Goofy Golf – Panama City Beach, FL (Course 1)

Played on June 11, 2021

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

Back in 2019, our friend Mike Davis wrote a guest review for us on Goofy Golf. Ever since seeing his photos, we knew it was a course that we would one day have to play for ourselves. In June of 2021, Mr. Tee and I planned a long weekend trip down to the panhandle to celebrate our birthdays and play a ton of mini golf, including the infamous Goofy Golf of Panama City Beach.

This course has lots of history, so let’s dive right in. This Goofy Golf was designed and created by Lee Koplin. In the 1930’s, Lee was an ironworker on the Hoover Dam. In 1948, Lee’s older brother invited him to help build concrete dinosaurs and other fantastical creatures at his course, Pee Wee Golf, in Guerneville, California. Lee even managed Pee Wee Golf for three years before continuing on to build his own courses in several states including a Goofy Golf in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Construction of Goofy Golf circa 1959 or 1960

But his true magnum opus was Goofy Golf in Panama City Beach, FL, with its tagline, “The Magic World!” As the story goes, it is said that Lee was having vivid nightmares. His way to cope with this was to bring the monsters and characters that were terrorizing his dreams to life (well, larger-than-life) and turn them into a fun part of the game. The location Koplin chose for this mini golf mecca was a beachfront property along U.S. 98, just across from the county pier and with a gorgeous view of the Gulf of Mexico. Construction of two 18-hole courses began in the late 1950’s and Goofy Golf opened in the summer of 1959. For the next few years, Koplin continued to add more oversized creatures such as an Easter Island Tiki head and a life-sized brontosaurus. Nestled in the middle of the property amongst these fantastical creatures is a house that Lee and his family lived in up through his passing in 1988. Today, the house is used a storage for the course.

Lee Koplin standing in front of his house on the course. Image from the Panama City News Herald.

Lee was truly a pioneer in the game of mini golf. Up until this time, themed sculptures were relegated as decorative elements around the course. Lee was the first to integrate mechanics and larger-than-life characters directly into the game play, reinventing how a mini golf ball could move through the greens and take a journey. He was an outsider artist who successfully paired his creative vision with the game of mini golf, inspiring courses for years to come. And while none of his other mini golf courses remain in existence, Goofy Golf of Panama City Beach has survived over 60 years of hurricanes and spring breakers and is still standing strong.

Sphinx attraction. Photo loaned by the Sue Cooper family to the Bay County Library Digital Archives.

Two young ladies playing golf. Photo gift from Nina Winker of the Pensacola Historical Society and digitized by the Bay County Library.

In fact, the entire Sir Goony Golf chain was directly influenced by Lee’s creations. There is a Goofy Golf in Fort Walton Beach (which has the same name but is in no way linked to Goofy Golf in Panama City Beach) as well as the Goofy Golf in Pensacola (which also has an interesting history linked to both Goony Golf and Goofy Golf that we’ll get to in an upcoming review).

Goofy Golf’s tyrannosaurus (left), Sir Goony Golf’s Goonysaurus (right). Image from page 66 of Tim Hollis’s The Minibook of Minigolf

Today, the Goofy Golf Panama City Beach courses are still owned by Lee’s daughter, Michelle (who we unfortunately didn’t get a chance to meet). For an even more extensive history of Goofy Golf, check out Tim Hollis’s books The Minibook of Minigolf and Florida’s Miracle Strip.

Postcard. Gift of Jan Smith to the Bay County Library Digitized Archives.

Rating

In addition to being a historical treasure, Goofy Golf is a one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life mini golf mecca. It’s also a playground and an artistic wonder. Two unique 18-hole courses offer fun and challenging game play experiences, immersive theming, sculptures you can climb in and incredible beachfront views. Course 1 includes highlights such as putting into the alligator’s mouth, an ogre’s castle, the classic tyrannosaurus, a pirate ship and a towering tiki head that you can actually climb to the top of for even better views of the ocean. However, this course has a problematic hole that we will not overlook called “Chinese Ant Hill”. Aside from this distasteful holdover of the 1960’s, Goofy Golf is a course that shouldn’t be missed.