Chattahoochee Gulch course at The Fringe in Roswell, GA

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Played July 11-15, 2023

Reviewed by Mr. Tee

I traveled down to the southern part of the US to play in my first Putt-Putt (the specific orange rail / green carpet courses) tournament and play a variety of courses in the Carolinas that had been on my bucket list like Group Therapy. The main impetus for going though was to check out the newly added to the American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) scoring circuit, 2023 Putters League Championship, being put on by my Atlanta-based pals Bryan Akers and Amanda Farahany. It feels perfect to do share this review the day before the 2024 Southern Swing & AMA scoring event on the main tournament course, Chattahoochee Gulch.

Rating

For years I’ve been partial to the mini golf courses designed and built by the Castle Golf organization. They have built tons of well-themed mini golf facilities around the globe with many common themes like pirates, dinosaurs, and the Wild West. The Castle courses always have a good variety of holes where the ball has a fun and varied path to the cup and requires a good pace and aim to get a hole-in-one. The Chattahoochee Gulch course has immersive thematic environments with a wild west meets mining vibe throughout the course with a layout that works well for competitive events. There are a few novelty holes that have a bit more randomness that appeals to the public. There are a few trees on the course to provide some shade, especially during the summer months like when I visited. The turf on the course was fairly well-worn when I visited in 2023 but in 2024 they replaced the turf and all reports that it plays more consistently. The bonus of this course is that you’re very short distance from a movie theater so you can combo a movie and mini golf for the perfect date night. Definitely worth the effort to play if you’re in the Atlanta metro area.

The Chattahoochee Gulch course at The Fringe
The whole course has an old southern mining town theme which fits the region
Bryan and Amanda from Putters League Atlanta host lots of tournaments on this well-themed course
Kyle Cutshaw, owner of Mossy Creek Mini Golf in Tennesse, teeing off on #1
Susan and Kyle are taking on the tricky hole #4
Keep the pace down on tee shot so you don’t end up taking the 2nd shot below the cup. It’s nearly guaranteed to be a 3 if you fall below the cup
Danny Baddeley of North Carolina was painfully close on this shot and an absolute joy to play with in the last few rounds
Gary English teeing up this shot on #6 that can be a nice ace if you play at the right pace
Amanda Farahany trying to play the double rebound shot off the two rocks on #7
Amanda is joking about shooting a 4 as her partner Bryan tries to finish in 2.
Hold the line on your putt and this plays for a nice ace
Local competitor Jason Partyka walking towards the cup on this tricky little hole
Matt Finley looking to put the right touch on his tee shot on #13
Bryan Akers celebrating an ace I believe. Prior hole behind him is a tricky and fun shoot-through hole
Well placed obstacles and different colored turf add lots of subtle challenge to the course
If you can hit the right pace into this volcano, it can make for a possible ace
I had a blast in the scorching hot condition for 3 of the 5 rounds in the tourney with Matt Finley
Seasoned pro Gary Hester shares war stories from tournaments past
Amateur division player Gene Moore showing off his brand new American Mini Golf Alliance (AMA) membership card
Most of the pro players from the 2023 Putters League Championship
Gary Hester (left) took 1st place with a -12 and Gary English (right) took 3rd with a -2. These two have a combined pro putting background of over 100 years!
I was thrilled to come in 4th in this incredibly strong field and had a blast with Amanda and Bryan
Bryan Akers posed with the amateur division podium winners Al Tiangco, Alex Everett and Gene Moore
This is the crew of competitive players that call Mossy Creek mini golf in Tennessee home
The movie theater connected to the course not only has great theming but provides space to take a break from the heat during those long summer days

Area 51 Website

5100 Commerce Pkwy, Roswell, GA 30076

General Comments

Cowboy meets mining theme is well-executed
Fun variety of holes throughout the course
Additional course and movie theatre provide high-quality bonus amenities
Lots of little details in the buildings and storefront facades
Gameplay is very similar to other courses built by Castle Golf

Competitive / Pro Comments

Turf was replaced in late 2023/early 2024. In the video shared above, you can see where the turf was previously torn and beaten up
Spacing between bricks make them challenging and harrowing to use for rebound shots
Shoot-through on Hole #14 is completely random and can give you a hole-in-one or throw you in a position where you’re going to take a 3
Top level tournament scores are in in the low 30s
Public par for the course is 42 but the traditional par 36 is used for tournaments

Nerdy Notes

  • 18 holes. Par 42
  • MINI GOLF THURSDAYS! Play TWO courses of for the price of ONE!
  • One of two mini golf courses on the property. The other course is Dubloon Lagoon which has a pirate theme
  • The larger property includes the Aurora Cineplex, which has typical movie theater concessions and baked goods.
  • The Putter’s League Atlanta has held most of their tournaments on the Dubloon Lagoon course.
  • Rubber colored putters and colorful novelty balls are available

 

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