John Garnet Carter was an American inventor and entrepreneur who is considered as one of the fathers of miniature golf

Miniature golf

Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...

. In 1927, Carter was the first to patent a version of the game which he called "Tom Thumb Golf". His course was built on Lookout Mountain

Lookout Mountain

thumb|right|See seven statesLookout Mountain is located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southern border of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain, along with Sand Mountain to the northwest, makes up a large portion of the...

 in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 where Carter owned a hotel. Within a few years, courses opened all over the United States. Carter eventually sold the rights to his patent and used his fortune to found the Rock City Gardens.