Meet the Professional Mini Golfer
– A lot of people consider mini golf to be very benign and
all fun and games but, at this level, it can be
a cutthroat competition among the greatest players in the world. My name is Matt Male. I'm a professional mini golfer. I was a regular golfer
ever since childhood. I started at about eight years old and putting was always the
greatest facet of my game. The idea of doing nothing
but putting for 18 holes instantly appealed to me and I just began practicing a lot.
People don't realize that mini golf is a highly precise sport. Improvement can come very tediously. To be competitive, it really requires an extensive mapping of each hole and we can be out here for
up to 10 hours a day or so, for several days, before a tournament. When I first arrive at a course, I diagnose the holes. I want to come up with a clear
plan of attack on each hole and then just, it's a matter
of repetition from there. We are at the 2016 mini golf masters in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This tournament is the premiere event each year in mini golf. It draws players from all over the world. The green jacket is the most
coveted prize in mini golf. The competition is very fierce. The players here are the best of the best and it's an immense challenge because even a stretch of five bad minutes or 10 bad minutes can
disqualify you from contention. Just a tiny miscue here or there can spell major disaster on one hole. I really do have an authentic admiration of what the winner had to do to perform under the pressure of
such a major tournament because I know from
experience how hard it is.
Mini golf's not a sport for everyone. There's constant frustration. There's constant adversity. It rewards patience and
it rewards determination and it never gets old to
see the ball go in the hole. I don't think that
thrill will ever go away..
