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Sadly, we find ourselves again at a course that isn't too good and not all that fun to play. Although its ratings show that it is better than some of the courses we've played, its proximity to
another great course makes playing here less than appealing. Unfortunately, this course is visible from I-84, which probably means that it does more business than it really should. However, this is why
we're here: to protect the everyday mini-golf fan from being suckered in by a bad course.
Let's start with the atmosphere, the only ratings section in which this course seems to try to put some effort into. It all begins with the staff at the ball and club booth. Although the guy was nice
enough, he came across as very indifferent and you could tell this was nothing more than an after-school job for him. This is better than some courses we've been at, but one really does like to see
people who enjoy their job and the game of mini-golf working the counter. From there the atmosphere tries to pick up with a decent job of landscaping around the course. At the very least this course
isn't the eyesore that some we've played are. However, even this takes a dip as you move around the course and find a few thorn bushes thrown in and a couple of places where the vegetation is slowly
taking over the hole. More negative points on the atmosphere scale arise with the occurrence of those dread holes in the carpet for drainage. As we've seen in other lower-end courses, this seems to be
the only solution to keeping water off the carpets. However, many other courses have found better ways and when we come across these drainage holes, it definitely doesn't bold well for the rating. Going
along with the water theme, the waterfall works but the little rivers that go through the course do not. The main problem here seems to be that the lake under the waterfall doesn't have enough water in
it to flow over it's edge, causing the movement of the rivers. This should be easy to fixed but when we played the course it was not. However, in another attempt to add some good to this course, there is
a miniature version of Castle Krieg that sits upon a hill in Southington/Meriden. Even though it is not used as an obstacle this dash of local color adds points, but there's even more downers to come.
There are three more small points that take away from the course atmosphere. The first is that there are no tee mats, which as a group we like to have on mini-golf courses. Second, there are flags in
every hole. Now, while that may seem like a nifty idea, it's a bit annoying when you have to keep pulling the pin. Third, some of the few obstacles and sand traps that exist are in disarray. A little
paint and upkeep from time to time wouldn't kill the owner of the course I'm sure. As Additionally, you can tell that the course has tried to move the cup placement from time to time because you can
easily spot where the old cup was. You can even pick up the section of carpet where the cup used to be. This makes for some nice ridges and strange putting if your ball happens to travel over the old
cup. As one final note on atmosphere, this course had no pars on the holes.
Difficulty on this course is about average. There's some hard holes and some easy holes, but nothing that really pushes the scale in one direction. However, we again found ourselves having problems rating
the difficulty because of such design flaws as the drainage holes which adds to the misery of some holes. Another point that wasn't mention above is that every hole slopes 3"down in the back where the
sidewalk to the next hole begins. Thus, if you over shoot the hole and get within about 6" of the back wall, rest assured you'll be back against the concrete. There is no saving yourself from the Golf
Quest dip.
Then there's creativity. Not much to say about that on this course because there is very little. There is one neat obstacle that almost guarantees a hole in one (except for myself of course) and nifty use
of a water hazard. Other than those two standout, one mostly finds oneself with lots of holes that are green and have a few bumps. This course also overuses the two-cups-for-one-hole concept. It's fine
to have something like that once and a while, especially if there is a penalty associated with one cup, but to do it 3-4 times on a course is ridiculous. What makes it even more confusing is that only
one cup has a flag in it. Does this mean we are supposed to shoot at that cup? If so, then what the heck is the other cup there for? Again, we always look for the good in the bad and yes, this course did
have a phallic hole. Chalk yet another one up for Mr. Freud.
As a last note to this review, it is only too fitting that Mandy nailed the free game hole on the final hole. Thus, we have a pass to a mini-golf course that we may never want to play again. Such is our
luck.
Pat Sheridan (2001), The Putting Penguin
Best score reported:
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