Played by several times by Jon in August 2020

Guest Review by Jon Drexler (Former USA mini golf team member & current team coach)

Note from the Editors: Check out Richard Gottfried’s Bio of Jon. He’s a huge champion of the competitive world of mini golf in the US and when we saw that he played this new pop-up course in Memphis during COVID, we asked him to review it and he kindly obliged. Only edited his words briefly as I wanted to share the full enthusiasm Jon shared with us. Wish we could have played it. Thanks, Jon! – Mr. Tee

Review

The Orpheum has been around since 1890, with a complete rebuild in the 1920’s after a fire. It sits in downtown Memphis at the intersection of Main Street and Beale Street and is a well-traveled area in downtown Memphis. When walking about, I often look at the marquee to see what shows will be coming, which is how I learned they built a pop-up minigolf course. With the COVID-19 situation, you can’t just show up to play. You need to make a reservation and purchase a 90-minute slot ($10). Only open through August 23rd, 2020.

Rating

Hole-in-One – It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to walk backstage and also stand at center stage and look into the seats. The holes look great under the lights and you can feed off the people having fun all around you. They cap the maximum attendance to be 36, which means that there is usually a hole open if you don’t want to wait and you can play as many times as possible within your window. One great aspect of the layout is that you enter at the stage door. When else will you get to do this? After getting checked out and signed in, you travel down the hallway that so many famous entertainers had walked before. On the walls are painted murals illustrating the last couple decades of shows, each signed by the performers. It’s a part of history that you would otherwise never get a chance to experience. When you get to the end of the hall, you pick up your equipment and get ready to enter the course…which is on the actual stage! I’ve been there for several concerts and movie nights, but it is a much different experience being under the lights and center stage.

So what is the course like? As it was built by the same people who assemble and display professional sets, the craftsmanship of this 9-hole course is top-shelf for a pop-up course. Each hole has an illustration of a major performance from Orpheum history. The felt is smooth without seams and are the holes are able to be walked upon without flexing. The PVC-lined edges take some getting used to as they don’t kick as hard as a permanent course, but do kick consistent. The majority of people are there to have fun and this course is great to look at and provides enough variety to keep in interesting even after a couple laps. There is also a hole-in-one challenge on the last hole; if you pay a dollar and ace it, you win a Lion King stainless steel water bottle. While the holes are the sets for this performance, the stars are the dozen Orpheum staff members who kept everything moving efficiently, protected the course from kids getting a little too excited, and made sure everyone is having a great time.

So how would I rate the course? Seven of the nine holes are makeable, though difficult to do so. I’d make very minor changes to #1 and #7 to give an ace a chance. The construction is elite-level and the surface is smooth and consistent. Having played courses competitively for so many years, it is easy to get jaded and not enjoy even the fun rounds that you are playing. I haven’t had this much fun playing mini golf in a long, long time and I left the course smiling. Close but didn’t get the ace on Hole #9, but they will be around a few more days before they close…so I’m hoping for another chance. The course is taking reservations through August 23rd at http://www.orpheum-memphis.com/events-tickets