Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Mini-Golf Course Ratings (Last Vacation Post)


May Day Golf
4.5 golf balls

Nice course and wonderful back story.  A plane (on-site) has crashed in the jungle.  A Coast Guard helicopter (also on site) has come in to rescue them.  You are playing golf in this jungle.  The plants give privacy and authenticity to the jungle theme.  The music is fun and just the right volume.  The course has lots of twists and turns, hills and valleys, but no obstacles to maneuver under, around or through.

At the end of your round, when you check in your clubs and balls, the wonderful staff will ask if you had any hole-in-ones.  If you answer yes, they will ask if it occurred on a certain hole.  If your hole-in –one matches the lucky hole of the day, you win a free round of golf, good even if your return visit is the next year!

Prof. Hacker’s Dinosaur Adventure
3.5 Golf Balls

This course was very challenging, almost too challenging.  Interesting dinosaur facts were posted along the way.  There were some rocks for obstacles, but little variety from hole to hole.  There was no music playing and no chance at the end for winning a free game.

There are lots of bumps and dips on this course.  Watch your swing, one of our golfers had to go to the parking lot to fetch one of his errant shots.
With so many mini golf courses available, this is not high on the “do over” list.


Treasure Island Golf
4.0 Golf Balls

Very nice, well kept up course.  The theme for the course is based on the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Quotes from the book are posted among the holes to describe how the hole ties in to the story.  This was a fun course.  Challenging, but not so impossible that the boys couldn’t get a hole in one.  Matter of fact, everyone got at least one hole in one on this course.  Very fun, lots of variety, and if you have read the book, a little educational.  A definite “do over”.

Spy Glass
5.0 Golf Balls

A sister course to Treasure Island, this course is also very well maintained.  Captain Long John Silver has ransacked and now protecting this “island”.  As you play amongst the lush bushes and rocky terrain, cannons are fired, whistle over head, and land in the lagoon as pirates attack and defend. 

This fun course leads you through caves, across boats, up and down hills.  This was the second mini golf course we played that day and it was well worth the trip!

Molten Mountain (Pele’s Revenge – Outside Course)
5.0 Golf Balls

This Hawaiian theme course is mini golf with a twist! This fantastically fun course has great music and challenging holes, but also every few holes has a spinner next to the tee-off area.  It is your choice to spin or not, but this crew highly recommends, urges, strongly suggests (get my point?) that you do spin and follow the instructions the arrow points too.  You will find yourself being an obstacle on the course, using your club upside-down, trading ball positions and even scores with other players. 

If you decide to use the spinners (please do!) it is not always the best golfer who comes out ahead, but everyone will have a great time playing and laughing from start to finish!


Molten Mountain  (Lava Louie’s Challenge – Inside Course)
4.0 Golf Balls

This course educates you on the terminology of volcanoes, since it is set “inside” one.  This course is a little dark and the atmosphere is a little frightening for the young golfers.  It is fun and the holes are different and challenging.  The music is fun but only plays on the first level of this two level course.  Upstairs is a little eerie. Without the music, you can hear the rattling of the air conditioning.

We would play this course again, after the outside course.  Inside does not have the fun spinners that add so much to the game.

Capt. Hook
4.0 Golf Balls

This course is based on the book Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie.  Quotes from the book are posted every hole or so.  Statues of the characters are present among the well kept holes.  Even Tinkerbell makes an appearance trapped in a small glass lantern as a hologram.  The Tick-tock Croc is still after Capt. Hook while Tiger Lily sits in her boat waiting to be rescued.

The holes are tricky, but fun.  We enjoyed them all with the exceptions of 16 and 17.  Both of these holes have what we call the “anthill” effect- the hole being at the top of a small hill with little space at the top where your ball can rest.  The best score any of us got on these holes was the course max of six. 

We placed this course high on the “do over” list for the next time we visit Myrtle Beach.

That folks is our vacation in a (large, I know) nutshell.

No comments:

Post a Comment