Tropical Gardens – Asheville, NC

Played on March 26, 2015
Reviewed by the Pink Putter
Since January and through the end of June, I am doing an Artist Residency at Hub-Bub located in Spartanburg, SC. While there are many exciting things happening in Spartanburg, there isn’t a whole lot of mini golf just yet (although it will soon be the new home of Sparkle City Mini Putt). Cities like Asheville, Charlotte and Columbia are only about an hour drive and Myrtle Beach is just 3 hours.

In the beginning of the year, the online mini golf community shared a great article from the citizen-times featuring Tropical Gardens. As soon as I read it, I knew I needed to make a visit. I grabbed Desiree, a fellow Artist-in-Residence, and we made an afternoon trip to play this classic.

Rating:

Hole-in-One – There’s no doubt about it, Tropical Gardens is indeed an Asheville icon and a mini golf destination. The course cleverly integrates the hill that it’s built into every aspect of game play. Players start their journey on top, work their way past the waterfall and down and giant sloped hole to the lagoon at the bottom. At every turn there are fiberglass rhinos, giraffes, zebras, elephants and flamingos. The layout of each hole follows the natural landscape and terrain, making for a wide variety of play ranging from angles and shots with kitschy obstacles to giant downward slopes and pipe play. Because we played at the very beginning of their season, the waterfall wasn’t turned on, but they promised me it would be soon and the last time I drove by it was. There are a lot of other fun surprises, which the photos and video will reveal. If you are in the Asheville area, this is a must-visit course.