World Games is often mentioned in the speeches of minigolf leaders. Also in the documents of WMF Delegates Conference 2009 in Odense. The next World Games will be in Cali, Colombia, 2013. And then somewhere else in 2017, 2021, and so on.


The arena: adventure golf courses only?

World Games organization has many strict rules, which would affect the nature of our game during this sports event. One important detail in World Games rules is the principle that no new structures should be built for the event. This would practically mean that a minigolf competition at World Games would be played on adventure golf courses, because other kind of minigolf courses don't exist in Cali, Colombia, or in other randomly chosen cities around the world.

A quote from World Games website: "Ideally, the event is to be staged at existing venues (...) Existing infratsructure and venues in and around the host city are the determining factor for the sports' selection to be on the Official Sports Program."


Maximum 60 participants (including all men and women)?

The number of participants at World Games is limited to approximately 60 in individual sports — including all categories, both men and women. We could have maybe 20 women and 40 men at the event, no more than that.

The rules of World Games also require that the event must be an "elite
competition, which is reserved for invited competitors of the highest standard only". This means a good-bye to all new and small minigolf countries. Only the best of the best are allowed at World Games (which is true for Olympic Games too: you must be very good, to get the right to participate).

Looking at the top of WMF world ranking, to see which players would possibly have the right to participate in World Games, we see the national team players of the richest (but not necessarily the best) European countries, which can afford to collect ranking points at Nations Cup and at major championships in August.

This would be an interesting question, how to fairly decide which players have the right to participate in World Games — especially if the event would be played on adventure golf courses. The best adventure golf players are in USA, but they have no status whatsoever in WMF world ranking.

The exclusive nature of World Games is a good reason to think of it as something extra, which would be done in addition to the existing competition calendar of WMF. Not something that replaces WMF World Championships, which is an important event to motivate players from new rising minigolf countries, who have no chance to qualify to World Games at this moment.


No team competition possible at World Games?

Another rule of World Games says: "The results in single sports events cannot at the same time count for team events." This is exactly what we are doing at minigolf championships: the first 8 rounds count both for the team competition and for the individual competition. At World Games this is not allowed.

But as we remember the limited number of participants allowed in the event, and the strict requirement that they must be among the best players in the world, any team competition sounds quite unrealistic at World Games. Size of the teams would need to be much smaller than normally, but even then we would have the problem that individual competition rounds cannot be counted to any team competitions.


I don't know anything about the schedules, when World Games organization will make the decisions about the sports events that will be included in World Games 2013 in Colombia. What is the deadline when WMF needs to fulfill the requirements of World Games organization (minimum number of member countries etc.)?

World Games is an interesting dream for minigolf, because it is a higher level of sport experience than our friendly tournaments, where everyone is invited regardless of skill level. World Games is a step towards hardcore sport world, where only the best of the best have the right to step on the arena.

I can smell a hectic debate arising: Who are the 60 best adventure golf players in the world, and how do you prove to World Games organization that these are the best of the best?