'Like Battle of the Bands, but for mini golf': Putt-Putt Clash returns to Bainbridge

Bryce Moulton wouldn't necessarily call himself a mini golf "aficionado."

"But I enjoy a good game of mini golf," he admitted.

Moulton, the creative lead for the Bainbridge-based design firm Blackmouth Design , is the founder of Putt-Putt Clash — a uniquely wacky event that pits neighbor against neighbor in a competition to build the best mini golf course. This Saturday, July 20, from 12 to 8 p.m., Putt-Putt Clash will return to Bainbridge for its third year of action.

Two things drove the creation of Putt-Putt Clash: a dispiriting lack of Kitsap mini golf venues, and Seattle's infamous "Smash Putt" — a bygone pop-up nightclub once renowned for its absurd course designs, air of mystery, and impressive engineering.

"I guess [Smash Putt] was pretty wild, like air cannons and this circular saw-accelerated golf ball launcher," Moulton said. "Pretty unsanctioned, you know? I think they were just doing it for fun...I was like, man, that sounds like a blast, 'cause that's totally tinkering, making things, that's up my alley."

Smash Putt had already closed down by the time Moulton caught wind of it. But he wondered: What if he could build a Smash Putt equivalent closer to home? (Maybe minus the circular saw-accelerated golf ball launcher.) Even better, what if Blackmouth — a firm that has designed creative installations for the likes of Nike and Columbia Sportswear — spearheaded the build?

It turned out that "building a whole mini golf course is a lot," Moulton said. "Especially when [Blackmouth was] already busy with paying projects."

So Moulton pivoted.

"I was like, 'well, what if we didn't build them?" he said. "What if other people built them, and then it was framed as a competition — sort of a Battle of the Bands, but for mini golf courses?"

The challenge at hand

In Putt-Putt Clash, requirements are minimal and creativity is encouraged. Participants submit a pitch to design and build an eight- by 16-foot mini golf course, which they set up outside of Blackmouth's Day Road headquarters on the day of the competition. The courses are open to community players, who vote on their favorites. The winner gets $500.

Any donation will get you a ticket and a ballot, although $10 is suggested. The donations are used to reimburse participants for building costs.

Before the first annual Putt-Putt Clash in 2022, Moulton said, there was "a lot of begging people we knew" to participate. Twelve builders signed up, including Moulton. Much to his surprise, the event drew a crowd of 350 people.

"I was blown away," Moulton said. "I was like, if we get 150 or something, that would be amazing...So it's like, I think we might have struck on something here. People like this idea."

He has some theories as to why. Moulton sees Putt-Putt Clash as a way to spotlight community members he believes don't get enough recognition.

"I think it's just nice to showcase people in the community who are creative, and in a different setting that's not an art gallery or a crafts fair type of thing," Moulton said. "Because I think that's a different type of person who will build a mini golf course than does those things. But it doesn't mean those people aren't creative."

Three years in, Moulton still relies on personal connections to find builders. But this year, he's seen the highest number of what he affectionately calls "randos," or people who found out about Putt-Putt Clash from the posters Moulton plastered across Kitsap County.

Last year, local electronics firm PHYTEC won Putt-Putt Clash with a visually striking lake-house-themed course. The course featured a hole with a sensor that triggered a quacking sound when a golf ball dropped in. The year prior, Bainbridge's Clark Construction won the inaugural Clash, also leaning into visuals — and ducks — for their course.

Based on these victories, Moulton has some advice for this year's competitors.

"Don't underestimate the power of a good paint job," he said.

Mini golf: It's no picnic

Crista Dougherty, Moulton's partner and the owner of Julie's Frame Gallery on Bainbridge, relies on her own two tips for Putt-Putt Clash success.

Play-test your course to make sure it's not too difficult — and keep a nail gun handy for day-of repairs.

"Things do break throughout the day," Dougherty said. "But if you're there, you can kind of anticipate that."

Dougherty has participated in Putt-Putt Clash every year since its founding. In addition to designing a course, she sells tickets, puts up fliers, and offers Moulton whatever miscellaneous support he might need. This year, she's planning a picnic-themed course, complete with real grass, a mounded picnic blanket "tunnel," and a croquet set.

Dougherty said that she enjoys repurposing found objects for Putt-Putt Clash. Last year, she used tree bark to make a tunnel for her course, which she described as a "giant Chia Pet" and which also boasted paper-mache mushrooms and pill bugs. The year before, she built a course inspired by frame shop castoffs.

Although Dougherty didn't have much of a mini golf background before Moulton launched Putt-Putt Clash, lately, she's been spending a lot of time with the sport.

"I know there's couples on YouTube that like, travel the country to find mini golf. It's not at that level," she said. "But it's like — some people go play pool or go to a pinball arcade, or whatever. And the last couple of years, [Bryce and I have] just been seeking out mini golf courses when we travel."

'I really want to win'

Matt Albee, who owns Eleven Winery on Bainbridge, actually grew up building mini golf courses during summers at his grandparents' house.

But when asked whether his childhood experience gives him a competitive edge at Putt-Putt Clash, Albee replied, "Gosh, no."

This will be Eleven Winery's third year competing in the challenge. They have not yet won.

"Last year we tried to win votes by giving away a free Wine Club membership in a raffle, but it wasn't enough," Albee wrote in a text to the Kitsap Sun. "[T]hese mini golf voters...can't be bribed."

This year, Albee and his winemaking team are putting together a course featuring an enormous stainless-steel dairy tank they call "the UFO." Putters have to hit their ball up a curved ramp and down into the interior of the UFO. You can choose to putt underneath the UFO and avoid the ramp altogether, Albee said, but be warned: you'll nix your chance at a hole in one.

Albee, whose winery is Blackmouth Design's business park neighbor, said he's grateful for the opportunity to participate in Putt-Putt Clash.

"It's hard for us to always support community events, because we're an alcoholic beverage producer," Albee said. "So we're just happy to be involved."

But there's some competitive fire there, too.

"I really want to win," Albee added in a text.

'A little bit crazy'

Married couple Alex Crease and Madeline Gorchels have an ambitious course planned for their first ever Putt-Putt Clash.

"The concept is that you hit the ball into this human-sized version of a marble maze," Crease explained. "And then you have to go and stand on top of the maze and guide the ball through the maze using your body weight, avoiding some of the trap holes along the way."

If a player can make it through the maze, Crease said, they're basically guaranteed a hole in one. But if they fall into one of the trap holes, they'll end up stuck on the side of the course, racking up extra strokes.

Crease said he and Gorchels are "competitive mini golfers." He clarified: "That really just means we compete against each other whenever we play mini golf."

Crease and Gorchels' favorite courses to play have intricate, interactive elements, which they are trying to replicate in their own course. Crease, an engineer who has worked for Valkyrie's team on the hit competition BattleBots , said he relishes the challenge.

"I love designing engaging, playful experiences," he said. "I just love creating things that are really fun to interact with, that are really visually interesting but are kind of unexpected in the ways that you can interact with them."

What makes the couple's course all the more impressive is that Crease and Gorchels planned and began to build their jumbo maze while in the middle of moving to Ballard from Corvallis, OR.

"A little bit crazy," Crease acknowledged, "but we're excited."

For a good cause — and $500

Longtime friends Bo Brumwell, Nick Kochevar, and Landon Pratt are modeling their Putt-Putt Clash course on the popular multiplayer mobile game Brawl Stars .

"Every dude has a different power," Bo said of the characters in Brawl Stars. "And when you get bored, you can just switch to another dude who has a different power. So basically the game never gets boring."

On a recent morning, the three 14-year-olds laid out their course in the Kochevars' driveway and began cutting turf and negotiating paint colors. They are dividing their course into four sections that will correspond to four different Brawl Stars characters, Bo said.

Most of the wood scraps that the boys are using for the course are left over from Woodward Middle School's eighth grade banquet, according to Nick Kochevar's mother, Heather Jo.

"It's a fun summer project," Heather Jo said of the boys' course. "[And it] keeps them from playing Brawl Stars."

The boys admitted that there have been some challenges along the way, including reconciling their busy, sports-filled schedules.

Also, "planning the course," Nick Kochevar said. "We've made some turns and stuff on what we've been doing. We've switched off some stuff, like for size requirements, or it just doesn't make sense."

Distraction is another issue. "It's hard to focus on drilling things when you have your buddies around," Bo said.

But, he said, "we're confident."

"So what would you do with the prize money?" Heather Jo Kochevar asked him.

Bo thought while Landon stood open-mouthed.

"There's prize money?" he said. "Actually? I thought you were joking! I thought it was just for a good cause!"

For more information about Putt-Putt Clash, visit blackmouthdesign.com/puttputtclashinfo .

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: 'Like Battle of the Bands, but for mini golf': Putt-Putt Clash returns to Bainbridge