acoupleofputts

The minigolf adventures of Tom and Robin.


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Putt Park – Las Vegas, NV

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Played on January 14, 2013

Sure, we’re oddballs. When planning a trip to Las Vegas we focused our efforts on playing as much mini-golf as possible but the other reason for going was to escape January in Minnesota. As we have eluded to in other reviews, winters can be brutal in our home state so we planned on visiting a place with warmer climates to take in some much needed warm weather. Sadly, our trip to Vegas coincided with unseasonable temperatures of 20-40 degrees fahrenheit. Putt park was the only outdoor course we played and chilly temps resulted in our rush to finish.

Rating: Par - Putt Park resides about 10 miles directly west of the Vegas strip away from the sights and sounds most tourists take in. The club house is in a strip mall with the course settled in the adjacent parking lot. The course came highly recommended by our internet mini-golf pal from across the pond, Richard Gottfried, and he set us on a scavenger hunt to find the momento he left for the course. You’ll see in the photos below that we found it.

We arrived just as someone had finished cleaning up the course and from the looks of it, this was a regular occurrence. The greens were near spotless. The hazards and exterior landscaping were in excellent shape. Real sand traps, rocks, brick and plants surrounded the exterior of the green.The course offered a decent challenge but lacked anything to put it above par for our tastes. It’s the only outdoor course we could find in Vegas and it clearly would have been more enjoyable with nicer weather. Hoping we can take it in again on our next trip to Sin City.

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Kiss by Monster Mini-Golf – Las Vegas, NV

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Played on January 12, 2013

Reviewed by Mr. Tee

After our early day sub-par experience at Pike’s Pass I was eager to take on anything and fortunately, the next course up was Kiss by Monster Mini-Golf. I had seen pictures online and being a music junkie it was hard not to be eager to play our first rock themed course.

My relationship with the music and image of Kiss is love/hate. We can all admit it, as far as bands go, Kiss is pretty dumb. Whether it’s the ridiculous banter of Paul Stanley or the the simplistic lyrics of many of their songs, the band isn’t known for being high brow. Despite this, Kiss created enough memorable songs and an image that’s hard to ignore. In fact, I’d be surprised if anyone reading this review is unfamiliar with at least one of their songs. I’ll even admit to having a soft spot for some of their more ridiculous moments and went through a phase of listening to Kiss’s “Music From The Elder” on a regular basis. The real question is, can Kiss translate their gimmick in to a memorable mini-golf experience?

Rating:

Hole-in-One -The coure is located right off the main Vegas strip across from the Hard Rock Hotel. We somehow drove right by it initially but we should have been able to pick it out based on the the massive Kiss themed tour bus outside and red velvet rope lined entranceway.

Kiss may have missed the mark more than a few times with their music but their collaboration with Monster Mini-golf puts the ball right in the hole. Kiss themed props and environments make it stand out in the crowded field of black light indoor mini-golf courses. When it comes to the band, the excessive Kiss branding is usually a bit much for my personal liking but works perfectly as a unifying theme for the entire course. Using the musical instruments as both obstacles and a way to add dimension to the course worked out nicely. The animatronic Kiss band on stage was slightly creepy but equally served to tie the play space together nicely. The game play is a bit simplistic at times but accounts for a variety of skill levels. A DJ plays Kiss songs and takes requests which adds a unique fun/cheesy element . I requested the much maligned Kiss album “Music from the Elder” and the DJ happily played several songs off of it. Aside from the ease of play, the only other negative was the price. At $12, it’s one of the pricier courses we have played. You can get a $1 discount if you get the mobile app but the app also costs $1. In the end, it was exactly what a Kiss themed mini-golf course should be: over-the-top and fun.

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Pike’s Pass – Las Vegas, NV

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Main Entrance

Played on January 12, 2013

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

We took a mini-vacation to Las Vegas to escape the Minnesota winter, only to find that Vegas was just slightly warmer than home. Fortunately, four of the five courses we played on our trip (reviews to come!) were indoor. We started conveniently with a round right in our hotel at the Circus Circus Adventuredome.

Rating:

Whiff – The Adventuredome  opened in 1993 under the name Grand Slam Canyon. Now, at 20 years old, it definitely shows, especially amongst the constantly changing skyline of the Las Vegas Strip. Within this dated “indoor amusement park” lives Pike’s Pass, an 18-hole miniature golf course with a loose pirate theme.  The holes were short and dull- no pipes, hills, ramps, etc. The surface of the terrain was squishy and we couldn’t tell if this was intentional or not. It almost felt like some sort of foam was under the turf. The obstacles were chintzy fake logs and tree stumps that weren’t even attached to the floor, so you could pick them up and move them around. The faux rock barriers were falling apart and signs at some of the holes were completely torn off. The 18th hole was supposed to have a mechanical feature that was broken (for who knows how long). Lastly, there were no pink balls, so I had to settle with gold. The cost is $5 a player but if you stay in the hotel you get a 2-for-1 coupon.  Therefore, the only redeeming quality of Pike’s Pass was that we only payed $2.50 each to play it. If you’re in Vegas, I don’t recommend this course, there are others in town that far surpass it.

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Grand Slam – Coon Rapids, MN

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Played December 30, 2012

Reviewed by Mr. Tee

Residing only a few miles west of my hometown mini-golf haunt Lilli Putt, Grand Slam is situated in yet another part of Coon Rapids that has struggled in the 21st century. The location was formerly a Red Owl grocery store in the 80′s and is connected to the now dead Coon Rapids Family Center Mall. This dumpy mall was photographed by my friend Greg Schaal and I didn’t even know that anything connected to the mall was still breathing. Grand Slam opened years after I moved away from the area and I found it in a search for local indoor mini-golf courses. The Pink Putter and I decided there was no more perfect time to play this course than on another dark and dreary Minnesota winter day.

Rating: Par - In our experience, indoor mini-golf courses have been a mixed bag of sub-par play enhanced by black lights or creative temporary artist designed courses re-inventing this almost decade old game. Grand Slam doesn’t fit into either of these molds so in that regard, it does stand out. The physical space it occupies has a high ceiling and designers took full advantage of it when building the course. The main structure is a large castle wall facade that encloses a course filled with mythical and medieval characters. As you play the course, you move around the castle wall and play across the upper levels to reach the back nine. The time between playing the course and the typing up this review initially made me reconsider my rating. Maybe this is a solid birdie? Then I looked through our pictures and notes and was reminded of all the pitfalls that led me to think that it might be a sandtrap too.

While the course incorporated its theming into the hazards and hole design, the structure and visuals lack luster. The overall medieval concept is fun but the execution of it comes off as cheap and flimsy. Hazards are broken and structures appear askew. The cups at each hole appear different due to deterioration and lack of upkeep. In the case of a few holes, there is no cup and the ball goes straight to the cement base of the building. The whole space fits in perfectly with its surrounding environment. Grand Slam attempts to dream big and create a far better than average experience but falls short. Well, that’s the news from Coon Rapids, where all the women, children and men are average at best. Continue Reading →


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Cosmic Golf – Eden Prarie, MN

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The Grand Entrance

Played on December 27, 2012

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

On the same cold, snowy day that we ventured out to Chaska to play Big Bear Mini Putt we also played Cosmic Golf. This 9-hole course is nestled in the depths of AirMaxx, a giant industrial building turned into a trampoline park and entertainment mecca, including an arcade, lasertag, bowling, basketball courts and most important, mini golf. It was an odd location, to say the least. This indoor, black-light course had literally just opened a week or so prior to our arrival so we knew we had to be one of the first to play it.

Rating:

Sandtrap – This is one of those courses that looked decent, but frankly just wasn’t very fun to play. To it’s credit, everything was clean and superbly maintained, although I suppose that should be expected considering how new it is. And in my opinion as an artist and maker, the fabrication company (appropriately named Cosmic Golf) actually did a quality job with their foam carving and painting. Its theme is Egyptian, depicted through iconic and very tacky glow-in-the-dark characters like the mummy, a Sphinx, Anubis, an Ankh, etc. But what this course lacked was interesting play. The terrain of every hole was almost identical and consisted of flat carpeting, shaped obstacles like circles, triangles and Egyptian symbols and holes placed either behind said shapes or on the tops of shallow hills. Only a few of the holes actually integrated the decorative sculptures as obstacles to hit your ball through, and none of these routes were clever or in any way more fun to take than the straightforward carpet path. The only thing that made this course worthy of a Sandtrap (other than its reasonable admission price) was the final hole, in which a Sphinx came to life with low-quality audio and blinking LED lights behind its eyes. Although Cosmic Golf only had 9 holes, it definitely felt too long.

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Big Bear Mini Putt – Chaska, MN

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Played on December 27, 2012

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

Living in Minnesota, we get used to the cold, snowy winters. Lucky for us, Minnesota business owners have figured out that indoor recreational facilities can be quite lucrative. Hence, we discovered Golf Zone in Chaska whose slogan is “Rain, Snow or Shine Golf”. This huge facility offers all season golf activities including an indoor heated driving range for the winter, an outdoor driving range for the summer, outdoor 3-hole and 18-hole putting courses (which we have yet to play) and last but not least, the indoor Big Bear Mini Putt.

Rating:

Birdie - Much to our surprise, Big Bear had a lot to offer.  At first glance, this course appears a bit dull. The entire space is themed around Minnesota woods and is well landscaped with faux pine trees, rocks and rivers. We also happened to play Big Bear right around the holidays, so thousands of sparkling white lights added a cozy feel to the experience. However, there aren’t any huge animals, giant rock formations or flashy signs that really jump out and catch the eye. The  theme is subtle, but as you play the course and read the titles of each hole (Northern Lights, Bear Paw, Walleye, Snail, etc.), everything starts to come together. What really sets this course apart from many that we’ve played are some of the clever hole designs. For example, the shape of Bear Paw looked just like a bear paw,  just as Walleye was formed to look like a fish with the hole as its eye. I thought this was a fun touch that added a lot to the experience.
There was a huge variety of terrain (which is unusual for indoor courses) including hills, pipe play, bridges, spirals, ramps at different levels, jumps and obstacles. No two holes were alike. A number of them even offered an interesting twist on the game by providing multiple holes or trick shots and rules for how to play them, with the reward of a Par 0, better than a hole-in-one, for those who are successful. Another plus to this course is the indoor bar and seating area right next to the last hole. The bar even serves Heggie’s, Mr. Tee’s favorite frozen pizza! The  down sides of this course are that the water features are a bit chintzy (see image below) and that we encountered some unsupervised children who were running around from hole to hole and whacking the ball…I think their dad was at the bar. Because the entire venue has so much to offer, Big Bear is definitely worth the lengthy trip out to the deep burbs and I especially recommend it to anyone with kids. This course falls just short of a hole-in-one,  coming in at a strong birdie.

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Walker Introduces the Artists and Teams of Mini Golf 2013: We’re In!


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We wanted to wait until it was official but we’re happy to announce that the Walker Art Museum selected our mini-golf hole design for their Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf Course that will be located at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden  right next to the FlatPak house. Our hole, Can You Handle This?, is one of 15 holes that will make up the two separate 7 hole courses that share a final hole. You can see some renderings of what the rest of the course will look like at the mnartists.org blog and check out the first bit of circulating press. There are a number of incredible artists who were accepted and we’re eager to share the news. Obviously, we’re looking forward to playing (and reviewing) the course many times  this summer!

The hole we designed, “Can You Handle This?”,  incorporates some fun elements of classic mini golf, challenging play, an opportunity to get a hole-in-one. Most importantly, it fits the overall “garden” theme of this year’s course. We wanted to make a hole that we’d get excited to play and looking forward to watching others try their luck on it.  The renderings below will give you a better sense of how play will work. Continue Reading →

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