A Couple of Putts and Golf Zone Chaska present…

The 5th Annual Coziest Mini Golf Open
Sunday, February 22, 2026

2026 Tournament Details & Rules

Golf Zone’s Big Bear Mini Putt – Chaska, MN – 825 Flying Cloud Drive Chaska, Minnesota 55318

Recap

For the 2nd year in a row, the Coziest Mini Golf Open came down to only a couple of putts! Josh Benesh shot a 3-round 90 to become the first repeat champion of the Coziest Mini Golf Open. In the first year of the tournament being multiball (aka minigolf balls were allowed), Josh won the tournament using only a golf ball. In close 2nd with a 91, Mark “Highlighter” Novicki took 2nd place and has the distinction of being the first competitor to ace #9 (Snail) in the 5-year history of the tournament. Tom Loftus started slow but finished with the low round in the 2nd (29) and 3rd (28) rounds. Kaiden High and Justin Gutche tied for 4th. Justin set the new single round record (26) in the 1st round, and Kaiden was one of only 2 competitors (along with Tom Loftus) to take only two 3s the entire tournament. Highlighter won the aces-only round with 6 aces, and in a playoff, Josh Benesh won a playoff for most aces through two rounds (10) against Justin Gutche.

In the amateur division, Trevor Born won in his first attempt in a tournament hosted by A Couple of Putts. Andrea Pendleton was only 1 stroke behind with a 71 and won the women’s division for the tournament. Owen Pendleton and Max Cullen tied for both 3rd in amateur and the junior division, so they played 2 playoffs. Max won the first playoff for the youth division on Holes #1 & #2, and Owen won the playoff for 3rd place in the amateur division on Holes #3 & #4.

The next Coziest Mini Golf Open is tentatively set for Sunday, February 21, 2027! Until then, stay cozy!

 

Tournament Details

Amateur: $25 (advance) | $30 (day of) | (2 rounds)

Pro: $35 (advance) | $40 (day of) | (3 rounds)

Same Day Registration/Practice: 9 am

Tournament start: 10 am

Registration: We want all competitors to fill out the REGISTRATION FORM for each person playing in the tournament

Coziest Open Reg

Payment: 3 options

1. Venmo to @tomrloftus – https://venmo.com/tomrloftus –

2. Paypal with a $2 fee per person to acoupleofputts@gmail.com –

3. Eventbrite =  Register HERE Fees run between $3-5 per person

Eventbrite has the largest fee of the three options

Please note in your payment which people you are paying registration for.

 

Practice 2/20 & 2/21: Golf Zone will be offering an all-day practice for Friday (2/20) & Saturday (2/21) before the Coziest. Let the staff person know you are there for the tournament and want to pay the practice rate, which is equivalent to paying for a single round + a replay. The price is about $12.50. During practice, all players should avoid impeding the play of the public at large with their practice.

Treats will be provided for players before and during the tournament. Thanks to our local sponsors Fran & Barb Davis | Jonna Kosalko, Coldwell Banker, we will be providing pizza for players after the competition has concluded. Jonnny Pops is providing popsicles for us to give to the players as well!

Find a recap, results, and fun documentation of the 2025 tournament at acoupleofputts.com/cozyopen25

If the weather on February 22nd is bad enough that travel is unsafe, we will postpone the start or reschedule for a new date, we’ll share details on A Couple of Putts and American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) social media as well as our Facebook event page.

Prizes

Pro Champion: $200 + Custom trophy
Pro Second Place: $150 + Silver Medal
Pro Third Place: $100 + Bronze Medal
Pro Fourth Place: TBD special Cozy Open Prize
Pro Fifth Place:  TBD prize
Pro Aces-Only Round Winner: $40

Amateur Champion: Trophy + TBD Prizes
Amateur Second Place: Amateur “Silver” Medal + TBD Prizes
Amateur Third Place: Amateur “Bronze” Medal + TBD Prizes

Most holes-in-one (pro & amateur thru 2 round): TBD prize

Other Prizes

*Junior Division Winner: Junior Division Trophy + a Prize
**Women’s Division Winner: Women Division Trophy + a Prize

*For competitors 15 and under. There must be at least 3 people who meet these criteria to give out this award. Scores used will be from the first two rounds in both pro and amateur divisions. Players in the top 5 of the pro division are not eligible to win the junior division as they will get a prize for their finish in the pro division.
**For women or women-identifying competitors. There must be at least 3 people who meet these criteria to give out this award. Scores used will be from the first two rounds in both pro and amateur divisions.

All competitors who are American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) members will receive points toward national ranking based on the 2026 scoring rubric. Amateur players will all receive a single AMA scoring point each.

Local Sponsors

 

Championship Tiebreakers
Any ties for finishing between 1st and 3rd place will be broken by 2-hole putt-offs on Holes 1-2. If scores remain tied after two holes, the players will compete until one person has a lower score than the other(s) on the next hole on the course. If there is a tie for most hole-in-ones, there will be a hole-in-one-only wins playoff on hole #14. Each competitor will have an equal number of opportunities. The lowest round score will determine all other ties for prizes.  If there is an additional tie after bringing in the low round score, prizes at those levels will be split 50/50. If there is a tie in the aces-only round, the purse will be split amongst the tying players or the players can agree to play an aces-only playoff on Hole #5.

Tournament Details

1. Players can show up as early as 9 am on Sunday, February 22nd, to practice and/or register for the tournament.
2. The Coziest Mini Golf Open rules meeting starts promptly at 10 am on Sunday, February 22nd. The groups will be determined by the organizer. Family members will not be paired with each other in the pro division, but can be paired with each other in the amateur division on a case-by-case basis.
3. A Couple of Putts and the American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) will be making specialized minigolf balls and putters (with rubber faces for use with minigolf balls) available for players to use at the tournament. The AMA will be selling AMA Ball #1 at the tournament, available for $25 each while supplies last. Talk to tournament organizer Tom Loftus about your interest in using the equipment. We will have a practice session at Golf Zone for locals on Saturday, January 31st. Stay tuned for a video on how to use those balls.
4. There will be a quick rules meeting at 9:45 am for those who have never played in a tournament hosted by A Couple of Putts.
5. Pro players will start on Hole #1. Amateur competitors will start on Hole #10.
6. Each player in each group can take a single practice tee-off shot on their first hole before their group starts the tournament. The players who make the pro top 12 3rd round can each take a single practice tee-off shot on Hole #1 before their group starts play. A player must declare clearly to each member of their group that they do not want a practice shot to start either the 1st round or top 12 pro final round.
7. Both pros and amateurs will play 2 rounds in succession.
8. The top 12 pro competitors after 2 rounds will play in a final 3rd round stroke play event to determine the top finishing positions.
9. Any players tied for the 12th position will advance to the 3rd stroke play round.
10. The pro players not in the top 12 will play an aces-only round for their 3rd round. In the aces-only round, players will have one stroke on each hole where they receive one point for each hole-in-one achieved across the 18-hole course. Each hole is only attempted once by each player. The player with the highest score (aka most aces) wins. Tie-breaker for most aces will be played on Hole #14 between those players and will continue until there is a clear winner.
11. In the case of first through third place ties in the Championship round, the ties will be broken with a 2-hole playoff starting on hole 1. If scores are tied after 2 holes, players will move into sudden death, where the winner of the next hole will decide the winner of first through third in the Championship. All other ties will be determined by the low round scores. If there is still a tie, after this, the next tie-breaker will be most hole-in-ones. If that results in another tie, prizes will be shared.
12. The Coziest Mini Golf Open scores will be posted at acoupleofputts.com/cozyopen on 2/23/26 along with photos. If you do not want your score/photo to be posted, let Tom know.
13. One scorecard signed by each member of the group will be turned in after each round during the event. Any math errors on the scorecard turned in the pro division will result in a +1 stroke penalty for each person in the group.

Rules of the Tournament

1. Players will complete the hole before others in their group play. 
2. Players can compete in this tournament using golf balls and minigolf balls
3. A player must start and finish each hole with the same ball, but they can select a different ball to play each hole if they wish.
4. For all tournament rounds, there is a 7-stroke limit. After your 6th putt, pick up the ball and move on.
5. Players will start each hole in the tee-off area. The tee-off area is defined as the turfed area near the beginning of each hole that is before the start of the concrete walls that border each hole. For #18, the tee off area is anywhere behind the sign for the hole which is just slightly further up than the start of the rocks.
6. The ball can be moved approximately 8″ or 2o centimeters (or a little over one putter head length) away from any obstacle or wall for relief as long as it does not move the ball out of rough turf or provide a significantly better line for your next putt. There will be relief rulers at each hole, but the scorecards provided can also be used for measuring relief.
7. The ball can be moved within the rough turf patches to allow better relief (ie. #7) within the rough or to move the ball out of areas where the rough turf and normal turf are separating (ie. #5 on the lower half of the green)
8. No intentional chip shots to jump walls except during the aces-only round
9. The ball can only advance to the hole through the use of the putter head.
10. If the ball goes out of bounds, the ball will be placed at either the place it exited the hole or the start of the hole if there is not an adequate place to set the ball at the location where it went out of bounds. Take a +1 stroke penalty.
11. If the ball returns back past the tee-off area, the ball can be reset anywhere in the tee-off area without a stroke penalty. 
12. Any cups can be played on holes with multiple cup placements to complete the hole.
13. On holes #5, #14, #17 & #18, there are opportunities for a zero score on specific cups only on the first putt. 
14. On hole #7, if the ball gets stuck in the pipe or the pipe sends the ball out of bounds, the ball will be re-dropped into the pipe until it exits the pipe and remains in bounds.
15. On hole #10, if the ball falls into the valley on the right side, the ball can be placed fully onto the green with relief from the rocks with no penalty.
16. On hole #12, if the ball goes into the sand trap, you must follow the posted rules for the penalty. 
17. On hole #12, there is no relief given from the thicker turf on the back border of the hole.
18. On hole #18, only two scoring options are possible: zero if you the putt on your first attempt or 2 if you miss the cup. No penalties if the ball rolls back past the tee or does not roll into the basin to the left of the tee-off area
19. Top 12 pros will be repaired to play a 3rd stroke play round groups of 2-4 players. The rest of the pro field will be sent out first to play an aces-only 3rd round.
20. The top 12 pro finishing positions will be determined by the cumulative stroke play score of the 3 rounds. The rest of the pro field outside of the top 12 will have their finishing position based on their 2 round cumulative stroke play scores.
21. The aces-only round will be played by all of the pro competitors outside of the top 12. Each hole will be scored either a 1 (hole-in-one) or zero (no hole-in-one). The winner will achieve the most hole-in-ones.
22. Groups for the aces-only round can be made up of any players eligible from the pro division. Groups must have a minimum of 2 people and each person in the group must score the others in the group.
23. Tie-breaker rules are stated above
24. All other applicable posted course rules apply if they are not listed above
25. Be cool to each other & have fun. Mini Golf is for EVERYONE!