Local putt-putt tournament takes off

Most students will never duel Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam for a Professional Golf Association championship, but most students can duel local putting legends tonight in a Bloomington putt-putt golf tournament. \nThe mathematically-minded, putt-putting aficionados and Bloomington residents are invited to putt-putt their way to victory at the Bloomington Putt-Putt Golf & Games, 233 S. Pete Ellis Dr. Although the annual Tuesday Tournament series concluded last week, putt-putting participants can battle one another for the opportunity to win prizes and claim the title as "Bloomington Putt-Putt Tournament Champion."\n"The key to putt-putt is to not get frustrated and to stay away from big numbers. You have to stay calm and not play too aggressive," said Bloomington putt-putt legend Bill Boyer, who has won between 300 and 400 putt-putting trophies. "You should also practice. I know the best way to play these holes because I've played some of these holes more than 50 times ... When you take the club back to swing, you don't want to stab at the ball." \nBoyer, who led the Tuesday Tournament series with an average low of 31.83 per round for the summer, said he has navigated the geometry of putt-putt courses nationwide for 23 years. He said he declined invitations to compete on a Midwest and Indiana professional putt-putting tour because it wouldn't have been fair to his three kids. \nBoyer said his putt-putt golf idol is Bloomington resident Rick Blair, who torched putt-putting courses around town and throughout Indiana during his childhood. He said a professional putt-putting career could have netted him about $200 to $300 a week if he won a tourney or two a month, and more than $25,000 to win the biggest professional putt-putt tournaments in world.\nTournament Tuesdays at Bloomington Putt-Putt attracts all molds of local caricatures. \nBloomington Putt-Putt Golf & Games Manager Adam Julian said the economic advantages of a fun-filled round of putt-putt golf for students far exceed a ticket to the circus or a date to the movies. A Tuesday Tournament ticket costs $6 for one hour of putting practice before play, three games of putt-putt and unlimited practice until closing.\nDivision winners will earn gift certificates and free rounds of putt-putt golf. \n"We are located close to campus, and our three courses offer traditional putt-putt gold with borders, instead of miniature golf with jagged rocks like they have in Ellettsville," he said. "You can control your swing better here instead of making lucky shots on a random course. This place reeks of 1974." \nSimilar to a 1950s drive-up hamburger stand, all three courses at Bloomington Putt-Putt are lined with green putting turf bordered by orange trim and adorned with yellow overhead lighting and small shrubs and trees. A somewhat life-size giraffe, zebra, elephant and other animals are speckled among the putting holes.\n"You have to use angles -- there is no way to play some of the holes without banking it off the boards," said Stephen Watt, chair of the IU Department of English . "There is the 'hit off the block shot' and the 'hit off the backside of the block shot' ... The trick is to get the ball into the hole within two shots or you don't stand a chance."\nWatt, who putted alongside his son, Brandon, and Boyer during last Tuesday's tournament, said he embarked upon his putt-putting career with his buddies when he was 14 years old. This summer marked Steve Watt's re-emergence into the putt-putt scene, he said, after taking a couple decades off to read books, write papers and raise children. \nSteve Watt's appreciation and admiration for putt-putt golf resonated most of all Tuesday through the smile of his son, as the younger Watt raised the Division I trophy into the air. Brandon Watt, a freshman at Bloomington High School South, outputted his father and local legend Boyer to claim his seventh trophy overall from Bloomington Putt-Putt. \n"I plan on putting this trophy in my collection -- it feels great. I can putt-putt ,and I whoop on Tiger Woods," Brandon Watt said. "I plan on taking it to school to show my friends. It will be hard to finds friends to play with next time"