According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, minigolf originated in Scotland in 1867 after women had become interested in the game of golf but, â??the conservative social norms of the era deemed it unacceptable for women to publicly perform such violent movements that a golf swing requires,â? and as you all know minigolf has been a â??womanâ??s gameâ? ever since. We here at Rumblefish like to switch things up and question stereotypes. The game isnâ??t just for women anymore and the men of Rumblefish were going to prove it in a cutthroat game of 3-D blacklight minigolf. Both men and supportive women gathered last Friday to break down the gender walls of minigolf and challenge ourselves in new ways.

Of course, before we could break through the minigolf glass ceiling, we had to enjoy some season-appropriate drinks at our nearby country club, DragonFish. The standard Rumblefish attire is jeans and a t-shirt, which wasnâ??t going to cut it at the upscale club. Luckily, Brian Rupp our creative director, had 16 extra mock turtlenecks on hand for us to borrow. Once properly dressed, we had our fill of pineapple mai-tais, strawberry daiquiris and four helpings of coconut shrimp and were then ready to confront the oppressive minigolfers at Glowing Greens.

Six stories beneath Portland, therein lies one of the cityâ??s best kept secrets, marked only by a pirate statue. We were drawn in by the sounds of early â??90s Reggae-Punk-Ska wafting out of the glass doors. We traversed what seemed like an endless number of stairs and entered a strange underground club filled with the most elite minigolfers in the city. Glowing â??shrieking shacksâ? and mermaids awaited us as we picked our teams, our fluorescent golf balls and our putters. Team Awesome had a solid start, with three well-trained women on their team; however, an altercation with a moose head statue got them disqualified.

Team X made the only Hole-In-One of the night and the inexperienced men seemed to be naturals at the game. Team Legend ultimately won with team leader Zach earning a score of 70 over an entire 18 holes. The win was bittersweet for Zach who broke his ankle in a minigolf-related injury in 2002 and had also dreamt of playing minigolf as a child when it was, of course, illegal for him to do so. When asked how he felt about his win, Zach said â??After my injury I thought I may never play again. This is a great day for all little boys out there, dreaming of playing minigolf, and also for Team Legend. Without their support, I would not be where I am today.â?

 

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