ParTee Shack – Greensboro, NC

No Comments

Played on July 13, 2023

Reviewed by Mr. Tee

As I could see the writing on the wall with the organization I was working for in my day job, I knew I had to take full advantage of our annual two-week summer office break to sneak in some travel. Seeing that there was both a Putt-Putt tournament in High Point, North Carolina near where my putting pals Vanette and Rick lived in addition to an American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) tournament near Atlanta a week later, I aimed to head to the steamy hot south for competition knowing that there were several courses on my bucket list to play. I know High Point was near Greensboro where a ParTee Shack location had opened earlier in 2023 so I put it on my list to play after the first day of competition. After a steamy day of Putt-Putt, I was happy to head indoors early evening on Saturday to check out this intriguing new chain.

Rating

 

I’m unabashedly a fan of creative novelty courses. Whether it’s gameplay, scoring mechanisms, themed holes, or fun environments, I enjoy seeing the traditional conventions of mini golf pushed in new directions. I left ParTee Shack feeling like I had never played at a mini golf facility like that one in all of my travels. Red-colored cups were strategically placed on several different holes to add strokes to your score. You could get a better initial tee position by hitting a ball off a tee, making a shot on a basketball hoop, playing disc golf, and a wide variety of analog and tech-infused games that had nothing to do with putting. You could take a ride on a swing and throw the ball at the cup or send your ball up a massive plinko wall and catch the ball in a basket to set up your next putt. Step into a party bus and watch the disco lights go off as you attempt to get into the correct cup to send the ball out of the exhaust pipe and if you’re lucky, into the cup. On one half of the course, you could take a tube slide down from the start to the lower part of the hole where you get to watch your ball come down a different plinko wall. Are you feeling like this is a lot and an overwhelming amount of creativity for 36 holes? Well, you are correct but if you have a large fun-loving group, you’ll have a blast.

As you’ll see in my “cons” list below, this course is not as fun if you playing it solo and/or are a fan of conventional mini golf. Additionally, both courses are self-serve so that as soon as you pay your entrance fee, you can play either course as often as you’d like. This is not ideal during peak hours. I visited on a weekend evening, and the two courses were inhabited by at least 200 people. This meant long waits between holes, especially on the more difficult holes and/or the holes that have interactive elements that each member in each group plays multiple times before taking a putt. I made my best effort to hop between groups to attempt to experience each hole but in some cases, multiple groups were waiting at every hole so I didn’t play the fun-looking swing hole, the disc golf hole, or the one where you throw balls at lights on a wall. I’m eager to go back to North Carolina to play this and other ParTee Shack locations but I would make sure to go with a group of people during non-peak hours.

I included videos of YouTubers NC Family of 3 playing both of the courses so you can see each of the holes being played in full as I was not able to capture much on video myself.

When the ball travels across the ceiling 30 feet from the last hole back to the clubhouse through this wild set of tracks. Already know I’m in for a wild mini golf experience.
Ready or not, I’m rolling solo into these two courses
Started off with the yellow course. Self-serve putters, no tee times and it’s BUSY 
Novelty gameplay kicks off on Hole #1. You spin the wheel to get which pipe you’ll drop the ball down. 
The yellow pipe your ball down the left wall towards the cup. Other pipes leave you with longer putts
Land in the red cup and add +2 to your score. Clever gameplay modifier.
This carnival game determines your tee-off position. The wait time at this hole was long when I visited
Each person gets 3 attempts and needs to complete the task within 30 seconds.
A cup in the middle of the hill for the average person is super challenging. Definitely a bottleneck hole.
Use your putter as a pool cue to start the hole. Seen this concept before but is always well-received
Make it from the halfpipe into the narrow track for an ace but wrong pace and you’ll potentially play from 15 feet away at the end of the green path on the wall
Cup is behind the game but you start off by trying to land in the small holes pinball style
A view from above of the chaos on both courses from the middle of the yellow course
In this upper level, you play a challenging switchback hole to start
The 2nd hole on the upper level has you putt to a cup in the middle of the floor
You can take the stairs or tube slide to the lower level to get to your ball
You release your ball into the plinko wall to get your next tee position
After a beer pong themed hole, your next theme is chess where you can move the pieces to block your opponent’s shot
Tee-ball hole modifier
And after a bowling-themed hole, you are challenged with a cup at the top of the hill in the middle of several humps. Can be a bottleneck and challenging for your average putter.
We’ve seen a few foosball-themed holes but this is the first we’ve seen that plays like this
Whack the ball up this half loop to the other side of the hole. Reminds me of a Holey Moley Season 1
Your disc golf skill determines your tee position

NC Family of 3 on the Yellow Course

After playing nearly all of the yellow course, I hopped to the blue course.
Croquet themed and if you get it through all the wickets, you take -2 off your stroke total
The fog was a nice add-on to this spaceship-themed hole
We’ve seen quite a few skee-ball-themed holes and this one played quite well
The ideal skill shot landed you on the yellow track next to the wall and near the cup. Other paths leave you with a much longer putt to the cup
Start by hitting a button to send your ball to the top of this plinko wall. You then use control a basket at the bottom of the wall to catch the ball to set up a better placement on your next shot.
Seems fitting to have a party bus at ParTee Shack
Lights flash on when you go inside. The hidden hole on the right-hand side of this picture takes your ball out of the exhaust pipe and near the cup. The other path leaves you with a harder putt.
You throw balls at this wall as the gameplay mechanism. Watch the video below to see how it works.
Jam-packed on a Saturday night
Get the ball in the right section to get near the hole. You’re starting to see a pattern by now, right?
Basketball themed hole gameplay rules
Stand on the cup and make a long-distance basketball shot and you get a zero. Otherwise, you start the hole wherever you made the best of your 3 attempts. Also, a massive loop on the adjacent hole
Never played this interactive game. Line was too long
A challenging ant hill/volcano hole that has a +2 red cup behind if you don’t feel confident in making the skill shot below Ant-Man
Hole #17 has a tough cup placement in the middle of the hill that you can make from above the hole or below. You have the option of playing into a +2 red cup. In the middle of the photo, you can see the massive incline final holes for each course. The right putt takes your ball up into the ceiling!

NC Family of 3 on the Blue Course

Left this place exhausted but entertained
The indoor go-kart paths looked super impressive as well

3712 S Holden Rd, Greensboro, NC 27406

ParTee Shack Greensboro Website

Pros

Creative non-mini golf gameplay and modifiers
Well-built obstacles and shoot-throughs
Fun and playful atmosphere
Fun variety of hole designs

Cons

At peak times, courses can be chaotic due to lack of tee times
A few holes are quite difficult for the general public
Several game modifiers create long waits during busy times of day

Nerdy Notes

  • 2 18-hole courses.
  • Single price to play both courses: $15 Adults (13+) | $12 Ages 3-12
  • Everyone self-selects their putters and balls at the start of each course
  • Other amenities include food and an arcade
  • There is a ParTee Shack location in Raleigh, NC with many similar holes/gameplay
  • This location opened in May 2023

 

You may also like