Francis’s Golf Ramp

Francis and Howard make a small golf course on the garden lawn. They put a cardboard ramp before a blue hoop. Dad gives them a white ball and a toy putter.

Francis taps the ball gently towards the ramp. It rolls halfway up, then comes back down. It cannot reach the hoop on the other side.

Howard tries a harder tap, but the ball bounces off the edge. They stop to look at the ramp and notice how steeply it rises from the grass.

Dad suggests changing the ramp instead of hitting much harder. The boys lower its raised end. They press the cardboard flat where it meets the lawn.

Francis tries another gentle tap from the same starting place. The ball rolls over the lower ramp and stops just beside the blue hoop.

Howard turns the hoop to line it up with the ball’s path. He takes his turn. The white ball rolls through the centre of their target.

The boys swap jobs. They check the ramp and take turns with the putter. Dad joins their game. He asks them to show the changes that made the course work.

They collect the hoop, ball and putter before folding the ramp away. “Our course did not need a huge hit,” says Francis. “It needed a better shape.”