In The Game Hollywood Park – Crestwood, IL

Played July 7, 2021

Reviewed by Mr. Tee

Let’s pop back a little to the summer of 2021. After a year where the world slowed down and travel was complicated, I was set to take any opportunity to seek out mini golf courses I had yet not played especially by car. With an annual July work break, I took the chance to drive to the Chicagoland area to play the 9-hole course at the Elmhurst Art Museum with our Cross-Section Castle hole. Since we rarely get to the southern Chicago suburbs, I took opportunity to visit a few more of the many miniature golf courses in the area. After searching online, I was intrigued by the In The Game course at Hollywood Park. It was my 2nd visit on a hot July day and since I arrived early, I had the whole course to myself.

Rating

I’ve consistently enjoyed the courses built by the Castle Golf company out of Arizona. In our travels, we’ve played many of their West Coast-style miniature golf course builds including Adventure Golf and Raceway (Colorado), Castle Park (California), and the nearby Kristof’s. This style is very much influenced by theme parks. While this style is very common in the greater Chicagoland area that spans nearly an hour north and south of downtown Chicago, we find few of these courses in our home state. The centerpiece of the course is Hole #12 which has an uphill tee shot that sits below a massive treehouse hence it is called the Treehouse Course. A variety of thematic elements pop up across the course including a lighthouse surrounded by dogs, an Old West Mainstreet facade, a pagoda, an anthropomorphic lawnmower, and more. I don’t know if all the elements necessarily culminate in a cohesive single theme but the whimsy and immersive overall feel make for a fun space for kids and adults. The game place relies on fairly standard sloping greens with areas you want to avoid, metal-faced wedges to play rebound shots, pipes, and hills. The bricking surrounding the greens varies and some of the wide gaps between bricks make rebound shots quite challenging. Otherwise, this course is a slightly above-average course that I found to be very enjoyable!

The larger In The Game Hollywood Park family fun center facility

First glimpse of the course has an old town facade on the other side of the water

Treehouse course with the feature hole just off in the distance to the left

Straight forward hole but this is one of those holes with bricking with wide gaps

Classic light fixture covers and triangle wedge that can be found on many Castle Golf built courses

Sorta a far east theming to the obstacles next to #4

Storefronts, oil rig and lawn mower? Sure! Why not?

Love the look of this massive feature in the middle of the course

The last couple of holes have some challenging play and not much theming

A smaller treehouse next to a non-functioning water feature

In The Game Website

5051 Cal Sag Rd, Crestwood, IL 60418

Pros

Fun thematic elements adjacent to the putting areas
Immersive environments around a nice waterway
Solid Castle Golf gameplay design

Cons

Turf probably has seen better days
Bricking isn’t necessarily ideal for playing rebound shots

Nerdy Notes

18 holes. No Par listed.
$8 / per person or 32 credits.
Amenities include an arcade, go-karts, VR, typhoon motion simulator, mini bowling, fun slide, ropes course, indoor bumper cars, and more.
Discounts are available if you sign up for their E-Club
Six additional locations across the US in Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio and Arizona
No steps and smooth sidewalks between holes but no ADA access to exit the holes.