Gratiot Golf Center – Roseville, MI

Played on April 15, 2022

Reviewed by the Pink Putter

On a rainy April day back in 2022, we found ourselves in the Detroit area for our design and consultation work on Cranbrook on the Green. In our downtime, we of course wanted to play all of the mini golf in the area as we could possibly fit in. So we made the drive to Roseville, a northeast suburb of Detroit, to play Gratiot Golf Center. This course has a bit of history, which can be found over on RoadArch.com:

Jawor’s Miniature Golf, aka Jawor’s Putt-Putt Golf, is now part of the Gratiot Golf Center. There are two courses with vintage statues, as well as a driving range and pro shop. The mini golf opened in 1954. The elephant and gorilla were produced by Ben Robinson of the Plycrete Mold Co. which marketed many of its statues to mini golf courses in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the other statues here may have been produced by that company.

Rating

The golf center boasts “All-age golfing activities, from a driving range with 40+ tees to mini-golf, with an added pro shop.” We played on a chilly, rainy April day which probably didn’t help add to the ambiance. However, these two courses, which appeared to have once been full of kitsch and charm, had definitely seen better days. A fun assortment fiberglass animals and characters adorned each hole but everything was pretty run down. Torn turf, fallen over obstacles, chipped paint, rotted wood and broken walls. The game play was nicely varied and reminiscent of other late 1950’s to early 1960’s style courses. Although half a country away, it reminded me a bit of Farmington Miniature Golf in Farmington, CT. Since there are limited options in the area, this would probably be your go-to if you were looking to play mini golf.