Par Golf

Par Golf, manufactured by G. M. Laboratories in September 1935, is an early electro-mechanical pinball machine with a golfing theme. It uses a four-balls-for-five-cents pricing model, with an illuminated backglass and a left-side automatic plunger lane as standout mechanical features.

The gameplay objective is to score holes in numerical sequence from 1 to 9. Each time the desired hole is achieved, all trapped balls are returned to the player to use toward the next hole; balls that fail to land in any hole are instead routed to the left-side automatic plunger, which propels them back into play. Period advertising notes that "rewards start at the 4th hole."

Par Golf's illuminated backglass and golf-course motif give it a distinctive appearance for its era. Details about the machine's designer are not documented, but its scoring-by-sequence mechanic and automatic ball-return plunger make it a notable example of mid-1930s sports-themed pinball design.