City Mini Golf – Chicago, IL

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Played on August 11, 2018

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

Late this summer, Mr. Tee and I took a long weekend road trip down to Chicago to do a mini golf photo shoot (coming soon!) and visit longtime friends Bob and Urs and their kids. With a full Saturday ahead of us, Bob joined Mr. Tee and me on a journey down to Maggie Daley park to check out the new addition of City Mini Golf. Before we even got to the park, we made a short stop at the Chicago Athletic Association to enjoy some iced tea and fried pickles.

Rating

This 18 hole mini golf course is set amongst the bold backdrop of the Chicago skyline, which creates a sense of feeling both giant and tiny at the same time. When we got our clubs, the first few holes were bottlenecked with traffic so we followed the advice of the woman working in the clubhouse and jumped ahead to hole 9 to start. It was also a very hot and sunny August day, so we took full advantage of standing in any small amount of shade we could find. The holes are basic concrete forms with brick walls that offer straightforward gameplay including small jumps, twists and turns, rock or wooden obstacles and angled shots. Only four of the eighteen holes are adorned with fun obstacles that make reference to local landmarks, and three of those were in the front nine. These were our favorites, as they brought the most personality to the experience. Our only wish is that every hole was as creatively considered as the first few. Although based on a recent Instagram post, it appears that City Mini Golf is slowly but surely adding more unique obstacles to the course, which gives us something to look forward to if we’re back in Chicago next summer!

Approaching the clubhouse
View from the front – note the custom fold-out club storage
We started our game in the middle of the course to avoid traffic
Mr. Tee going for the cup
Winding my way through to the hole as Bob and I enjoy a bit of shade
Hole 14 was the first one we played that had a unique obstacle. This one was based on the famous Chicago Picasso sculpture. It was tough for many of the players in front of us, but we all managed to make it through with minimal strokes.
And then we finally made our way back to Hole 1, where most of the fun theming started, including the classic Chicago sign with a hole-in-one shot through the “O”
Next up was the infamous Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower)
And lastly, Bob tees off at Mr. Tee’s favorite, the Chicago Bulls hole
Another view of the fun gameplay on the Bulls hole
And a bonus Plinko challenge to collect the balls at the end
Official sticker if you got a hole-in-on on the course!

City Mini Golf website

Pros

A great setting with a beautiful skyline backdrop
A handful of fun obstacles that commemorate Chicago landmarks
Clean and well maintained
Bonus plinko hole with chance of free game at the end

Cons

Most of the holes were simple and straightforward with little fun or challenge
Bright sun, concrete and minimal shade made for a hot afternoon
Bottlenecking at the front end of the course

Nerdy Notes

  • 18 holes, Par 45
  • rubber covered putters
  • no flags in holes
  • General Admission $11; Military, Teachers and Seniors (with ID) $9; Kids 4 & under FREE; season passes and same day replay prices available
  • $1 off admission if you follow City Mini Golf on Instagram
City Mini Golf scorecard

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