Abteilung 1: a German term, meaning beton courses

Abteilung 2: a German term, meaning eternite courses

ace: hole-in-one, getting the ball into the hole with the first shot

all-round ball (of felt): a ball whose bounce is 2 - 6 cm, hardness 40 - 70, and weight under 60 g

backhand grip: With a right-hand putter, one’s left hand holds the putter lower and the right hand higher. With a left-hand putter, one’s right hand is lower.

Bahnengolf: minigolf (or “lane golf”) in German

banegolf: minigolf (or “lane golf”) in Danish and Norwegian

bangolf: minigolf (or “lane golf”) in Swedish

basic shot: a spinless shot (though some players have more or less natural spin in their basic shot)

beton: see “Bongni”

black: see “colours”

blue: see “colours”

Bongni: A beton course, on which the order of lanes and the obstacle types follow strictly a certain tradition, originally designed by Swiss architect Paul Bongni in 1953. World Minigolfsport Federation approves only Bongni-courses as official beton courses for tournament use. The length of a Bongni lane is 12 m, width 1.25 m, and diameter of the circular green is 2.5 m. (The length and width of lane no. 7 are less strictly specified, and its green has 4.5 m diameter.)

bounce: the height at which a ball bounces, when dropped on solid concrete from 100 cm in the temperature of 20 degrees centigrade

clicker: an extremely hard ball used mainly on felt courses, bounce 80 cm, hardness 100, weight 50 g

club: see putter

club-head: the lower end of the putter, with which the ball is hit, and which usually is covered with 10 mm rubber to get better control of different ball types

colours: in competitions the scores are marked with four different colours:

combi tournament: A tournament in which two different course types are played. Usually eternite is one of the two, and the other can be beton, felt or open system.

concrete: see “Bongni” (beton)

course: A full minigolf course consists of 18 lanes. Four different course types can be used in international competitions: beton, eternite, felt and open system.

dead ball: 1) A ball whose bounce is zero. 2) In the rulebook “dead ball” means that the movement of ball has stopped, at least for a moment.

diameter: see “size” (of ball), or “green”

distribution: When two or more players have the same score, and they are not so high in the standings that they would receive prizes in the tournament, distribution decides which of the players is given a higher rank in the final standings. Firstly, smaller difference between the best and worst round of each player decides, and if this is equal, then smaller difference between the second-best and the second-worst round decides, and so on. (In combi tournaments the distribution is calculated on each course type separately, and then summed up.)

EMF: abbreviation of European Minigolfsport Federation

end circle: see “green”

eternite: Hardened beton, originally a mixture of beton and asbestos. (Nowadays the asbestos has been replaced with other materials.) The length of an eternite lane is 6.25 m, width 90 cm, and diameter of the circular green is 1.40 m.

fast: a fast ball has a great bounce height, e.g. 60 cm when dropped from 100 cm on solid concrete

fatso: a soft, extremely slow dead ball

feathering: performing test swings with the putter before playing the shot, either over the ball, beside it, or behind it

felt: The most common course type in Scandinavia. The length of felt lanes is 6 - 18 m, width 80 - 90 cm, and width of the octagonal green is 160 - 240 cm.

follow-through: the last part of swing, after the club-head has hit the ball

forehand grip: With a right-hand putter, one’s right hand holds the putter lower and the left hand higher. With a left-hand putter, one’s left hand is lower.

foul stroke: Colloquial meaning: the ball does not pass all the obstacles, or on “par one” lanes (like midhill) the ball does not go into the hole.

goal: The target into which the ball must go. The goal is usually a hole, but it can also be a box, a net, or a sand pit.

golf su pista: minigolf (or “lane golf”) in Italian

golf sur pistes: minigolf (or “lane golf”) in French

green: Putting area at the end of a lane, in the center of which the hole is located. Eternite lanes have a circular green with 1.40 m diameter, beton lanes have a circular green with 2.5 m or 4.5 m diameter, and felt lanes have an octagonal green with 160 - 240 cm width. (See also “colours”.)

hardness: The hardness of a ball is between 0 and 100 sh (“shore”), according to the DIN 5305 standard. (Hardness 20 sh is like very soft foam candy, and hardness 100 sh is like granite stone.)

hole: A circular goal, usually with 10 cm diameter. (On some lanes the goal is not a hole, it can also be a box or net, for example.)

hole-in-one: see “ace”

hole scratch: the ball runs over the hole and changes its direction from it

hook: Outward spin. For players using a right-hand putter, hook is right-hand spin. For players using a left-hand putter, hook is left-hand spin.

inward spin: see “slice”

isolon: see “clicker”

knock: see “foul stroke”

lacquered ball: A ball that is varnished with acryl or other kinds of lacquers. The smooth surface of a lacquered ball has quite weak traction for spins, which makes the ball easy to control.

lane type: lanes used in official tournaments (of course types other than open system) cannot be of arbitrarily chosen designs: there are strict requirements for the length, width and shape of lanes, as well as the obstacle types to be used

left-hand putter: a putter with which the direction of shots is to the right from the player

material loss: poor chances of getting a good score, due to unwise choice of ball, or a limited selection of balls at hand

match play: A type of competition that is common in golf but quite rare in minigolf. The total score is not calculated, but instead on each lane the player who gets the best score gets a lane win. The number of lane wins decides the final standing of each player.

midgetgolf: minigolf in Dutch

milking: A playing strategy where one does not try to score a hole-in-one, but rather tries to safely get two points, without risking a score greater than two. Milking is a common strategy on felt courses and at the Flash lane on eternite.

minigolfa: minigolf in Latvian

minigolfe: minigolf in Portuguese

natural spin: unintentional spin, which a player has in his basic shots

obstacles: any permanent objects on the lane, apart from the base and the walls of the lane

open system: a minigolf course that is neither beton, eternite nor standard felt course

outward spin: see “hook”

over (par): A greater number of strokes used on the playing round than is the par of the lanes played so far. (See “par”.)

overlap grip: a grip in which one hand is on top of the other, and only one of the hands is firmly holding the putter

par: 1) Par round is 18 on eternite, 35 on beton, and 36 on felt and open system. 2) The par score per lane is 1 on eternite, 2 on felt and open system, and 2 on beton (except 1 on beton lane no. 18).

peeled ball: The lacquer of a ball has been removed, which has increased the spin traction of the ball. A peeled ball usually has weaker spin traction than an originally unlacquered ball.

pienoisgolf: minigolf in Finnish

pumping: Adjusting the inclination of a track secretly, without authorization. Pumping a lane can be done for example by adding sand under one edge of the green. If a lane is secretly pumped shortly before a tournament, the jury will probably order the track to be skipped in the tournament. Unauthorized pumping has occurred to the courses of some major international tournaments, but seldom during or shortly before the competition.

putt: a stroke performed from elsewhere than the start area of the lane

putter: Minigolfers use a standard golf putter, or a putter manufactured exclusively for minigolf. (For beton lane no. 7 they use iron wedges or special chippers, which make the ball fly in the air.)

putting map: a notebook that tells the player how many centimeters to the left or right he must aim in each location of the lane, to get the ball in the middle of the hole

quick: see “fast”

ratagolf: minigolf (or “lane golf”) in Finnish

raw ball: see “unlacquered ball”

r ball: see “unlacquered ball”

rebound: The ball hits a hole (either the goal or a pass-through hole), but bounces from its backside back into the direction where it came from. A slightly harder or slower shot would have gone in.

red: see “colours”

right-hand putter: a putter with which the direction of shots is to the left from the player

rough ball: A lacquered ball whose surface is uneven, due to roughness of the surface under the lacquer. A rough ball has greater spin traction than a corresponding smooth lacquered ball.

rubber: 4 - 12 mm thick rubber is attached to the club-head of minigolf putters, to get better control of the different balls used in minigolf

shoebox: if a player gets an ace on every round of the tournament at a certain lane, the lane is a “shoebox” for him

side: see “wall”

size: The diameter of minigolf balls varies between 37 - 43 mm. Size 37 - 38 mm is called “S” (small), 39 - 41 mm is called “M” (medium), and 42 - 43 mm is called “L” (large).

ski-lift: a hole scratch, in which the ball rolls over the hole and changes its direction 90 - 180 degrees

slice: Inward spin. For players using a right-hand putter, slice is left-hand spin. For players using a left-hand putter, slice is right-hand spin.

slow: a slow ball has a small bounce height, e.g. 2 cm when dropped from 100 cm on solid concrete

spare shot: Getting the ball into the hole from outside of green, after one or more missed opening shots. (For example, hitting the obstacles of the “illusion” lane, but then getting the second shot into the hole from behind the obstacles.)

spin: mainly sideways rotation of the ball, which affects the direction into which the ball bounces from walls, and also bends the course travelled by the ball in uphill or downhill

spots: see “start spots”

start area: The area inside which the ball must be laid when starting to play the lane, and where the start spots are located. On eternite the start area is a 50 x 40 cm rectangle painted on the lane, on beton it is a circle with 30 cm diameter painted on the lane, and on felt it is a roughly 10 x 20 cm area on a steel plate. On open system courses the size, shape and marking of the start area varies.

start spots: Small pits on the start area, on which the ball can be laid so that its location will always be exactly the same for the opening shot. If start spots dont’t exist in the location from where the player wants to have the ball, it is possible to create a temporary start spot by putting a plastic ring on the lane in the preferred location.

Sterngolf: small beton lanes, which are not used in major international tournaments: length 8 m, width 1 m, and round green with 2 m diameter

stone: see “clicker”

suction cup: an accessory for the upper end of minigolf putter, with which it is easy to pick the ball from the hole

sudden death: When two or more players (or teams) have the same score at the end of a tournament, and they are so high in the standings that at least one of them will receive a prize, they usually must play a “sudden death”, playing one lane at a time, and quitting immediately when a score difference is created between the players.

technical: an obscure spot on the lane (often in wall), which makes the ball behave in an unexpected way

tee: A portable stand, on which the ball can be laid on lane no. 7 of beton. The “tee” can be of any size, from a regular golf tee to a juice funnel.

teeing-off area: see “start area”

thermo-bag: a ball bag that isolates the balls from the temperature conditions outside the bag

three-sixty: a hole scratch, in which the ball rolls over the hole and changes its direction more than 180 degrees

tin scratch: a failed shot, in which the putter accidentally hits the lane

turbo: an extremely fast ball, whose bounce is more than 70 cm

turboing: A playing strategy used commonly on beton. An extremely fast ball is played on the green so that it hits the walls of the green several times (say, three or four times), and then goes into the hole.

under (par): A smaller number of strokes used on the playing round than is the par of the lanes played so far. On eternite one cannot have a score under par, because the par is one point per lane. (See “par”.)

unlacquered ball: a ball that has never been lacquered, and therefore has very strong traction for spins

wall: The walls of minigolf lanes are roughly 5 cm high. Eternite lanes have vertical steel walls, felt lanes have vertical wooden walls, and the walls of beton lanes are usually of round steel pipe. Open system courses usually have walls made of small bricks, or no walls at all.

WMF: abbreviation of World Minigolfsport Federation