IMA 2017 Artist Mini Golf – Indianapolis, IN

Played July 29, 2017

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

We are truly honored to have been involved with Artist-Designed Mini Golf at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the second year in a row. Last year, we consulted on the course and designed the hole Lil Golf. This year, another call went out for the theme of “Natural World” and we were thrilled when our beehive design was selected. Since we were coming from out of town, we were the first artists to install at the museum back in May, so we didn’t get a chance to see the other holes before we left town. After a road trip out east to bring another art project of mine to the ArtScape Festival in Baltimore, we made sure to swing through Indy on the way home to play the new course. Needless to say, we were completely blown away.


Rating:

Hole-in-One –  Mini Golf at the IMA is by far our favorite of the artist-designed mini golf courses we have played to date. We said this last year, but we’ll say it again because this year’s course tops it. The range of designs and game play paired with the quality of fabrication truly makes this one of the best courses in the country. We feel extremely lucky to be amongst such a talented and devoted community of regional artists. We’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Hole 1 – The Carpet is Hot Lava by Martin Kuntz (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 2 – 2058: the first mini golf hole without ice by Luke Crawley and Quincey Owens
Hole 3 – WaterPLAY by Jason Wolfe and Veronica Vela (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 4 – Putting Around Africa by Scott Shoemaker
Hole 5 – Canyonlands by Sam Welch
Hole 6 – Stumped by students of Noblesville High School’s Sculpture II class (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 7 – Shadow-Tailed Scourge by Beth and Chad Eby (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 8 – A Forest of Sound by Luke Crawley (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 9 – Stroll Gardens by Kevin Bielicki (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 10 – 15-1 by Colin Tuis Nesbit
Hole 11 – To Bee or Not to Bee by yours truly!
Hole 11 in action
Hole 12 – Pond Life by Beth and Chad Eby
Hole 13 – Jungle PARadise by William Denton Ray (photo credit: IMA)
Jungle PARadise giraffe
Hole 14 – Poplar Mechanics by Gautam Rao (photo credit: IMA)
Hole 15 – Geology of Indiana by Brent Aldrich
Hole 15
Hole 16 – Cardinal 200 by William Denton Ray
Hole 17 – White River Putt by Alan Goffinski
Hole 18 – Reflections in the Forest by Suzy Slater
Hole 18
Mr. Tee tallies the score
…and Mr. Tee for the win!

Official Mini Golf at the IMA website

Pros:

Wide variety of challenge for skilled and unskilled players across the course
Colorful and inventive visual design using the theme of Natural World
Playful and fun overall experience
Well built and maintained artist-designed course
Most satisfying temporary course we’ve played to date

Cons:

Design flaws on a few holes made them slightly more challenging than they should be
Limited window of time to play the course before it closes

Nerdy Notes

  • 18 holes, Par 50
  • Final hole collects balls
  • Free with paid admission to the museum (Adults: $18, Ages 6-17: $10, Ages 5 and under: Free, IMA Members: Free)

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