Dolls house miniature golf putting green 

This compact version of a putting practice is great for an office setting or a man cave, clubhouse or
even a youth centre, maybe beside the ping pong table. The removable obstacles turn it into a small miniature golf game, for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Miniature golf putting green project

By Ruth Flewelling Lesbirel. 

You will need

Materials required

• Thin foamcore
• White, red and aqua paper
• Green felt
• Beige sandpaper
• Rippled water sheet (Hobby Builders’ Supply)
• Fluffy terrycloth or miniature turf sheet (mine is a fuzzy sock!)
• Mattboard
• 3mm x 6mm and 3mm square stripwood
• Round wooden cocktail sticks
• White polymer clay
• Silver and black acrylic paint
• White gel pen
• White thread
• Wood stain
• White glue
• Glue stick for paper

Tools required

• 8mm power drill
• Small saw and mitre box
• Knife
• Steel ruler
• Small hand drills
• Needle files
• Small, sharp scissors
• Emery board
• Double-sided tape

Download the Putting Practice template.

Top tip! For a more unique version of this putting practice, try a freeform shape, extending the rough over the outside edges, instead of framing a rectangular shape with stripwood.

1. Cut

Cut a 4in/102mm by 10in/254mm piece of foamcore and white paper the same size. Mark the centre points and power drill and file the three holes where shown. Cut the ‘rough’ pattern from mattboard. Cut it again from turf (or terrycloth), with the inner, curved edges slightly wider to overhang the mattboard thickness. Cut out the areas marked water hazard and sand traps. Cut a strip of white paper the thickness of the foamcore, to line the holes. Cut the felt ‘green’ just a bit larger than the inner curved edges of the rough.

2. Prepare the rough

Hold the turf over the mattboard to mark and glue a small piece of sandpaper under each sand trap cutout and the aqua paper under the water hazard cutout. Glue the edges of a cutout from the rippled water sheet over the aqua paper. Glue the turf onto the mattboard with outer, straight edges even. Weight this assembly until it is dry to prevent warping. Trim away turf overhanging the edges and hazards.

3. Prepare the green

Lightly, temporarily tape the felt to the foamcore, right side up. Turn the foamcore over and mark outlines through the three holes onto the felt with white pen. Remove the felt and cut out the three holes. Glue the felt onto the foamcore, aligning the holes. Curl the white paper strip over your thumbnail, cut the strip to encircle the inside of each foamcore hole. Glue these strips to the foamcore. Glue the white paper sheet onto the bottom of the foamcore. Glue the matboard assembly onto the foamcore, covering the edges of the felt. Weight this until dry.

Top tip! With the flat face of the putter head on the paper, the angle given makes a right-handed putter. Reverse the angle or turn the putter head over to make it left-handed.

4. Frame the putting practice

Cut two pieces of wider stripwood the length of the foamcore ends and two more pieces the length of the sides plus twice the thickness of this stripwood. Stain the stripwood. Glue the end pieces to the foamcore first, even with the bottom edge and the long sides. Glue the long side pieces against the foamcore and stripwood ends, again even with the bottom edge and covering the ends of the end pieces.

5. Flags

Cut three flag patterns from red paper and three 1-3/8in/35mm-long untapered cocktail stick pieces. Cut three 1/4in/6mm squares of mattboard and mark the centre of each by crossing diagonal pencil lines. Drill through the centre of these squares to just fit the cocktail sticks. Sand the corners of the squares rounded and glue the cocktail sticks into the holes in these mattboard stands. Curl the centre rectangular portion of one red paper flag around a cocktail stick. Glue it to the top of the stick and glue the flag points together. Repeat for the other two flags.

Looking for more miniature projects? You’ll be spoilt for choice with Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine, packed with tutorials to satisfy your passion for miniatures!

6. Putters

Cut a 2-5/8in/67mm length of a cocktail stick having one pointed end. Sand the tip to blunt it slightly. Set aside. Sand the end of a piece of the square stripwood round. Also round the last 1/2in/13mm of this stripwood along two long adjacent corners to form the back of the putter head, leaving the front corners as a flat face. Cut this 1/2in/13mm off the square stripwood and sand the cut end round. Drill the top of this stripwood a third of the way across to receive the blunted tip of the putter shaft. Glue the shaft into the putter head. Paint the putter silver. Paint 1/2in/13mm of the end of the shaft black as a grip.

7. Obstacles

Cut two 1in/25mm lengths of square stripwood and sand them smooth, rounding the top and ends slightly. Stain all sides except the bottom. Glue felt onto the bottom face. Arrange these obstacles straight across or angled on the green, felt side down, to increase the putting challenge. Or for added complexity, use these obstacles with the tunnel, constructed in the next step.

8. Tunnel

Cut five 3/4in/19mm-long pieces of the wider stripwood. Sand both long edges of two of these pieces so that, on edge, they tilt towards each other at the top, with the top edges horizontal to the work surface. Stain all five pieces. Align the unsanded three stripwood pieces on a piece of double-sided tape on your work surface. Glue an angled piece across these three pieces at each end, forming an upside-down tunnel shape. Allow to dry. Invert this tunnel and sand the ends of the three cross pieces slightly rounded.

9. Golf balls

Form 1/8in/3mm-diameter balls of softened clay. Roll them on sandpaper to give them a rougher or more dimpled surface. Bake the clay for about 15 minutes in a 275F/135C oven or as your clay package suggests.

10. Accuracy line

One gauge of putting accuracy and a real help in determining short game faults is to putt along a straight marked line towards the cup. To simulate an accuracy line on this putting practice, glue a white thread from one end of the green to the distant hole.

Continue the ‘green’ theme and make your own miniature garden with this lovely set of tutorials by Candy Chappill.