{"id":104964,"date":"2026-07-18T08:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T08:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/104964\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T08:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T08:29:14","slug":"why-switzerland-is-considered-the-birthplace-of-minigolf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/104964\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Switzerland is considered the birthplace of minigolf"},"content":{"rendered":"

This content was published on <\/p>\n

July 18, 2026 – 09:55\n<\/p>\n

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\n I manage Swissinfo\u2019s social media channels in German, French and Italian. As a social media manager and digital content specialist, I curate the latest news, analyses and explainers on politics and culture for the Swiss diaspora in the Swiss languages and in English. <\/p>\n


\n More from this author <\/a><\/p>\n


\n German Department <\/a><\/p>\n

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\n I focus on service journalism and am responsible for our page “Moving abroad made easy, as well as for marketing projects and editorial tasks. I also produce and host video and audio content. Originally from French-speaking Switzerland, I now live in Zurich and am a ZHAW graduate. Previously, I worked as an editor and anchor for outlets such as SonntagsBlick, BlickTV and Watson. <\/p>\n


\n More from this author <\/a><\/p>\n


\n German Department <\/a><\/p>\n

For many people, minigolf is as much a part of summer as ice cream and a day at the pool. Yet\u00a0fewer\u00a0know that Switzerland played a key role in the history of the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1954, landscape\u00a0gardener\u00a0Paul Bongni opened the world\u2019s first standardised minigolf course in Ascona, canton Ticino. With his\u00a0norms for\u00a0holes\u00a0and obstacles, he laid the foundations for the modern version of minigolf we know today. It belongs to\u00a0a\u00a0family\u00a0of\u00a0disciplines\u00a0that\u00a0also includes miniature golf,\u00a0cobigolf, star golf and felt golf. From Ticino, the game spread across the globe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It may come as a surprise that Switzerland became the \u201cmotherland of minigolf\u201d.\u00a0But the combination of precision, standardisation and ingenuity proved to be a winning formula.<\/p>\n

Read more about the sport in our article:<\/p>\n

\n More<\/p>\n

\"Minigolfers\"<\/p>\n

More <\/p>\n

Swiss oddities\n <\/p>\n

How Switzerland became the \u2018motherland of minigolf\u2019 <\/p>\n

\n

This content was published on <\/p>\n

Jul 18, 2026 <\/p>\n

Why was minigolf standardised in Switzerland, and how did it then conquer the country? <\/p>\n

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Read more: How Switzerland became the \u2018motherland of minigolf\u2019
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Articles in this story <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This content was published on July 18, 2026 – 09:55 I manage Swissinfo\u2019s social media channels in German,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[5029,3932,2668,16530,1053,51524,334,17,335,332,330],"class_list":["post-104964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-beat-swiss-oddities","tag-club-and-association","tag-culture-general","tag-hobby","tag-lifestyle","tag-mini-golf-sport","tag-production-type-adaptation","tag-switzerland","tag-type-video","tag-vertical-video-9x16","tag-video"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116940044248214554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}