. The Victorian era was just so 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:10.640 stupid when it came to social constraints. I'm trying to 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.760 figure out why does that? I don't know, do trichy, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.080 I would guess, well, I just wonder why a full 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.880 golf swing would it make their their dress rate rise 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:24.160 a little above the ankle or like, I just wonder why. 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.160 I think also, women were expected to not over exert 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:31.720 themselves physically, especially in public. Two could kind of construe 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.080 that as over exertion. Well, and then there's this, which 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:40.880 is from a book by Scottish baron Lord Wellwood talking 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:44.119 about women and when they should golf, when they shouldn't golf, 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:46.920 if they choose. I was going to do a Scottish accent, 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:49.800 but I'm just not feeling it. Uh. If they choose 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:53.760 to play at times when male golfers are feeding or resting, 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.480 no one can object, But at other times, must we 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.400 say it? They are in the way. It was kind 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.160 of snarky to add even the must we say it? Like, 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:06.880 do I even need to write this next sentence? It's 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:11.560 so just dripping lee obvious. But the long the upshot 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.840 of this is that's why they created the Ladies Putting Club. 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.520 Is just sort of get rid of them, Yeah, to 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:19.480 get them out of the way of the men. But 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.360 the joke was on the men, because this putting Green, 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:26.800 this first miniature golf course in the world, is still 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.360 around and it's still considered one of the finest. That's 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.600 actually nicknamed the Himalayas because it has all these kind 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.719 of mountains and hills and hillocks all built into it 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.560 um and they really kind of stand out from what 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.600 I understand against like the Scottish Seascape um and it's 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:46.319 a really revered miniature golf course. But it is exactly 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.719 what it sounds like. It is a golf course in miniature, 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.080 Like just like you take a classic golf course of 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.000 the variety that was born in Scotland and you just 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.920 kind of hit it with a shrink ray and then 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.360 you have a genuine, bona fide miniature golf course. And 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:05.880 that's how the whole thing started out. Yeah, I mean, 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.280 that's that's what we would call like a par three today, 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.000 right kind of it seems like par three courses are 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:17.040 um a little different. So this is like, yes, I 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:21.000 think it does require more than just a putter, and 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.360 a part three would require more than a putter, but 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:25.720 there seems to be a few different other kinds of 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:30.719 golf courses aside from the miniature golf course. There's the 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.920 part three, the pitch and put, and executive course is 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.040 all kind of qualified technically as miniature golf courses in 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:40.000 different ways. Yeah, the executive course they got the name 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:45.960 because evidently an executive could go player quick ground during lunch. Uh, 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.360 a lot of part three's, you might have a like 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.480 one par five and a couple of part four's. Is 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:55.680 that right on a part three on an executive course? Okay, Yeah, 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.760 that's what. That's really the only thing from what I 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.880 can tell, that differentiates it from a par three course. Yeah, 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.800 it's it's it's a golf course. It's a shorter and 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.559 therefore doesn't take as long. Yeah, And it's not like 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.000 the hole is smaller and the ball is smaller and 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.920 the clubs are smaller, like just just start get out 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.800 of your fantasy land there. Instead, it's just the distance 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.080 from the tea to the whole is shorter. There's fewer 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:24.480 bends and and stuff like that, so the actual experience 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.720 takes less time and less energy, and you can just 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:28.839 kind of fit it in in a shorter amount. Of time, 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.960 and I think that's the popularity of those things generally. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.360 Although pitch and put courses I also saw there. Um 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.680 they usually consist of a wedge and iron and a 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:40.360 putter of what you need to play on those um, 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.280 And they're all about the focus on the short game. 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.360 And as a result, the men and women, just average 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.200 men and women who play golf can kind of compete 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.719 pretty evenly because it's all about the short game. It's 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.960 all about finesse rather than you know, just cheer power 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.080 of driving as far as you can on like a 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.600 traditional golf course. Yeah, I mean I'd love golf. I 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:03.920 just don't play anymore. Like I grew up playing golf 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:08.360 and it was not good, but I wasn't terrible for 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:10.640 as much as I played, and I still like it. 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:12.360 I just don't, you know, have the time or the 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.280 inclination anymore. But I like the big boy courses with 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.920 the big part fives. But I also love a fun 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.400 little part three like Florida has a lot of these 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.120 beautiful part three's, including some you can play at night 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.760 that are all lit up. Um, And that's always a 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.960 lot of fun too. Yeah. I tried to get acquainted 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:35.040 with golf as a youngster. Um my family had weirdly 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:36.880 enough because this is not like my family at all, 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:42.880 had um membership at heather Downs Country Club. Well yeah, 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.400 and I love the pool because they had like, you know, 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.680 tons of slush puppies and the best like nasty hot 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.560 dogs you can imagine. Um, and there was a pool 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:53.320 and all that. I think I told you the story 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:55.480 about Swim League, the swim team where I was the 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.320 worst swimmer on it. But I also tried to golf 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:00.680 for a couple of summers and it just did didn't 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.000 take it up. But I was back in Toledo like 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:06.079 a couple of years ago, I think right before Cleveland Show, 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.880 and I visited the country level. I just drove by 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.839 and I looked, and the pool is now just like 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.720 a green field. It's been filled in, like the little 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:20.000 the little um snack shop has been torn down. I'm like, 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.880 something really bad must have happened there for them to 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:26.040 do that to the pool. You know. Yeah, there's uh 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:27.920 the And I didn't get to go here much because 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.480 it was private. But Hidden Hills was a big neighborhood 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:34.440 near my house that had a country club that's still around. 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.680 Isn't it, well, the neighborhoods there, but you know, the 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.839 neighborhood has seen its better days, and the country club 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.120 and golf course is completely just shut down and grown over. 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.679 It's really it looks well, it is an abandoned place. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.280 That's so cool. It is kind of cool. And and 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.360 then I had the idea of a movie, like a 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.640 old school type thing where a bunch of old a 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:57.560 bunch of like middle aged men that grew up there, 0:12:58.200 --> 0:12:59.880 go back and raise some money and try and like 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.880 clean the place up and get it going again. Yeah, 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:06.360 to hilarity, there has to be like a greedy developer 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:10.160 that they're battling, right, So is that the neighborhood that 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.160 we got kicked out of when we tried to go 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:16.520 shoot like without a license once around that area? Remember 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.600 the security guard came up was like, stop what you're doing. 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.080 I don't remember that. Yeah, it happened one day. Was 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.240 it on the Gorilla? Now? It was like when we 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.280 were shooting shorts? I think I don't remember that. Yeah, 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.920 I'm pretty sure that was the one. Should we take 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:37.640 a break already? Sure? Okay, all right, we'll get back 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.920 and we'll talk about where many golf went from here 0:13:40.000 --> 0:14:03.560 right after this definite sk SK should know alright, so 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.640 we're back. Nothing we've talked about right now constitutes miniature 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.400 golf in the mind of anybody who here's the words 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.079 miniature golf, right like, what what comes to mind are 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.320 things like putt putt or goofy golf, or windmills or 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:21.600 clowns or happy Gilmore or something like that. Right. So, um, 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:26.000 that all started. Actually, that didn't quite start yet. I 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.120 was really leading up to that, and then I realized 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.080 we had to keep going with regular miniature golf one 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.280 more time because it has to spread to America. And 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.920 it did, and we can actually trace that too, um 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.760 to the house of a guy named James Barber who 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.440 was an immigrant from England who was familiar with the 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:46.480 course the Ladies Pudding Club at St. Andrew's UM. And 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:48.880 he was rich enough that he said, you know, I 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.520 want a miniature golf course built on my estate, UM 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.680 at Pinehurst, North Carolina. And he did. He had like 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.280 an eighteen whole miniature course built right there in his 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:02.000 his formal gardens. And it's just beautiful. It is nice. 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.080 And uh, this was the first one in the United States, 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.800 and as it's called thistle dow u t h I 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.920 s t l e d h u and supposedly, as 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.080 legend goes, he when he first saw it, he said, 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:19.360 this will do. I guess he was. Uh, he was 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.880 not blown away maybe, I don't know. It sounds sold under. 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.960 He wasn't one of those spoiled brand you know, Robert Barons, 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.160 and instead was like, this will do. This will do 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.640 quite nicely. And they just left off the second part, 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.440 you know. Yeah, but it's called thistle do And uh. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.960 They started hosting competitions a couple of years later, and 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.680 I think this is the first time miniature golf was 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:45.080 ever used, like those words wherever he used to describe 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.600 the Pinehurst outlook. Uh was that the newspaper? I guess, yeah, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:54.320 it's there one claim to fame. Oh you know it's 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.480 true though it's probably true. Yeah, but they were the 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.080 one in the in a account of the competition, they 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.080 coined the term miniature golf. Up to that point, a 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:09.240 lot of people had called the Litliputian golf after the uh, 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:13.040 the little people in Goliver Guliver's travels, and that actually 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.360 that name actually stuck for quite a while. Um, so 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:21.680 we've got James Barber, who hosted or built the first 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.880 miniature golf course in America. But still this thing is 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.960 like directly connected to the Ladies Putting Club of St. Andrews. 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.440 It's a golf course in miniature. We still haven't quite 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.800 reached what we would consider miniature golf, and that wouldn't 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:40.480 happen until n which turned out to be a really 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.480 big year for miniature golf in America. It was like 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:45.800 there was something in the air and a few different 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.160 people kind of tapped into it around the same time 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:50.960 and it suddenly just took off like a rocket. Yeah. 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.560 Two of the guys were some entrepreneurs named Drake de 0:16:55.680 --> 0:17:00.760 uh Delinois, I guess named John Ledbetter another good name. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.960 And it's okay. He sounds like he'll he'll shoot you, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.520 he'll lead better. Yeah, yeah, I can see that. Uh. 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:10.680 They did a pretty cool thing, which is they opened 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.720 up a course on top of a rooftop in the 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:18.119 Financial District in New York and that kicked off a trend. 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.880 There were I think about a hundred of those on 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:24.440 top of roofs. I guess it is before the big 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.920 rooftop bar hotel scene. They had golf courses up there. Yeah, 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:33.640 miniature golf courses again though those were like miniature golf courses, 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:35.600 so that I mean, that was a big deal in 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:39.600 New York. Just a hundred rooftop golf miniature golf course 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.840 loan in the twenties. That's that's a tremendous amount. Um 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:46.080 And I don't think there's a single one left actually, um, 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.440 there should be. There's there's so that kind of makes 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.280 the whole you know, there's one on on top of 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:55.240 Pont City Market where the house Stuff Works office is. Um, 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:57.840 is there golf up there? There's a miniature golf course 0:17:57.880 --> 0:17:59.800 up there, and it makes a lot more sense now. Yeah, 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:03.199 it's kind of like a whole mini Coney Island up there. Yeah. 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.000 I mean I think I've only been up there when 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:06.560 we had at work events and the only thing I 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:11.360 did was the slide. I didn't know there was a slide. Yeah, 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.200 there's like a you know, you sit in a potato 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.840 sack and go down this big slide. Yeah, yeah, I 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:17.800 did that. That was fun. Yeah, there's a there's a 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.399 miniature golf course up there. We'll have to play sometime 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:24.720 when the whole pandemic passed totally. Uh And then later 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:26.200 that same year you said it was kind of a 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:30.960 boom yere for mini golf. Lookout Mountain Tennessee in Chattanooga, 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:33.719 which is a place where I think everybody should go 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:37.000 to see Ruby Falls in Rock City. It is a 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.800 tourist trap, but it's actually kind of neat. I mean, 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.600 the greatest of the great tourist traps, and it still 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:48.320 holds up too. Yeah. Get a a pecan log. Oh 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.560 my god, those are so good. They are so good. 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:55.119 There's that's what. That also supports my theory that candy 0:18:55.240 --> 0:19:01.800 was perfected in the nineteenth century. Never remember honeycom conlogs 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.159 was that. I didn't know if the con lungs were 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:07.640 from way back then, but I believe it. Yeah, for sure, 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:13.879 they're definitely old timing. So these people, uh Garnett and FRIEDA. Carter, 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:19.600 they built a resort called fairy Land Club and it 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:22.920 was part of that whole sort of interconnected scene there 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:25.639 with Rock City and Ruby Falls. And they built a 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:29.240 miniature golf course and they said, you know what, Uh, 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.240 if you like golf, maybe you should try mini golf 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.280 because it doesn't take very long. It'll kind of scratch 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:37.400 that itch if you're not able to play a real 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:40.760 round and that's sort of how they marketed it at first. 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:43.280 And they they were the first people, I think, to 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.440 start adding the obstacles, right they did. Yeah, and um, 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:50.199 they used as they were building, like the n and 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:54.080 the resort complex. They used some of the construction materials 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:58.439 like train pipes and you know, barrels and things like that, 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:01.840 and you build them as hazards. And then because they 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.239 had this whole like fairytale theme going up there, they 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.320 also built rock City. They were the ones who built 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:10.240 Rock City, and that has like a cool, little weird, 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:16.000 weird but also very neat fairytale theme kind of hidden throughout. Um, 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:18.800 they they added that to their miniature golf course. So 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:23.040 they had these stationary obstacles and hazards that they added, 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.200 and then they also added the statuary of cute little 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.680 you know, mother goose type stuff. And they actually called 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:34.080 the whole thing Tom Thumb Golf and Tom Thumb, from 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:38.040 what I understand, is the earliest recorded English fairy tale 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:41.520 character from back in one and he was a little 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.359 tiny guy the size of his father's thumb, which is 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:46.200 where he got his name. So it was a pretty 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.840 appropriate name. They must have really like been pretty pleased 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.240 with themselves when they decided to call it Tom Thumb 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:56.359 Golf because it really it checked all the boxes. Yeah, 0:20:56.400 --> 0:20:58.760 and we should mention too. We keep saying Rock City, 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:00.560 and if you're not from the South East, you might 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.080 think it's just some like redneck area with a bunch 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:08.240 of rocks. It's actually a very sweet natural wonder. It's 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:12.760 it's caves that you walk through caves. It's huge boulders 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:15.960 being held up by much much smaller boulders. That's really 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:19.560 neat way for probably tens of thousands of years that 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.880 you walk under. There's like yeah, there there's little cave 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:25.080 areas that you kind of duck into and they have 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:30.480 little fairy tale scenes with fluorescent day or fluorescent um yeah, 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:34.359 I guess kind of day glasses dark weird like gnomes 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.200 and in fairy tale scenes like that's the weird part. 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:42.120 It's like if Carl's Bad Caverns had you know, some 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:46.840 corny fairy theme. Mm. And then Ruby Falls is really 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:50.560 neat too. Yeah, it's a very cool like natural attraction 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:53.000 that they've done a good job of like underground water 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.520 making it easy to to make your way to. But yeah, 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:58.720 it's it's the whole thing is definitely worth going to. 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:00.960 And then of course they have this the very famous 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:04.760 like Sea Rock City barn sides that everybody's right of 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:08.480 and that was that was Garnet Carter who painted one man, 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:11.119 or paid one man to go around and offer to 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:14.000 give a fresh coat of paint to barnes all throughout 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:17.399 the southeast in exchange for letting them paint Sea Rock 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.520 City on the side. Yeah, it's um. If you've ever 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.840 driven around the North Carolina South Carolina area and south 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:27.840 of the border, you know I'm talking about south of 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:30.439 the Mason Dixon line. No, south of the border is 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.480 the name of this, uh sort of highway tourist trap. 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:36.440 I haven't heard of that. Yeah, it's it's it's the 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:38.240 same deal. I think it's I want to say it's 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:41.919