Participating artists:
Kate Wosleger, Aeriauna Blanton, Lisa Pereiras, Ryan Sabean, Seamus Gallagher, Becky Dietch, Justin Martin, Caroline Mockler, Chris Gilmore, Maria Pistorino, Sam Bishop, Jennifer Willis, Jean Carlo Penaloza, Deon Blackwell, Jim Reiman, Sabrina Hughes, Sara Jones, Adam Kitzerow, Ariana Durkin, Sara Futch, Stacey Brown, Rafael Martin, Shawn Palyswiat, Robb Fladry, Aisha Tazi, Erica Mims, Don Compton, Charles Sommer, Phillip Jacob, Andy Nigon, Carmen Tiffany, Neil Bender, April Childers, Vincent John Kral, and Greg LeSar.

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Space: the final frontier.

These are the voyages of Putt Plug – A Miniature Golf Review Blog. Its mission: to explore strange new mini golf courses, to seek out new themes and innovative gameplay; to boldly putt where no one has ever putt before.

Sadly, our expectations were in the exosphere, while the reality of Lunar Golf was firmly planted on earth. Quel dommage.

Lunar Mini Golf is located in a storefront of the very strange Lakeland Square Mall. It is a relatively new course, open only since May of this year when Steve and Barry’s, the previous tenant, declared bankruptcy. It is comprised of only one large blacklit course, complete with glowing balls, putters, obstacles and a bonus Plinko-style prize hole for the grand finale. With two automatic replays if you so desire, It goes without saying that Lunar Mini Golf is a really good deal, especially if you have the stamina to play even one more round of the same grueling eighteen holes.

It’s obvious that Lunar moved in and set up shop as quickly as possible with only minor concern for covering traces of the previous occupant’s layout. One half of the store looks pretty good, but the other half clearly bears the marks of missing store displays, paint splatters on the carpet (yes, visible even with the lights out), and a messy paint job where the walls meets the ceiling. Surely, the owners of the franchise expected to distract visitors with the outer-space paintings and with the simple inability to see very much under ultraviolet fluorescent bulbs. In the end, however, the state of the room housing the last seven holes makes it seem like the designers had simply checked out.

Even the theming seems a bit rushed and oversimplified – the only references to the cosmos are mediocre neon spacescapes drawn on black corrugated plastic sheets. Seriously, space is one of the very few themes that just makes sense in a blacklit environment and would be easy to execute on a spectacular level (Moon-surface floor? Glow stars on the ceiling? A cohesive programme of interrelated paintings? Appropriate music? OR, the paintings as windows from the space station that you’re in, complete with imitation metallic walls and floors! Come on people!). Imagine how great an intergalactic-themed course could be if treated with the minute attention to detail of, say, Monster Mini Golf. Needless to say we were a bit disappointed by all of the missed opportunities at Lunar. Even the “Deep Space 9” painting and the funny alien at the front who “came to putt” could not redeem our opinion of the theming.

The size of the facility might have also impacted the gameplay as well by affecting the individual green size.  In order to fill the store, the greens needed to be longer and more elaborate – entirely too long and overly elaborate if you ask us. We weren’t told the par for the course, but when you see a maximum stroke limit of 8, you know you’re in trouble. The distance between the tee area and hole is quite drawn-out and you must work your ball around several corners and through some obnoxious obstacles – small tunnels, bridges, barriers, ramps and dips. This overly complicated design seems to be common for indoor courses, though. You can forget about getting a hole-in-one at this course, which, for us, takes some of the fun out of the experience. There is no point in trying to figure out how to beat the obstacles here because the holes are not designed for that. In fact, some of the holes are so nonsensical that we wonder if Lunar’s planners have ever played at a more traditional course.

It’s possible that many of our observations are inherent to the opening of a new business. If Lunar Golf is around long enough, maybe they can spruce it up a bit more. But, we don’t really know how solid the future of Lunar Mini Golf is – when we asked a mall employee where it was hidden, she asked if we were sure it was still open. The best thing that Lunar has going for it is the affordable price and lack of nearby competitors. Is that enough to keep it in orbit?

(By the way, if you’re looking for it, it’s near the Dillard’s that sells men’s clothes. Yes, there are two.)

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Goofy Golf

In the late 1950’s a man named Lee Koplin imagined a mini golf course that leaped beyond the standard greens of his time, a course that was more like an amusement park or funfair – “a world of magic.”  Inspired by the mildly themed Tom Thumb courses that he had seen throughout his life, Koplin’s dream led him to experiment with the idea of theming each hole, creating mini golf courses that featured larger-than-life concrete structures and obstacles, such as massive Easter Island heads, sphinxes, dinosaurs and rockets.  He dubbed these magical courses “Goofy Golf.”  Koplin opened a Goofy Golf course in Mississippi between 1957 and 1958 before he decided to head to Florida to open a bigger, better, and weirder Goofy Golf in Panama City Beach in 1959.  It was his magnum opus, containing two uniquely designed 18-hole courses.  Koplin started a trend that spread across the country as competitors followed his example, ultimately transforming the classic grown-up Club activity in to an immersive, fun-filled experience that quickly became a staple of the American family vacation.  Koplin passed away in 1988, but his legacy course is still in operation and is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year.

Goofy Golf’s prime location on the beach in Florida’s panhandle has no doubt played a part of the course’s half-century of success.  Panama City Beach is the closest Gulf beach to much of the Deep South, making it popular for families and spring-breakers alike.  Before Orlando became the primary tourist destination in Florida, Panama City was the place to be. Goofy Golf delivers a pre-Disney, old-Florida, themed experience that is unique and relatively unchanged since it opened.

While those less interested in the historical value of Goofy Golf might find it outdated and generic compared to modern adventure courses, we would strongly disagree.  Its so-called ‘genericness’ arises because it is the prototype for the American mini-golf oeuvre.  Yes, you’ve seen kitschy statues at mini golf courses for your entire life, but this was the one that informed all others, and we can practically guarantee that this is still the strangest.  You can’t walk past the property without trying to see each statue (and we wouldn’t recommend driving past, because that’s unsafe).

Upon entering the parking lot visitors are immediately greeted by a large Chinese dragon head (that you can climb inside), a monstrous purple dinosaur, a giant monkey, a massive sphinx, and several other classic Koplin creations.  We were instantly intrigued by what we might find as we played through both of Goofy Golf’s 18-hole courses.

Needless to say we were not disappointed.  As we began the first course, we found something to new to look forward to at each hole – putting through a snapping alligator, a web-spinning spider, a golden Buddha (a fantastic take on the never-surprising multi-level hole), an octopus, and underneath a Tyrannosaurus Rex using a monkey as a yo-yo (yes, you read that correctly).  At the center of course 1 stands a nearly 30-foot tall concrete moai, most likely a cousin to the one found at Polynesian Putter, that you not only putt through – you can also climb the spiral staircase to the top of its head, granting brave adventures a bird’s eye view of the property and surrounding area, including the now defunct Miracle Strip Amusement Park.

We had so much fun playing our first game that we had to play the second course right away.  This course was probably more fun than the first – it had more playground-like activities between holes.  For example, before we even started playing we stopped to check out the innards of the purple dinosaur by the first hole.  One of our favorite parts of the entire complex was a massive subterranean cave connecting holes 7 and 8, complete with glowing black lit stalactites and stalagmites.

Both courses feature a variety of innovative greens that, with the right amount of skill and forethought, could result in a hole-in-one. But, figuring out the best way to achieve that requires significant creativity.  These holes have surprising tricks, even though they have been copied and reproduced for 50 years. We don’t want to give away any secrets, but let’s just say that the turtle obstacle on course 2 was one of the most deceptive holes we’ve played to date.  Even the few holes that lack an anchoring theme or kinetic gimmick usually require the discovery of some kind of trick shot.  Mastering these tricks could even pay for your next game if you can summon up enough skill to get a hole-in-one on one of the eighteenth holes – both of which depend on a putt into the mouth of one animal then up a ramp into the mouth of a smaller creature (or you can do what Sabrina did and just hit the ball really hard and hope it ricochets into the winning hole).  If executed properly, bells will ring, lights will flash and you’ll receive a free game pass when you return your putter. The fact that it is difficult, but possible, to get a good score and perhaps a free game is a huge part of the overall fun factor – something that many contemporary course designers don’t seem to understand.

Goofy Golf does show its age from time to time, but it’s still in better shape than Grand Prix.  The gift shop sells postcards from its heyday the 60s in which you can see that not so much has changed as has stayed the same.  For the most part, a little concrete-patching, some strategic paint, and lush landscaping would make the place look like new – and would make you feel like you had time-traveled to 1960.  There would be no mistaking Goofy Golf for a contemporary amusement, but it has so much more visual interest and compelling gameplay than Coconut Creek just down the road.

We did notice that a few sculptures and structures appear to have been recently repainted, so there has been significant effort to preserve Koplin’s vision.  With this in mind we hope that the mermaid that was once held in the giant octopus’ tentacle will someday return.

Visit Putt Plug’s Facebook fan page to see more photographs from this course.

As we entered vacant property we could almost feel the ghost of Putt Putt’s mascot Buster Ball welcoming our presence.  Okay maybe not, but it was eerie walking through the seemingly forgotten course, especially when the almost 3-foot black racer slithered by.  Even though most of the turf on the greens has rotten away you can still see the weathering patterns indicating where the carpet was glued to the cement. Sometimes you can see the color variations where a set of aluminum triangles would have created a narrow passage to the hole. There are still pipes that directly block a neat shot, and you can even see the bane of Sabrina’s childhood mini golfing existence – Putt Putt’s ever popular hole embedded in a slope.* This was the golfer’s mini-golf. No gimmicks, no theming, no moving parts – just a challenging game, where achieving a hole-in-one would give you the high honor of finishing out the game with an orange ball, the mark of mastery for all other players to see.

More perplexing than why the property hasn’t been resurrected or bulldozed in the past five years is why the business failed to in the first place.  It is literally within walking distance of Busch Gardens, for tourists, and is centrally located for Tampa’s locals. And, as is abundantly clear, it wouldn’t take much to have a better course than Grand Prix.

Ultimately, we believe that the decline of miniature golf in Tampa has occurred for several reasons. First, there has been an explosion of golf communities in the area – you can have a course literally in your backyard, if you can afford it. Eighteen new courses have been built in the last 20 years in the Tampa Bay area. While this doesn’t hold a candle to the boom between 1960 and 1980 during which 35 courses were built, the current existence of 64 public and private courses, many of which offer youth programs, within 25 miles of Tampa’s city center must have impacted the entertainment complexes. The availability of “real” golf courses for locals combined with the distinctly adult tone of Tampa’s major tourist activities (Gasparilla, the one-day annual pirate invasion that has recently expanded to encompass the entire month of February; Ybor City’s Guavaween, or Ybor City at any time really, whose closest relation is the French Quarter in New Orleans; three professional sports teams; world-renowned strip clubs where the six-foot rule is not strictly enforced; and a theme park with massive roller coasters and, until recently, free beer) in comparison to some of the nearby beach towns or Orlando doesn’t leave much of an audience for traditionally perceived “family” tourist activities like miniature golf. And of course, the rise of home-based entertainment during the last two decades probably keeps the youngsters indoors and online, especially in the sweltering Florida heat.

We don’t know what’s going to happen to the remains of the abandoned Putt Putt, but we are considering weeding out the holes and playing a couple rounds with the new natural obstacles before it gets paved and converted into another crappy strip mall.

Guerilla golf anyone?

P.S. If you’re afraid of snakes you might want to sit this one out.

Visit Putt Plug’s Facebook fan page to see more photographs of this course.

*To this day, I groan with despair every time I encounter an anthill-like hole on a small raised platform. They are my worst enemy. However, I have yet to see anything as malevolent as some of Putt Putt’s slope holes anywhere else. I mean, come on, placing the hole in a 45-degree 12-inch slope that ends at the back wall is just sadistic. – Sabrina.

Coconut Creek Family Fun Park

Located in Panama City Beach, Coconut Creek Family Fun Park consists of two 18 hole “adventure” style mini golf courses and a large plastic maze that your entire family could get lost in if you felt the $10.99 per person price was worth it.

At first glance, Coconut Creek is an attractive park.  It’s big, immaculately clean and well kept, beautifully landscaped with lush flowering plants, fountains and waterfalls, and features large animal statues perfectly placed for countless family vacation safari photos.  If you’ve ever wanted a picture of you and your grandparents posing between the legs of a family of giraffes and don’t want the hassle of finding a live giraffe family willing to let you do this – Coconut Creek is an ideal place for you.

On the other hand, if you want a challenging, worthwhile game of mini-golf in an exciting environment, you might be slightly disappointed.  While the course is large and seems exciting from the road, it is sort of expensive with no second-round deals, unless you count the $25 dollar unlimited mini-golf and maze package, which we weren’t really interested in – especially after playing though the first course which turned out to be somewhat boring.

Overall we felt that Coconut Creek was a bit too safe in terms of theme and gameplay.  The theming was Safari-lite, and the game play was overly simplified.  The animals were nothing more than giant garden statues.  We wonder how cool could it have been if a “Disney Jungle Cruise” style mechanical hippopotamus randomly emerged from some of the pristine artificial ponds?  Is it too much to ask for a pride of lions gnawing on a zebra carcass just to spice things up a bit?  As for the gameplay, the course consisted of fairly simple straight shot holes and surprisingly small greens with few tricks or surprises.  The only thing that would make them easier would be if Coconut Creek provided Smugglers Cove-like instruction plaques at the beginning of each hole.  Hole 17 was the most elaborate on the course featuring a multi-level green that will take your ball straight to the hole in one or two shots if gravity works out in your favor.

If anything the most exciting part of this park for us was the walk between holes where one might have to climb a set of stone stairs, walk past a statue of a gorilla, or underneath a waterfall.  If you’re tired, waiting because the next hole is backed up, or just playing at a leisurely critical pace and taking notes on a tiny clipboard, there are several places to relax and soak up the constructed scenery.  We noticed that there were a number of grandparents expressing their appreciation for these frequent rest areas.

There’s really not much else to say about Coconut Creek.  It seemed to be serving its purpose and making a lot of money doing so.  We observed a lot of families enjoying the park, cheering with excitement whenever they got a hole in one, and posing with the passive sparsely placed animal statues.  We have come to the conclusion that the simple game play seems to be par for family entertainment facilities like this one.  After considering how much it would cost to bring a family of four to Coconut Creek, we can understand how it might be rewarding for the keeper of the family wallet to leave feeling somewhat victorious if they can at least walk out with a winning score.

Visit Putt Plug’s Facebook fan page to see more photographs from this course.

]]> http://puttplug.net/2009/07/20/coconut-creek-family-fun-park-%e2%80%93-panama-city-beach-fl/feed/ 1 puttplug CC New Rating Coconut06 Coconut05 Coconut11 Coconut04 http://puttplug.net/2009/07/16/monster-mini-golf-new-port-richey/ http://puttplug.net/2009/07/16/monster-mini-golf-new-port-richey/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:59:57 +0000 Putt Plug http://puttplug.wordpress.com/?p=232 ]]> Monster Mini Golf
6429 U.S. Highway 19
New Port Richey, Florida 34652
(727) 849-GOLF (4653)
Priced by height: $5.50, $6.50 or $7.50 per person. The $7.50 “adult” price is based on the average 11yr old. Yes, this means that short people make out like bandits. Tiny monsters are free.

See website for discounts and specials (including free replay on Wednesdays) http://www.monsterminigolf.com/fran_fl_newport.html

We’ve been dying to try out this course since finding it by googling mini golf courses in the area. It’s a glow-golf franchise with locations across the country, but this one includes particularly Florida-themed monsters along with other graveyard ghouls.

Indoor golf comes with its own peculiarities that seem to be common to the genre, and Monster Mini Golf is no exception. While waiting for your compadres to putt there are very few places off the fairway to stand, so you end up constantly jumping from one wooden border box to another, avoiding being in the line of fire throughout the entire course. The attempt to maximize game play in a significantly smaller area than most outdoor courses means there are no rest areas between holes, and really no divider between one hole and the next, except a quarter-inch board with the next hole number painted on it. This place is built to move people in and out as quickly as possible.

Regardless, the course is highly entertaining and very challenging. There are two audio-animatronic robots, one of which (the giant troll) is pretty impressive when it goes through its several spiels and even stands up (his head touches the light fixtures).  The walls are painted with clever “scary” scenarios including a mummy interrogation, an evil looking rat and his broken down castle spoofing Florida’s most famous theme park resident, a haunted orange grove, a run-away roller coaster, and a giant dinosaur stomping a Florida neighborhood. All of the obstacles on the green (or “black” in this case) are either coffins appearing to poke through the floor, or some other appropriately themed creepy object. Our favorite was the recurring evil orange (the fruit, not the color) guy who kept showing up in various tableaux. The sponge monster was a rather nice touch too, given New Port Richey’s proximity to Tarpon Springs and its famous sponge docks.

Most holes have extremely long and angled fairways. There were no par assignments either at the hole or on the scorecard, so we will never know what an average score would be, but we did get a fair amount of 5′s, indicating either a shot sunk after much difficulty or taking the max number of strokes out of frustration. Primarily, the challenge of the course is simply that each hole lies around several right-angled turns meaning that if you mess up a couple of bank shots, your score could plummet. But, if you’re good at that kind of maneuver, you should have no problem cruising through this course.

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether the obstacle on a particular green has an “under” under it, or if its base is simply painted black and this may throw you off.  There are also two holes that are placed right in front of a fan vent that creates enough air resistance to push your ball away as if the floor was sloped, so watch out for holes 8 and 16, or just tap your ball a little harder than you normally would to sink it perfectly.

It seems that most indoor mini golf establishments exist equally as destination party venues, arcades, and location for light sport activity – Monster is no different. Their occasion rooms are stylishly themed with overstuffed chairs like you might find in a haunted mansion. Before you play, check the website for specials of which there are several throughout the week. And we definitely recommend keeping score. If you complete the game with that day’s “mystery score”  you get to spin the prize wheel to win free games, discounts, t-shirts and more. The staff/owners are friendly, and if you so desire, you can even get married under the ultraviolet light of the painted full moon – just make sure to send us an invitation.

Visit Putt Plug’s Facebook fan page to see more photographs from this course.

Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf

Smugglers Cove is one of Florida’s most popular adventure golf chains. It has five locations along the Gulf coast – all of which promise “rushing waters, mysterious caves, and waterfalls on mountainous tropical terrain for a truly unique Florida miniature golf experience!” Oh yeah, they also have live alligators.

We recently played a game at the Smugglers Cove in Bradenton. The facility does indeed provide visitors with all of the listed ingredients of “adventure.” Players will no doubt enjoy the journey from one green to another, as they putt their way past the live gators, through a pirate ship, across unnaturally-tinted greenish rivers and water falls, and in and out of the multiple caves scattered through out the course. We have to admit it was a pretty slick design – it was clean and well kept, well themed, and very easy to navigate.

The game-play is perhaps a bit too easy; we made more holes in one at Smugglers Cove than any other course that we have played at to date. It is obvious that each hole was designed to be played by children and adults – the holes are not too difficult and are quickly finished so that groups can move briskly from one hole to the next. There is a sign at each hole that give you a rhyming hint as well as a diagram that more often than not simply tells you to shoot in a straight line to from the tee to the hole. Generally, a good direct shot will put you near, if not in the hole on the first try, so if you are a more experienced player looking for a challenge, just go somewhere else. There were relatively few, if any surprises. The obstacles are basic slopes, poles, stones and crates, you know, all the normal trappings of a pirate lair. For the most part, these obstacles are more like decoration since they rarely contribute any interest, challenge, or entertainment.

Overall we thought the course was pretty, but boring and expensive. The special price for a second round is a good deal, but since this is only an 18-hole course, you’d have to play the same overly simplistic holes again rather than getting to try an alternate course like some facilities offer.

There are signs for deals and specials, including a free replay if you make a hole in one on the day’s mystery hole, all over the course which feels a bit tacky and detracts from the theme. There is no illusion hiding the fact they want you to keep spending money once you are in.

The alligator situation is a perfect example of such a money-making gimmick. There are signs everywhere reminding you to “Feed the Gators!” Despite Smugglers Cove’s self-proclaimed nickname, i.e. “the one with the gators,” it is really commonplace to see small alligators at Floridian adventure golf establishments. We were, however, concerned for the well-being of the gators at this course since they appear to be living in the same weird blue-green water that flows throughout the cove. Whatever chemical treatment keeps the water such a bizarre aquamarine color has also dyed the inside of the alligators’ mouths the same deep teal. And we can only hope that they get a real meal once in a while and aren’t depending solely on the doggie treats that you can buy to feed to them from a fishing pole for their sustenance.

Visit Putt Plug’s Facebook fan page to see more photographs from this course.

Polynesian Putter

Founded in 1967, Polynesian Putter is a classic 18-hole course located in St. Pete Beach.  The self proclaimed “Home of the Tiki” can be found attached to the friendly-staffed Sea Palms Hotel, where the massive monolithic deity confronts all that come to visit the tropical garden course. Just steps from St. Pete Beach, this is a perfect old-Florida vacation activity. Though we’re not certain of the provenance of these particular figures, the snake and moai statues are recurring themes in Lee Koplin’s Goofy Golf chain, the course that shaped American mini-golf from the 1950s until the 1970s.

While Polynesian Putter’s course is fairly basic in terms of its overall design, it is affordable and clean with a moderate challenge factor.  The cleanliness of the course and its overall condition were the first things we noticed when we visited.  All of the holes, with the exception of hole 8 had obviously been re-carpeted and bordered with new masonry.  Hole 8 looks like it belongs at Grand Prix, or a third-world country, but since it was the only one in such condition, it did not affect our overall rating of the course. In fact, it was a nice counterpoint to show what condition the facility could have been in.

The obstacles were commonplace and occasionally cute: the typical humps and rocks were sometimes augmented with bird baths, garden bunnies, and owl statues. All of the E-ticket statuary faces the street, of course, to draw in potential fun-seekers – a snarling tiger, crumbling man-eating snake, and Easter Island moai. For the most part, the themed statues do not contribute to or affect game play, though Hole 4 requires you to shoot through the giant “stone” head which is quite a challenge at night.

The game play was neither spectacular nor underwhelming. Polynesian Putter has no fancy tricks up its sleeve; what you see is what you get at this establishment, and though rather typical, it’s a moderately challenging course.  We were puzzled by hole 6, the mysterious two-hole snake green. We didn’t really know what was going on with that, but if you like to Choose Your Own Adventure, this hole will be your favorite. There are two difficult steep hills where you are certain to either underestimate or overcompensate on your swing. Overall, however, we averaged several strokes over par, which is par for us.

If you have no idea how to play mini-golf, there are convenient rules printed on the score cards and where you pick up your putter. Watch out for the mosquito-breeding cesspool at the back of the course – spend your time goofing off at the front of the property and run through the back half quickly to avoid being called dinner. Playing during the day might make you more focused on the shabby appearance of the scenery, but at night call it a vintage patina that can’t be beat.

Visit Putt Plug’s Facebook fan page to see more photographs from this course.

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