Miniature Golf Entices Tourists to the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Tourists in the Washington, D.C. area this summer can enjoy miniature golf without high summer temperatures making the game uncomfortable. Currently, USA Today reports, the National Building Museum has a 12-hole miniature golf course as an exhibit.

Local architects designed each hole, and every hole was built by a contractor in the area. The individual holes reflect local themes such as the National Mall, and the Potomac waterfront.

There are windmills on the course, but no gnomes or clowns. It's "kitsch factor" is lower, but the course is also educational. It is part of a museum, after all.

Sarah Leavitt, the curator of the National Building Museum curator, looked into the origins of the game. She learned interesting facts, which USA Today put into the following list, as written:

• The game dates to 19th century Scotland, where women weren't allowed on the men's course, and instead were relegated to a "ladies green."
• The first U.S. miniature course was on a private estate in Pinehurst, N.C., in the early 20th century.
• Kitschy obstacles first took shape in the 1920s on the grounds of the Fairyland Inn at Lookout Mountain, Tenn., near the Georgia border.
• Mini-golf's heyday was in the late 1920s and early '30s, when 25,000 courses were operating. Especially popular: rooftop courses in New York.
• Today, about 5,000 miniature golf courses are in business. The No. 1 putt-putt venue: Myrtle Beach, S.C., with about 50 of the attractions.

The exhibit will last through Labor Day, and for those with an admission ticket to the museum, a round of miniature golf will cost $3. You can also use the course without buying a museum ticket, but that will cost $5, instead.