For the Fun of It

My recent adventure in miniature golf got me thinking about going to Putt-Putt when I was a kid in Roanoke. It's not something we would do often, maybe once or twice each summer. But I remember getting really excited about going and getting to choose which color ball I wanted to have. We got to pick from blue, red, green, or yellow. I usually went with blue, but that's not important.

What was important was which light was on when you got a hole-in-one. See, over the cash register was a set of four colored lights. If the light corresponding with the color of your ball was on and you got a hole-in-one, you could exchange your ball for an orange one.

I'm not sure what was so special about the orange ball, but I know it was like this huge rush when you knocked your green ball in, then looked up and saw the green light on. It's not like getting the orange ball gave you extra points or endowed you with any kind of super-powers that helped your accuracy. I guess you just got bragging rights with your little sister.

Come to think of it, is that how it really worked? I don't remember my Dad ever getting an orange ball, and he scored holes-in-one all the time. Maybe it was just an extra way to make kids feel special. Kind of like how they give out 8th place trophies today.