Mini Golf Obstacles: Every Kind and How to Beat It
Mini golf obstacles come in a few families: slopes and ramps that speed the ball up or slow it down, bumpers and walls that bounce it, turning things like windmills and spinners, moving things like sliding logs and carts, slow ground like sand and gravel, and hazards like water and drops that cost a stroke. Each one has a simple answer: read it first, then pick your speed.
1. Slopes, hills and ramps
A slope is the most common obstacle and the easiest to misjudge. Uphill eats speed, downhill adds it, and a ball never rests on a slope: a putt that stops halfway up rolls all the way back. A bowl that slopes down into the cup does the opposite and pulls everything toward the hole.
Putt harder than feels right going uphill and softer going downhill. If a ramp climbs onto higher ground, make sure the ball gets over the top: one that stalls on the ramp comes back to your feet.
2. Bumpers, posts and walls
Walls and rails bounce the ball off at about the same angle it hits them, like a mirror, which makes them useful for bank shots round corners. Bumpers are different: they kick the ball away faster than it arrived, so a gentle putt near one can still fly off the other way.
- Rails: aim at the spot that mirrors the ball toward the cup, and add a little power for each bounce.
- Bumpers: give them room unless you want the kick, and never putt hard straight at one.
- Walls across the course: find the gap and play through it; a zig-zag of walls is usually two or three easy putts, not one hard one.
3. Windmills and spinners
Turning obstacles block the way part of the time. A windmill's sails close its tunnel now and then; a spinner's arms sweep round in a circle and bat the ball away, harder at the tips than near the middle.
Watch the obstacle go round once before you putt. The ball takes a moment to get there, so start it a little before the gap opens. If there's a way round, like the open turf beside a spinner, it's often the safer choice.
4. Moving obstacles
Sliding logs, mine carts, tumbleweeds and rolling boulders cross the course on a fixed path and a fixed beat. They don't cost a stroke, but a hit knocks your ball off its line, sometimes a long way.
The trick is the same as for a windmill, only sideways: watch where the obstacle is when your ball would arrive, not where it is now. When two obstacles cross at different speeds, time the far one and let the near one pass first.
5. Sand, gravel and other slow ground
Sand stops a ball quickly and gravel slows it a lot. Either can turn a good putt into a short one, so either go round, or putt firmly enough to roll right through. Never try to stop the ball just before a sand trap: if it's a little long it sits in the sand, and the next putt needs a lot of power.
6. Water, drops and chasms
Hazards are the only obstacles that cost you a stroke. In GameLake's Mini Golf, a ball in a pond or down a chasm goes back to where you putted from, plus one stroke. Chasms on Canyon Mesas have no rail round them, so a ball that drifts off line simply falls in.
Narrow bridges are about aim, not power. Line the putt up straight with the planks before you let go, and if the line is risky, two safe putts round the hazard beat one that ends with a penalty.
7. Jumps
A jump ramp throws a fast ball into the air, over drops, walls and slow ground. A slow ball just rolls over it, so a jump is a power test: too soft and the ball lands short, maybe in the very chasm you meant to fly over; too hard and it can carry past the landing spot.
Speed pads in front of a jump are there to help: roll straight through them toward the ramp. If you're not sure you have the power, the bridge is always there.
Try them all on Canyon Mesas
Every obstacle in this guide is on Mini Golf at GameLake, free in your browser. Pick Canyon Mesas under the game for 18 big holes on red-rock mesas with jumps, chasms, rope bridges, carts and boulders, or Lily Lake for windmills, hollow logs and ponds. Press Teach me and Hops plans a putt with the real physics and draws it on the course.
New to the game? Start with how to play mini golf, then sharpen up with our mini golf tips.
Frequently asked questions
What are mini golf obstacles called?
The common ones are slopes or hills, ramps, bumpers, walls, windmills, spinners, tunnels, bridges, moving obstacles such as sliding logs, sand traps and water hazards. Bigger courses add jumps and drops.
What is the hardest mini golf obstacle?
Usually a hazard that costs a stroke, like water or a drop with no rail, on a narrow line. Timing obstacles such as windmills feel hard at first but get easy once you watch one turn before you putt.
How do you get past a windmill or spinner in mini golf?
Watch it turn once, then putt so the ball arrives just as the gap opens or just after an arm passes. The ball takes a moment to get there, so start it a little early.
What happens if the ball falls off the course?
In most mini golf, a ball in water or off the course costs one stroke and you play again from where you putted. On GameLake's Canyon Mesas that's also what happens when the ball falls into a chasm.
How do you use a jump ramp in mini golf?
Hit it firmly and straight up the ramp: only a fast ball takes off. Use any speed pad in front of it, and if you can't get the power, take the bridge or the long way round instead.