Holey Moley

In October 2018, ABC released a casting call for a new game show called Mega Miniature Golf looking for miniature golfers to compete against each other for a grand prize.[3] ABC officially announced the series in April 2019, with the title Holey Moley. Stephen Curry serves as executive producer and resident golf pro on the series, with ABC Sports and ESPN sportscaster Joe Tessitore calls all the play-by-play commentary, comedian and actor Rob Riggle provides color commentary, and television personality Jeannie Mai as a sideline reporter (with Tessitore and Riggle wearing the same jackets that were worn by ABC Sports commentators in the 1970s). The series is produced by Eureka Productions and Unanimous Media,[4] and created by Chris Culvenor, who is executive producing alongside Curry, Paul Franklin, Wesley Dening, Charles Wachter, Michael O'Sullivan, Jeron Smith, and Erick Peyton.[5] Culvenor explained that producers saw that other television competition series were dominated by fitness enthusiasts and wanted to create a show that most people could partake in. He called the series "a serious competition put in a really silly world."[6]

Filming for the series takes place at Sable Ranch in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, California,[7] which was previously used for the obstacle course game show Wipeout.[7][8] Filming lasts a couple of weeks and occurs late at night. The production films as many competitions as possible at each course on a given night, rather than simply filming the contents of a single episode each night.[7] The golf course and obstacles were built on the ranch by The ATS Team, which creates obstacle courses and large-scale fanciful environments for shows such as American Ninja Warrior, The Titan Games, and Big Brother, in association with Eureka Productions.[9] Tessitore indicated that some holes, such as Double Dutch Courage, remain standing because it is "a signature hole", but others are "shut down after three or four days".[7] Filming for the first season took place on April 3–5 and 8–11, 2019.[10]

The larger-than-life mini-golf course for the first season features 10 supersized themed holes:[4][11]

• Dutch Courage:[12] Contestants must hit through a small mini-golf-style windmill situated in between two large windmills. The large windmills have four large, quickly rotating blades that can knock the player off the putting surface and cause stroke penalties. The hole lies past the second large windmill, on a slope.[13][14]
• Caddysmack: The contestants try to hit their first putt closest to the big golf ball. The one closest gets to decide how their next shot will be hit, either by resident golf pro Stephen Curry or a robot voiced by Rob Riggle, with the losing contestant getting the other option. The robot and Curry hit 55-yard pitch shots to a turf-covered empty swimming pool where the hole is located. Caddysmack is the longest hole on the course.[15][16]
• Arc de Trigolf:[12] Players hit their ball along a large arc to the green, and then must get over a line of small raised platforms in a swimming pool to ring a bell and release a guillotine that will stop their ball from falling into the water.
• Tee'd Off:[12] The loser on the 4-foot putt-off falls into the pool.[17]
• Sweet Spot: The player tees off from a rapidly rotating platform toward another, less rapidly rotating platform where the hole is located. Several prop candies, like giant gumdrops, decorate the hole and act as obstacles.
• Surf Or Turf:[18] Contestants hit a ball up a large concave wave ramp 30 feet into the air, launching it backwards over their heads to an island green. If the ball does not land and stay on the green, the contestant must hit the ball across a skinny walkway instead after a one-stroke penalty.[19]
• Slip N' Putt: The contestants must make their way atop an icy hill. The first one to the top gets the better placed ball. Then, they must hit their ball through the legs of the polar bear and slide their way down the hill to the green to complete the hole.[20]
• The Distractor: Contestants must try to sink a 12-foot putt with a distraction.[21]
• Log Roll: Contestants must putt up a hill and then climb it while avoiding rolling logs on rails.[12][22][14]
• Mt. Holey Moley: Contestants must hit their ball up the side of a volcano into one of the crevasse holes. If they miss, their ball is placed far away and behind some rocks. If they place it in the holes, they get a better position—the smaller the hole, the better. They must then climb the volcano and zipline over the pool to land on a floating dock to reach the green; falling off the zipline and landing in the water will result in a one-stroke penalty.[4][23][14]

The course for the second season features 17 supersized themed holes (although it was originally reported to feature 18, like a traditional golf course. This fact was made fun of in the season finale, with Rob Riggle asking "Did we run out of money?"):[24]

• Double Dutch Courage: Contestants must hit through two large windmills. Similar to Dutch Courage, the large windmills have five large, quickly rotating blades that can knock the player off the putting surface and cause stroke penalties. The hole lies past the second large windmill, on a slope.[24]
• Putter Ducky: Contestants must putt past two oversized rubber ducks that swing from side to side. Afterwards, the players themselves must avoid the ducks. If a player gets knocked into the water (by a duck), they receive a one-stroke penalty.
• Slip N' Putt: The contestants must make their way atop an icy hill. The first one to the top gets the better placed ball. Then, they must hit their ball through the legs of the polar bear and slide their way down the hill to the green to complete the hole.
• Frankenputt:[24] Players must putt through a series of electrical nodes and Dr. Frankenputt (a disguised Sir Goph)'s lair to the hole. Every stroke a player takes, they receive an electrical shock.
• Buns & Wieners:[24] Players putt across a crevasse in a rotating hot dog bun before attempting to cross a creek filled with "burning coals" by clinging to one of three rotating hot dogs. Falling into the coals, results in a one stroke penalty.
• Hole Number Two:[24] Players must putt along a narrow ridge with water on one side and a row of porta-potties on the other, before attempting a 2.5-second sprint across the ridge before the porta-potty doors open and knock them into the water. If they fall into the water, they receive a one stroke penalty.
• Uranus: Similar to Arc de Trigolf, as contestants must putt the ball around the outer ring of Uranus. There is a channel where if the contestants land, could provide a shot at a hole in one. After the contestants putt (if the result is not a hole-in-one), they must traverse 4 planets to get to the green. If they fall in, they receive a stroke penalty.[24]
• Polcano:[24] Similar to Mount Holey Moley, but players zipline onto a narrow totem pole rather than across the entire water hazard. Falling into the water results in a one stroke penalty.
• Putt the Plank: Contestants must first putt across a pirate ship's bow towards a red X. The closer to the red X gets a courtesy chip across the lagoon from pirate captain Long Jon Lovitz, while the other player gets a blindfolded courtesy chip. Then, they must cross the lagoon on the back of a shark to complete the hole, being careful not to fall in and get a penalty stroke.[24]
• Gopher It: Two contestants must first ride on a mechanical gopher for as long as they can. Whoever can ride the gopher the longest will get the better ball placement on the course. The contestants must then put across a course with mechanical gopher heads popping up randomly. The contestant with the better ball placement only has to navigate around 2 gopher heads while the other must deal with a third.[24]
• Dragon's Breath: Contestants wearing fireproof armor must putt the ball through one of three holes underneath a drawbridge in order to lower it and putt the ball in the hole. While the contestants are trying to putt, dragons breathe fire at the contestant.[24]
• Beaver Creek:[24] Players putt across a narrow strip before crossing a ditch via a rapidly rotating log. Falling into the ditch results in a one stroke penalty. Riggle often ridicules the hole for having a drab and empty ditch and for being a relative copy of Buns & Weiners.
• Diving Range: Three contestants first complete a dive of their choice judged by Olympic diver Greg Louganis, actor Steve Guttenberg, and Sir Goph. The contestant with the lowest score is eliminated; that contestant was always a ringer, former collegiate diver Joey Cifelli.[25] (Sir Goph always gave his "score" as a picture, which Course Marshall Joe was left to interpret. Regardless of the object shown, it was always interpreted as a 4.) Of the remaining two contestants, the better score gets the better ball placement. They compete on a hole in which they must shoot past laneline obstacles to reach the hole in the center.[21]
• The Distractor: Contestants must try to sink a 12-foot putt with a distraction.[21]
• Water Hazard:[21] Similar to Surf or Turf, in which players hit a ball over a water hazard via a 30-foot wave before attempting to cross a narrow bridge while being blasted with fire hoses. Falling into the water results in a one stroke penalty.
• Clowning Around: Appeared in the season finale. Each of the players is strapped into a circular apparatus in a standing position. The apparatus is then turned several times to disorient the players, and the players eventually have to putt the magnetized ball upside down to a rectangular green. Any miss gets a whipped-cream pie in the face from one of the clowns accompanying the hole.
• The Tomb of Nefer–Tee–Tee: Stephen Curry's much lauded finale hole, which appeared in the season finale. The hole is "all-or-nothing" hole, and eventually had nothing to do with the schematic shown all during the season. Each player will get one shot to ace the hole per round, and only the person first holing the putt wins the jackpot grand prize of $250,000 and the Jeweled Putter of Nefer-Tee-Tee. The hole is almost 100 feet in length, and contains three parts. After an unassuming tee area, the ball then enters a repurposed spinning disc from Sweet Spot, this time containing three Egyptian-style pyramids and is colored as a desert. Past that is the green, including walls on two sides and a crypt on the third (which opens when the winner is declared, containing the Jeweled Putter). It also contains several small square obstacles, which could also aid the golfer in holing the putt. If no golfer aces the hole after each has had a shot, the process continues until someone does.

• The Distractor – Kenny G playing the saxophone

• Title quotation from: Rob Riggle during the Slip 'N' Putt. Also, a reference to the 1985 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
• The Distractor – Drill Sergeant Putton

Note: Michael Glauser is the brother of Episode 1 contestant Scott Glauser.

• Title quotation from: Rob Riggle as the Robot while he talks smack to Stephen Curry in Caddy Smack.
• The Distractor – A pair of contortionists

• Title reference: Play-on words of the 1952 movie The Greatest Show on Earth, said by Rob Riggle at the start of the final round. (It was also used as a nickname for the St. Louis Rams offense that was led by quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Marshall Faulk, who helped the team win Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.)
• The Distractor – The Tickler

Note: Dianne Cullen is the mother of Episode 4 winner Mick Cullen, meaning a mother/son duo won consecutive episodes of the show.

• The Distractor – Paparazzi

• The Distractor – A mime

Note: Jeffrey Barber fell into the pool trying to zipline to the landing pad, but he was not given a stroke penalty due to equipment failure resulting in a broken handle on the zipline.

• The Distractor – Rope Jumpers

Note: Chris Pomaski accidentally tapped the ball and was given one stroke.

• The Distractor – Beach Party Dancers

• The Distractor – Fire Jugglers

• The Distractor – A fire breathing pirate

Note: Jennifer Weitz sank a hole in one on Putter Ducky.

• The Distractor – Australia's Thunder from Down Under[26]

Notes: Skyler Nick and Spencer Nick are the first twins on Holey Moley. Mei Brennan sank a hole in one on Uranus.

• The Distractor – A drumline

Notes: Gerritt Beatty left the competition after Round 2, Tanner Beard would win the putt-off against Karl Barth to play against Clay Myers.

• The Distractor - Baseball

• The Distractor – The Can-Can Girls

Notes: Brad Livermore accidentally touched the bottom on Buns & Wieners and was given a stroke penalty. Misa Tanaka is the sister of Episode 4 contestant Maiya Tanaka.

• The Distractor – El Diablo

Notes: The bun on Buns & Wieners was unable to rotate. Uzo Utti jumped over the wiener on Buns & Wieners.

Notes: Micah Lee Dettmar surpassed all three gophers on Gopher It. Leisha-Mae Telles is the sister of Episode 7 contestant Seshia-lei Telles.

Notes: Donald Alford's tee shot on Polcano snuck over the bumpers and landed in the hazard zone. In Double Dutch Courage, Alford got hit from one of the blades on the first windmill, but managed to pull himself back up to avoid the penalty while Ashley Lewis scored a hole in one.

• The Distractor – Yama and Ramy (Sumo Wrestlers)

• The Distractor – Michael Winslow

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average score of 6/10, based on 10 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "A fun, family-friend show that benefits greatly from its hyperbolic hosts, Holey Moley is a delightful summer diversion."[29]