Filzgolf erklärt: Das System aus Skandinavien

Miniature Golf Explained: The System from Scandinavia

Sarah Petra Schumacher

Felt golf is one of the most exciting and challenging systems in miniature golf. The courses are usually longer than concrete courses, covered with felt, and often characterized by large inclines, gates, depressions, angles, and special obstacles. But what exactly is behind this system?

In this article, you'll get a clear overview: from the construction of a felt golf course to the 32 standardized course types and the equipment you need.

 

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This article was written by One Putt Minigolf.
- The Minigolf Equipment Supplier for Pros and Beginners -

 

👉 In short: What is Felt Golf?

Felt golf is a standardized miniature golf system with felt-covered courses. An official felt golf course consists of 18 holes selected from 32 possible standard holes. The courses are usually 6 to 18 m long, 0.90 m wide, and, depending on the hole, have a target area with a diameter of 1.80 m or 2.40 m. Large inclines, gates, depressions, angles, and technically challenging obstacles are typical. You can find suitable balls for felt golf, filterable, in our ball assortment.

 

Table of Contents

 

1. What exactly is Felt Golf?

Felt golf is one of the official miniature golf systems and differs significantly from minigolf and concrete. While minigolf is played on short eternit courses and concrete courses are usually massively cast, felt golf courses consist of a playing surface with a felt covering.

This causes the ball to roll differently: the felt slows it down more, taking speed out of the ball and making the correct stroke strength particularly important. At the same time, many felt golf courses are long, steep, or equipped with narrow gates and special obstacles.

"Gentleman" - A typical long felt course on an incline with a curve. The goal is to hit the tempo and direction such that the ball stays in the curve.

Felt golf originally comes strongly from Scandinavia and is now an important competitive system in international miniature golf. Especially in Sweden and Finland, felt golf is very widespread. Felt golf is also regularly played at World and European Championships.

A simple classification: Minigolf is short and technical, concrete is long and tactical, felt golf is often long and technical.

 

2. How is a Felt Golf Course structured?

A formal felt golf course follows clear standardized requirements. The most important key data:

Property Standard Dimension / Requirement
Length without target area 6.00 to 16.00 m including tee-off plate
Length with target area 6.00 to 18.00 m including tee-off plate
Width 0.90 m inner dimension
Target area diameter 1.80 m or 2.40 m
Length of tee-off plate 1.30 to 1.50 m
Width of tee-off plate 0.20 m
Hole diameter mostly 0.10 m, unless otherwise specified
Courses per facility 18 courses, selected from 32 standard courses
Dimensional tolerance +/- 2 %

Important: A felt golf course consists of 18 of the 32 possible standard courses. The order is freely selectable. Unlike concrete courses, where the 18 holes are always played in a fixed order, a felt golf course can therefore be constructed very differently.

Different alternatives of the same course are allowed, but a maximum of two per course. Mirrored versions are also permitted for certain courses, such as Angle, Special Angle, Fishbone, or Lightning.

 

3. How to recognize a Felt Golf Course at a glance

If you are on a course and are not sure if it is felt golf, these features will help you:

🔵 Felt covering: The most important feature is the textile playing surface, usually dark green. The ball rolls slower on felt and differently than on eternit or concrete.

🔵 Long courses: Felt golf courses can be significantly longer than minigolf courses and, depending on the course, up to 18 m long.

🔵 Narrow course: The inner dimension of the course is 0.90 m. This makes felt golf similarly narrow to minigolf, but it often appears significantly longer and larger.

🔵 Large inclines: Many felt golf courses have long or high inclines. The height can vary significantly depending on the course and design.

🔵 Octagonal or distinctive target areas: Many courses have a clearly defined target area, often with a diameter of 1.80 m or 2.40 m.

🔵 Typical obstacles: Gates, boxes, depressions, channels, angles, letterboxes, fishbones, or horseshoes are classic felt golf elements.

A simple rule of thumb: Felt surface, long narrow course, and sometimes large inclines = felt golf.

 

4. The most famous courses in portrait

Felt golf has many courses that are particularly well-known among players. Some are technically very demanding, others spectacular or psychologically difficult.

🔵 Letterbox: One of the most famous felt golf courses. The ball must be played over an incline through a narrow slot. Depending on the variant, there is also an Ace Box and side entrances to the target area. This course requires very precise direction of shot and the appropriate ball speed.

🔵 Optical Illusion: Here the name says it all. Several obstacles and passages create a difficult visual situation. The player must aim very cleanly and not be irritated by the course's appearance.

🔵 Fishbone: A long course with several staggered obstacles. Three, four, or five obstacles are possible. The course requires precision, rhythm, and a good feel for the right line.

🔵 Central Hill: The ball must be played over a hill. If the ball comes to rest on the hill, it can either be played on or placed according to the rules. The correct speed is crucial here.

🔵 Gentleman: A course with an inner curve and a special target rule. For courses without a target area, the target is considered reached if the ball comes to rest within the inner curve or in the target. This makes the course play differently from classic courses with a target circle.

🔵 Angle and Special Angle: These courses require precise band play and good angle control. Those who hit the ball too hard, too soft, or at the wrong angle quickly end up in an unfavorable position.

🔵 Horseshoe: A particularly characteristic felt golf course, where ball feel and band behavior play a major role. This clearly shows how important the right ball choice can be on felt.

 

5. All 32 standardized Felt Golf Courses at a glance

An official felt golf course consists of 18 of these 32 standard courses:

No. Course No. Course
1 Single Gate 17 Incline with Side Hole
2 Double Gate 18 Bridge
3 Boxes 19 Hill with Gate
4 German Abrupt End 20 Lightning
5 Optical Illusion 21 Ditch
6 Incline with Middle Hole 22 Sloping Hill with Gate
7 Letterbox 23 Ace Box
8 Gentleman 24 Swedish Abrupt End
9 Örkelljunga 25 Cross
10 Angle 26 Möllberg Depression
11 Special Angle 27 Incline with Vertical Hole
12 Central Hill 28 Horseshoe
13 Side Gates 29 Twin Gates
14 Depression 30 Stationary Scale
15 Fishbone 31 Central Target Area
16 Channel 32 Passage

Each felt golf course has its own playing idea. Some courses require a very precise gate, others the correct incline speed, others controlled band play or a specific ball reaction on the felt.

 

6. Special features of Felt Golf courses

A few rules and characteristics are particularly important in felt golf:

🔵 Felt golf courses may be walked on: Walking on them is permitted, but only for the preparation and execution of a stroke. Obstacles may not be walked on.

🔵 18 out of 32 courses: A course always consists of 18 holes, which are selected from 32 standard holes. The order is free.

🔵 Courses with and without a target area: Some courses can be built with or without a target area, for example, Incline with Middle Hole, Gentleman, Örkelljunga, Depression, Incline with Side Hole, Incline with Vertical Hole, Horseshoe, and Stationary Scale.

🔵 Not every course has a boundary line: Courses without a target area do not have a boundary line for certain course types. For courses with a target area, the boundary line is usually immediately behind the incline or obstacle.

🔵 Placing markers: In the target area, there are placing markers 20 cm from the band. At obstacles, the distance is often 50 cm.

🔵 The target hole may vary: The position of the hole in the target area is generally free, as long as a minimum distance of 30 cm from the band is maintained.

🔵 Many alternatives: Several courses have different variants. This means that felt golf courses can look very different and play very differently.

 

7. Why is Felt Golf so popular?

Felt golf is particularly popular because it is very varied and both technically and tactically challenging.

Versatility: With 32 standard courses and many variations, hardly any course is like another. This makes felt golf exciting and diverse.

Technique and feel: Felt slows the ball down more than concrete or eternit. The correct stroke strength plays a major role.

Ball choice: On felt, the ball choice is usually smaller than on minigolf or concrete, as many courses are played with the same type of balls. On felt, it is more about clean stroke execution and technique to achieve good results. For long courses, with or without an incline, a slow, medium-soft, and rather light ball is often sufficient. This often accounts for 25% of the courses where you can play the same ball. If you then also have a dead ball that does not bounce, is relatively soft and medium-heavy, then you have a ball for most one-shot courses and may need a slightly faster, harder, medium-heavy ball for other obstacles. This will set you up well for felt golf. Of course, you can also improve your tolerances for hitting the hole on felt with different ball materials and different playing variations. 

Important characteristics of the balls are:

  • Bounce height: important for band behavior, rebound, and hole behavior
  • Hardness: influences how directly or softly a ball reacts in band play
  • Surface: Painted balls run differently than rough or unpainted balls
  • Weight and Size: affects stability, speed, and control

In our ball assortment, you can filter specifically by these characteristics and find suitable balls for your felt golf course.

 

9. Felt Golf in Competition

Felt golf is played in competitions nationally and internationally. The system has a long tradition, especially in Scandinavia, but felt golf is also an integral part of international championships and is increasingly common outside Scandinavia.

In competition, felt golf is particularly demanding because many courses require not only precision but also a very high level of technique. In addition, the felt surface can change depending on temperature, humidity, and maintenance, which means the same course can play very differently.

Top players excel at felt by being able to adjust ball choice, stroke speed, line choice, and technique extremely precisely. However, felt golf is still good for beginners to play because the courses are visually understandable and many obstacles immediately show what the task is. However, scores for beginners are often very high (between 50 and 70 strokes). At the beginning, a good goal on felt can be to play under 50 or under 40. In professional sports, the best scores are usually between 24 and 32, depending on the difficulty of the course.

 

👉 Conclusion

Felt golf is one of the most versatile systems in miniature golf: felt-covered courses, 32 standardized course types, variable order, and many exciting obstacles. The system combines technique, feel for the ball, strategy, and creativity. Those who want to play felt golf primarily need a good straight shot, tempo control, technique, and suitable balls for felt, inclines, gates, and target areas. You can find suitable balls and clubs in the One Putt Minigolf assortment.

 

Frequently Asked Questions: Felt Golf

What is felt golf?
Felt golf is an official miniature golf system with felt-covered courses. A course consists of 18 holes, selected from 32 standardized course types.

How many holes does a felt golf course have?
An official felt golf course consists of 18 holes. These are selected from 32 possible standard holes and can be arranged in any order.

How long are felt golf courses?
Felt golf courses vary in length depending on the course type. Courses without a target area are usually 6 to 16 m long, while courses with a target area are 6 to 18 m.

How do I recognize felt golf?
Typical features include the felt surface, long narrow courses, large inclines, gates, depressions, angles, and often octagonal or clearly demarcated target areas.

Can you walk on felt golf courses?
Yes, you can walk on the courses, but only to prepare and execute a stroke. Obstacles may not be stepped on.

Which balls are suitable for felt golf?
For felt golf, a small selection of balls is often sufficient for beginners: a slow, medium-soft, and rather light ball for many long courses, a dead, soft to medium-soft ball for one-shot courses, and a slightly faster, harder ball for further obstacles.

Is felt golf more difficult than miniature golf?
Yes, felt golf is more difficult as the courses are significantly longer and require good technique to play.

 

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One Putt Minigolf Logo

This article was written by One Putt Minigolf.
- The mini golf outfitter for professionals and beginners -

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