learndesign.tech Search

Build a mini-putt hole

Design Project 6 weeks Large build

In a group of three or four, design and build one themed, ready-to-play mini-putt hole from lumber and plywood. Four individual checkpoints track your work from the first pencil sketch to a reflection after play testing.

A plywood mini-putt hole with green turf, a wooden ramp obstacle and a painted volcano, sitting on a workshop floor.

Overview

Your group builds one hole of a mini-putt course. When every group is done, the holes get lined up into a course the whole school can play.

The hole needs a theme. Pick something people recognise the moment they walk up to it: a volcano, a haunted house, a pinball machine, a shipwreck, a subway platform, a giant mouth. The theme drives the obstacles, the colours and the story of the shot. A ramp is just a ramp until it is a drawbridge.

The hole is built from lumber and plywood. Electronics are optional. Lights, sound, motion or sensors can lift a Product mark, but a well-built hole with clever obstacles and no wiring can score just as high.

Ready to play means: a ball rolls from tee to cup without getting stuck, the hole survives a hundred putts, nothing on it can cut or pinch anyone, and two people can carry it.

A few builds to get you thinking. Watch for how they frame the base, how they attach the turf, and where the ball gets stuck in testing.

More: Start to finish: building a mini golf course, How to build a mini golf course in your backyard, and Jaime Costiglio’s written build with plans, DIY Mini Putt Course 2.0. For electronics, the Adafruit mini golf guide and this Arduino mini-golf course on Instructables show sensors, lights and moving obstacles on a small course.

Skills needed

  • Brainstorming and sketching with pencil and paperresource comingThumbnails first, then one annotated top view and one side view.
  • Laying out a plan to scale in Fusion↗Sketch the footprint at real size, extrude the frame and walls, pull a cut list.
  • Getting Fusion on your laptop↗
  • Measuring and cutting wood safelyresource comingShop safety certification before you cut anything.
  • Choosing fastenersresource comingScrews, brad nails, glue, pilot holes, and matching screw length to material.
  • Optional electronics with Arduino↗Lights, sound, motion, sensors. Only if your group wants them.

Assessment

Marks come from the three big ideas of the course. Your individual mark is built from your four checkpoints, your design journal, and the part of the hole you owned. The group mark comes from the finished hole.

Criterion Developing Proficient Exemplary
Process: ideas and sketching (CP1) A few ideas, one sketch, little annotation Ten or more thumbnails, a developed sketch with dimensions and callouts Ideas explore real range; rejected ideas are explained; the sketch could be built from
Process: plan to scale (CP2) Fusion model incomplete or not to scale Full-size model with frame, walls, obstacles, cup, and a cut list Model matches what got built; cut list nests parts to use the sheet well; your part is clearly identified
Process: updates and reflection (CP3, CP4) Vague, no photos, no problems named Honest update with photos, one problem and its fix; reflection with specific evidence Reflection uses test data to argue what should change and why
Product: playability Ball sticks or traps; par unrealistic Ball travels tee to cup every time; par is fair Obstacles work every time and the shot has a real choice in it
Product: build quality Gaps, wobble, wrong fasteners, rough edges Square frame, solid joints, right fastener in the right place, sanded edges Clean fit and finish; turf flat with no seam in play; would survive a season
Product: theme Theme is a coat of paint Theme is obvious and the obstacles fit it Theme tells the story of the shot; people talk about it after they play
Impact: safety and waste Safety reminders needed; material wasted Safe throughout; cuts planned on the sheet Others could learn safe practice from you; offcuts used or returned
Impact: contribution Hard to say what you did Your part is documented and finished Your part is finished and you helped someone else finish theirs

Deliverables

  • One ready-to-play mini-putt hole (group)
  • Checkpoint 1, brainstorm and sketch (individual)
  • Checkpoint 2, plan to scale in Fusion with a cut list (individual)
  • Checkpoint 3, halfway progress update with photos (individual)
  • Checkpoint 4, finished hole, play-test results and reflection (individual)
  • A documented contribution to the hole that you designed and built yourself (individual)

Materials

  • 2×4 SPF lumber, four to six 8' lengths, for the base frame
  • ½" plywood, one 4' × 8' sheet, for the playing surface and walls
  • ¼" plywood or hardboard for obstacle faces and theme pieces
  • Outdoor carpet or putting turf, enough to cover the surface with no seam in the ball's path
  • 4¼" putting cup (metal cup, or a 4" ABS pipe coupling as the budget option)
  • #8 wood screws, 1¼" and 2½"; 18-gauge brad nails; wood glue; construction adhesive for the turf
  • Primer, paint, and whatever the theme needs (foam, PVC pipe, dowels, hinges, springs)
  • [object Object]

Steps

Week 1: Theme and sketch

  1. Form a group of three or four. Everyone brings three theme ideas. Pick one and write a one-sentence story of the shot: “the ball rides the elevator to the roof and drops through the chimney.”
  2. Sketch ten or more thumbnails of layouts and obstacles. Do this on paper before anyone opens a laptop.
  3. Draw one developed pencil sketch: top view with rough dimensions, one side or perspective view, and callouts explaining how the ball moves.
  4. Submit Checkpoint 1.

Week 2: Plan to scale

  1. Open Fusion. Sketch the footprint at real size. Check it against the 4’ × 8’ limit.
  2. Extrude the frame, playing surface, walls and obstacles. Place the tee and the cup.
  3. Roll a virtual ball in your head. Where does it stop? Where can it get stuck?
  4. Pull a cut list: part, material, quantity, dimensions. Lay the parts out on a 4’ × 8’ rectangle to see how the sheet gets used.
  5. Divide the work. Each person owns a part: frame, surface and turf, one or more obstacles, theme finish, electronics. Write it down.
  6. Submit Checkpoint 2.

Weeks 3 and 4: Build

  1. Cut the frame. Measure twice, mark with a square, cut once.
  2. Square the frame before you attach the plywood surface. Pilot holes for every screw near an edge.
  3. Build obstacles as separate pieces that screw onto the surface and come off again. It is much easier to fix a ramp on the bench than on the hole.
  4. Test with a real ball before the turf goes on. Roll it from every angle. Fix dead spots and traps now.
  5. Submit Checkpoint 3 at the end of Week 3.

Week 5: Finish

  1. Prime and paint before final assembly.
  2. Glue the turf down flat. No seam in the ball’s path.
  3. Electronics, if you are doing them: test the wiring on the bench first, then mount everything where a ball or a putter cannot reach it.
  4. Sand every edge. Check every screw.

Week 6: Test and reflect

  1. Play test with at least ten people from outside your group. Record their scores, where balls got stuck, and what they said.
  2. Fix what the testing showed.
  3. Submit Checkpoint 4: photos of the finished hole, the test results, and your reflection.

Checkpoints

Each checkpoint is individual, goes in your design journal, and is submitted on its own.

Checkpoint 1, brainstorm and sketch. At least ten thumbnail ideas for themes and obstacles, then one developed pencil sketch of your group’s chosen hole: top view with rough dimensions, one side or perspective view, and callouts explaining how the ball moves. Note which ideas you rejected and why.

Checkpoint 2, plan to scale. A Fusion model of the full hole at real size. Top-down layout with the frame, walls, obstacles and cup dimensioned. A cut list and a screenshot of the 3D view. Your part of the build identified.

Checkpoint 3, halfway update. Photos of the build so far, what is on schedule and what is not, and what changed from the plan. One problem your group hit and how you solved it. Update the model or cut list if the design moved.

Checkpoint 4, complete and tested. The finished hole, played by at least ten people who are not in your group. Their scores, where balls got stuck, what they said. Then a reflection: what you would change, what you are proud of, and what you would tell next year’s group before they start.

Stretch options

  • A scoring sensor in the cup that lights up or plays a sound when the ball drops.
  • A moving obstacle on a servo or a hand crank, timed so patient players can wait for the gap.
  • A second path to the cup that is faster but riskier.
  • A scorecard and signage that match the theme, laser cut or printed.