PMGA brings mini golf to masses
By Ben Carter
BYU NewsNet
6 Apr 2004

Eight years ago five students started a professional miniature golf association, an organization dedicated to spreading the game of miniature golf.

Shane Jacobs, one of the original founders of the PMGA, was a business major at BYU and used his education to help start the business, which now holds monthly tournaments across the country. Shane's brother Todd, now a BYU student, started the BYU chapter of the association as a BYUSA club last fall. The BYU chapter holds monthly tournaments locally.

"The goal of the PMGA is to bring miniature golf to the masses," Todd said.

Calling the PMGA-BYU professional may be misleading. Usually the first prize (in our tournaments) is a gift certificate to a restaurant. The real purpose of our chapter is to have fun and possibly compete in larger country wide PMGA tournaments against other college students.

"Mini golf is a really easy activity to have a good time with," Jacobs said.

Even though interest in the PMGA-BYU has spread across the country, Todd said most of the tournaments still happen in Utah. He said people from Salt Lake City come down to participate in tournaments sponsored by the BYU chapter. Even though the PMGA is a profit organization, Todd said the BYU chapter tries to stay financially independent.

"We just use club money," Todd said.

The monthly tournaments are usually at local miniature golf courses. During the winter the BYU chapter held their tournaments at Trafalga Family Fun Center in Orem because it is the only indoor course in the area. The upcoming tournament on April 17 will take place at Cascade Golf Center, also in Orem.

Jon Shaw, vice president of operations for the BYU chapter, said about 30 to 40 people usually participate in the monthly tournaments. Many of the local courses give discounts to the PMGA-BYU for their tournaments.

"One month it was less than $2 to golf," Todd said.

Tournaments aren't the only activities the PMGA participates in. As a BYUSA club, the BYU chapter participates in service activities such as Project Youth.

The PMGA, as a whole, consists of a network of over 400 miniature golf courses, offering miniature golf business services, promotional opportunities, and miniature golf supplies such as scorecards and tees for courses. In fact, they design whole courses when they are asked to.

Aside from all of this, Todd and Shaw both said they see the association as a way for people to have a good time together.

"It's given many people a chance to meet," Todd said.

Shaw said he sees the association as even more than just a good way to have a social activity.

"We just promote charity to people of all ages," he said.