Five Minutes with T.J. Karmele
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Five Minutes with T.J. Karmele

PowerPutt's Finest Talks Strategy, Courses, and the Hunt for the Perfect Game

If you visit PowerPutt.com frequently then there's a high probability you've heard of T.J. Karmele. The Texan has put up some ridiculous PowerPutt scores and has quickly established himself as the best mini-golfer in all the land.

He's a member of the 30 Under Club, he's hit an unthinkable –32, and now he has a –30 or better on all three of the PowerPutt courses!

Just how does he do it? We caught up with the latest trackball star to find what he's doing that makes all the difference. Enjoy!

Breaker

T.J.It took you a little longer to finally shoot your last –30 on Skull Island. What made this the toughest course to finally break that magic number?

"It was all really about getting the shots to fall. For one reason or another I could not shoot with the same consistency on Skull Island that I could on the other courses. I would look back after a -29, which I had a fair share of before I finally hit -20, and think of all the shots that I missed by a fraction. The room for error is just so small. What ended up a –29 could have been a -34 or -35. And I truly believe that those are on the way."

You're not the only one who is enjoying PowerPutt in Texas. How popular has the game become in your area?

"I can name five places right off the top within a 4-mile area that have PowerPutt, but none are as popular and busy as Al's Hideaway in Dallas (aka my home bar). We have a great crowd of players there. The machine is always being played, and they even had to bring in a second game just to keep up. The other great thing is there are lots of new faces playing it."

What is your favorite course, and which course do you believe is the toughest to score on?

"I would definitely say that Tiki is my favorite course. I think that it offers up a lot of different shots throughout. Because of this I would have to say it is probably also the most challenging course. Even though Skull took the longest to hit –30, there are a lot of ways to really mess up a round playing Tiki."

What tips can you pass along to other players looking to improve their game?

"Redundancy is key, to be good you really have to practice, a lot! Each angle, jump, etc. really has to be figured out and mastered to put together a really low score. Just a few missed shots can make a huge difference, believe me. Learn what works for you and eventually you'll get everything to come together in one round. And DON'T use your thumbs, a lot of GT players will want to carry this over to PowerPutt but it just doesn't work as well."

Thanks T.J. and good luck!

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