Selects: How Miniature Golf Works
Episode
48 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Productivity, Investing, Design & UX
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓1920s Boom Economics: In August 1930, the US had 25,025 miniature golf courses with half built in just six to eight months, creating massive job growth during the transition from the Roaring Twenties to the Depression era.
- ✓Putt Putt Business Model: Don Clayton invested $5,200 in 1954 to build his first course and recovered 100% of investment in 29 days with 20,800 customers at 25 cents per game, proving the franchise viability of skill-based miniature golf.
- ✓Perfect Game Rarity: Only three perfect games scoring 18 have been recorded in Putt Putt's 65-year history despite millions of games played, demonstrating the deceptive difficulty of standardized par-two courses designed for competitive skill development.
- ✓Geographic Concentration: Myrtle Beach's Highway 17 contains over 50 miniature golf courses within a 30-mile stretch, establishing it as the world capital of miniature golf with both indoor and outdoor themed attractions like Hawaiian Rumble's functioning volcano.
What It Covers
The evolution of miniature golf from its 1867 origins at Scotland's St. Andrews Ladies' Putting Club through the 1920s boom to modern franchises like Putt Putt, including course design innovations and competitive play.
Key Questions Answered
- •1920s Boom Economics: In August 1930, the US had 25,025 miniature golf courses with half built in just six to eight months, creating massive job growth during the transition from the Roaring Twenties to the Depression era.
- •Putt Putt Business Model: Don Clayton invested $5,200 in 1954 to build his first course and recovered 100% of investment in 29 days with 20,800 customers at 25 cents per game, proving the franchise viability of skill-based miniature golf.
- •Perfect Game Rarity: Only three perfect games scoring 18 have been recorded in Putt Putt's 65-year history despite millions of games played, demonstrating the deceptive difficulty of standardized par-two courses designed for competitive skill development.
- •Geographic Concentration: Myrtle Beach's Highway 17 contains over 50 miniature golf courses within a 30-mile stretch, establishing it as the world capital of miniature golf with both indoor and outdoor themed attractions like Hawaiian Rumble's functioning volcano.
Notable Moment
Don Clayton named his revolutionary miniature golf franchise Putt Putt not through careful branding but because he could not spell vale correctly when filling out bank paperwork, choosing the simpler name that became an iconic brand.
Episode Transcript
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep. Even on weekends. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.com/bank. Capital One, n a, member, FDIC. Living with an autoimmune condition isn't easy, and every journey is different. That's why season five of Untold Stories, life with a severe autoimmune condition from Ruby Studio and Argenix shares powerful firsthand stories from people with conditions like MG and CIDP. Hosted by Martine Hackett, these conversations dive into what resilience really looks like through setbacks, breakthroughs, and finding strength in community. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience the beloved Harry Potter stories like you've never heard them before on Audible. Harry Potter, the full cast audio editions presents the iconic series as a truly spellbinding listening event for the whole family. With a spectacular a list cast including Hugh Laurie as Albus Dumbledore, Matthew McFadyen as Voldemort, and many more. The first story in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is available now with new audiobooks in the series releasing every month thereafter. It's Harry Potter like you've never heard it before. Listen on Audible. Go to audible.com/hb1 and start listening today. Hey, everyone. I thought it would be nice to ring in the new year with an easy select filled with Chuck and me reminiscing about our childhood memories of Putt Putt and Slush Puppies. So for this week's select, I give you our August 2020 episode of miniature golf. And I wanna take a moment to wish my dear wife, Yumi, a happy birthday. So happy birthday, Yumi. And to you, dear listeners, happy new year. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles w Chuck Bryant over there, and there's Jerry there figuring out all the new contrivances of modern life. Yeah. I mean, we should tell people what's going on. I think it's interesting. Right? No. Well, I'm gonna tell them. Fine. So Jerry has figured out now how to operate the Studio Macintosh recording system Sure. And not be in the office. It's pretty great. It's it's COVID rific, actually. And so she was just up on our Skype on video, and she's still there. But when she switched it to mute, it went to that distressing picture. Do you see that thing? No. I just see j r. Like, the letter j and the letter r. Oh, see. Oh, there she is. She's back. Okay. Yeah. When she turned it off, there was …
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“Don Clayton invested $5,200 in 1954 to build his first course and recovered 100% of investment in 29 days with 20,800 customers at 25 cents per game, proving the franchise viability of skill-based miniature golf. Don Clayton named his revolutionary miniature golf franchise Putt Putt not through careful branding but because he could not spell vale correctly when filling out bank paperwork.”
“Myrtle Beach's Highway 17 contains over 50 miniature golf courses within a 30-mile stretch, establishing it as the world capital of miniature golf with both indoor and outdoor themed attractions like Hawaiian Rumble's functioning volcano.”
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