Putt-Putt Fun Center

File:Putt-Putt Fun Center Logo.png

Putt-Putt Fun Center logo

Putt-Putt Fun Center is the name of a chain of family amusement centers and miniature golf courses in the United States, Australia, Indonesia, and Lebanon. Although the official name of the company is Putt-Putt Fun Center, since the company's founding in 1954 Putt-Putt has marketed franchises under the names of Putt-Putt Golf, Putt-Putt Golf and Games, and Putt-Putt Fun Centers.

Services

The chain is known primarily for its development of its Putt-Putt brand of miniature golf; however, Putt-Putt locations may include indoor activities such as restaurants, laser tag, amusement arcades; and outdoor activities including miniature golf, kiddie rides, bumper boats, batting cages, climbing walls, and go-karts.

Miniature golf vs. Putt-Putt

There are several significant differences between Putt-Putt's brand of miniature golf and other versions:

• Par is set at 2 without exception on each Putt-Putt hole; in other varieties of mini-golf, par typically varies from 2 to 6.
• Putt-Putt's short holes are designed so that a hole-in-one can be scored on each hole with a skillful putt, often through the use of banking; the metal rails facilitate accurate caroms. Most mini-golf courses include holes that are impossible to ace, and those that can be aced often rely on luck due to extremely long holes and randomly placed obstacles. Additionally, the borders of each hole usually are made of rocks or uneven brick, making accurate banking difficult.
• When playing Putt-Putt, a player finishes a hole before the next player takes his first putt. In miniature golf, typically, each player takes his first putt, then the player farthest from the hole takes his second putt, as in real golf.
• Traditionally, Putt-Putt courses have no over-riding "theme" and have a spartan look about them. Many traditional miniature golf courses have themes (such as a story book or a religious theme), while more modern mini-golf courses twist in and around manmade mountains, lakes, caves and waterfalls, with the resulting water and elevation changes often in play. Recently, themes such as jungles and volcanos have been making their way to Putt-Putt courses, complete with caves, foliage and plaster animals, though the themes never come into play.
• Obstacles in Putt-Putt are limited to small hills, metal blockers, pipes, and rarely, small water hazards. Mini-golf obstacles know no limits, including boulders, windmills and other moving obstacles, bridges, ramps and loops.
• Putt-Putt courses reward holes-in-one with a ticket that typically allows the player a free game if he collects three, or in some cases a scratch-off game card. In addition, the player's ball (red, green, blue or yellow) is traded in for an orange ball, which prevents the player from claiming an additional ticket for that round. Some courses use a set of lights to allow the winning of tickets only for two colors of ball at a time, and announce the names of the golfers who score winning holes-in-one.
• Generally, Putt-Putt golf courses are considered more appropriate for competition; miniature golf tournaments are popular at Putt-Putt courses but rare at other courses, due to the difference in skill level required. The rare ESPN-televised miniature golf tourney is always at a Putt-Putt course.

Cease and desist letter to Mojang AB

On June 25, 2013, the President and Chief Executive Officer, David M. Callahan, issued a Cease and Desist letter to Mojang AB, alleging infringement of the trademarked name "Putt Putt" in Mojang's sandbox game Minecraft because players of Minecraft have used the term in video uploads to YouTube. Although no legal action has been taken yet, Mojang's Markus Persson (known as Notch) has stated that Putt-Putt is "being silly".

See also

• Professional Putters Association
• Miniature golf

External links

• Official website