Leisure: Compact Golf

In the wake of the golfing boom—now the biggest in the history of the sport—is a burgeoning, popular, profitable boomlet: compact golf.

Compact golf is several things. It is "pitch-and-putt," where the average hole is 50 yds.; "par-three" (also called "par-thirty" and "executive''), in which the average hole is 150 yds., with several par-four holes; and putting courses, also known as miniature golf.

Golfing in the Dark. The fastest-growing form is par-three golf. Six years ago, there were only some 100 courses in the

U.S.; today there are about 575, with new ones being...