Played August 15, 2012
Reviewed by Mr. Tee
We ventured out of Pennsylvania to take on the Jersey Shore. Our goal was to fit in as many games as reasonably possible within the day. We ended up playing 7 rounds at 7 different courses on August 15th that were less than a few miles apart from each other. We’re working through reviewing all of them but I’ll start with the first one, Tee Time 1 (aka “Gotta Golf”)
Update Summer 2022 – On a summer visit to the Jersey Shore in August 2022, we returned to Stone Harbor and confirmed that this is no longer a mini golf course. In retrospect, it was unique to find a Swedish Felt style course in the States and as of 2023, we aren’t aware of any active felt golf courses in the US. Mr. Tee has completely changed his mind when it comes to felt golf and wants to play a full course with the proper minigolf balls to have the true experience.
Rating
Whiff – This was the first rooftop mini-golf course we have played up to this point even though they were quite common in the early history of mini-golf. This course also has the distinction of being the WORST course we have encountered in our adventures. Much worse than the woeful Puttin’ Around. This is the only course we honestly considered not finishing due to the poor play.
The walls painted with a fun character and the phrase “Gotta Golf” gave us hope that our epic mini-golf day would be one for the ages. This ended up being the best thing the course had to offer. We arrived 15 minutes before the “happy hour” mid-afternoon rate kicked in and they wouldn’t budge on the price. If that were the only bad thing about the course, I wouldn’t even mention it. After paying we received mini-golf balls that looked like miniature rubber racket balls. No textured divots that one would expect of a regular mini-golf ball. This immediately comes in to play with the “holes.” Each hole had a “tee” that was just a flat piece of metal to place your ball. I wasn’t sure if it was magnetic but it made it hard just to set up to take the first shot. The woes continued.
Each hole was made of wood, felt and some metal pieces to keep it together. The cups were shaped differently and in many cases were wide enough to fit 6-7 balls across. The greens were connecting pieces (see above photo) that had open seams that affected play. The themes of the holes didn’t make much sense at all. They had names but nothing tied them to the play or an overall theme of the course. The one hole name I remember was themed after the Green Bay Packers. There was no direct connection to the football team outside of the colors.
The biggest reason this place isn’t worth your time is that the folks that own Tee Time have a better course right across the street. The Pink Putter will cover that course but the creativity shown in the hole design and play was leaps and bounds better.
Pros
A few of the holes were incredibly challenging
Entrance signage and painting
Signage included at each hole
They had a “hole of the day” where you won a free game if you got a hole-in-one on that particular hole
Cons
Poorly built holes
Terrible upkeep
Non-textured balls
Flat metal tees
Lack of personality
Kitsch (and overall course) didn’t have a focus or theme
Two better options within a block
Overpriced
Obnoxious Top 40 music blaring
No website
Nerdy Notes
- 18 holes, Par 36
- $7
- Both Tee Time courses use the exact same score card
