Mistakes That Can Cost Your Mini Golf Score

Many people turn to mini golf as a fun date activity, but there's nothing wrong with gathering up some fellow golfers and visiting your local mini golf center for some serious competition. Competing against other skilled players can be a lot of fun, and doesn't require the walking, cost, and time commitment of playing an actual round of golf. When you're playing mini golf competitively, you want to do all that you can to score as low as possible. Here are some mistakes that you'll need to avoid to have a winning score. 

Being Too Aggressive

It's often possible to shoot for a hole in one on many mini-golf holes, but doing so can carry some risks. If you need to be aggressive to give yourself a chance at a hole in one, you may be better off taking more of a conservative approach. You can likely count on a foe or two going for the hole — and perhaps having his or her ball roll out of bounds or deflect backward. If you lay up in a safe zone halfway to the hole, for example, you'll often have an easy second shot to the hole. 

Putting Out Of Turn

If your group is really serious about the rules, you can sabotage your effort to score well by mistakenly putting out of turn. Generally, a course will have its own rules in this area — for example, after everyone had taken his or her first stroke, the person whose ball is farthest away will hit first. It can be easy to fall into the trap of being excited and proceeding with a shot, but if you're not the farthest away, one of your playing partners may call your foul and slap you with a penalty stroke. 

Failing To Remove Debris

Sometimes, there will be small amounts of debris on the green of a mini-golf hole. For example, pebbles or wood chips are common alongside the greens, and a previous player may have inadvertently kicked a couple of these items onto the green. It's easy to be so focused on the hole that you ignore potential debris in your path, but hitting your ball into even a small pebble can quickly knock it off target and cause you to score higher. Don't ever be afraid of quickly walking the path between your ball and the hole to ensure that you have a smooth lane to follow.

Contact a company like Bonanza Golf and Gifts for more information and assistance.