By the end of the day Friday, there will be a new national champion in the world of putt-putt. The intense mini-golf competition is playing out in Erlanger on the last wooden rail course in the nation.
Sixty-eight professionals have converged on Putt-Putt Golf of Erlanger. The course is tucked behind the Erlanger Town Center on Dixie Highway. Owner Kevin Shea says the Professional Putter's Association contacted him last year to see if he would host.
The national championship is the culmination of a year's worth of tournaments for 61-year-old Rainey Statum. "This year's probably the busiest I've been," he says. "I've traveled to Arizona, to North Carolina, to Florida, here — everywhere — just to have fun with my buddies and trying to beat them."
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Statum describes putt-putt as a mix of golf and billiards.
There are no gimmicky waterfalls or clown heads here. It's straight putting, and the ability to bank off the wall to sink the ball in one shot. The tournament's Jeffrey Smith says most non-professionals make the same mistake.
"Most people that come to play mini golf or putt-putt just hit the ball way too hard," he says. "You want the ball to end up at the hold, not flying 50 feet past it."
Championship play continues through Friday from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
