Hole #7 - One Hole Leads To Another

On this one you tee off up a ramp to a hole which is set at the angle of the slope.  When a ball goes in this first hole it's not done.  It drops into a gutter that takes it through some bushes and plants and deposits it on the green.

A tee shot into the first hole has a high likelihood of resulting in a hole-in-one as the gutter is pointed right at the target hole.

If you don't make it in the first hole with your first shot, you can move up to the secondary tee for all subsequent attempts.

Hole#7 Tee

Hole #7 - Hole 1

Hole #7 - Gutter to the green.	Hole #7 Green

The green is actually shared with the 9th hole.

Hole #7 - Directions to the green.	Dangerous Plants

Because my brother kept on insisting on tramping through the vegetation to get to the green, I had to add directional signs to guide golfers to the path to the green while avoiding the sharp-leaved succulents which can cause a nasty skin rash.

Hole Development

This hole is loosely based on a cornhole game and also employs a "double hole" which is another classic mini-golf staple.  Getting the ball in the first hole results in it rolling down a gutter towards the actual green and the real target hole.

Originally, the "cornhole" board was not covered in carpet (in an attempt to make it more like an actual cornhole board) but I found the bare plywood to be too bumpy and unpredictable.

Also, the original design had just the one hole set at an angle halfway up the board.  I thought it would be more interesting and fun to create a double hole, adding the gutter and reusing the existing ninth green.

How It Was Built

The ramp is constructed the same way as the one on #3, using old cabinet hinges to connect the boards with corrugated plastic under the carpet to smooth the transition up the slope.  The curved board is only carpeted in the middle to try to make it look more like a cornhole board that has a line around the edges.  The ramp is held up by plywood "arms" connected to the back of the ramp with hinges.

I had planned on building a wooden gutter to connect the first hole to the green but decided to just buy a cheap vinyl one at Home Depot and cut it to the size I needed.  The gutter is connected under the ramp and on the green using more gutter downspout straps.  Getting the gutter positioned at the right angle so that balls would reach the hole at the right speed and in the right position so balls go on the right line was probably the biggest challenge in creating this hole.

The tee has another carpeted plywood piece for righties to stand on and an old door mat for lefties (my wife had to verify this one was no longer used before granting approval for this  use).

The green for this hole was the first one ever constructed for this course.  It used to be a kind of driving range mat that my brother had made (he gave it to me because he wasn't using it anymore).  To convert it to a green I simply drilled a hole in it and nailed side boards and a back board to it.  I admittedly didn't do a great job attaching the boards, partially because the mat had overhangs on each side which makes the sides not flush to the green.  To add a little stability to the green I piled some mulch underneath it.

The green, at different points, was used in both the first and second prototype holes.  The second of these holes was an early version of the hole that is now #9 with which this green is now shared.