As a mini-golf in Maine (which there are not a whole lot of), I've played better.
Pros:
1) There weren't a whole lot of bugs/mosquitos
2) Putting surfaces were well maintained (although the "roughs" and "sands" were already starting to shed)
Cons:
1) The course was blasted out of bedrock, and it seems that the majority of the holes are putts UP the side of the bed rock, which is no fun. Also, the course crosses over itself, and can be confusing.
2) The "challenge" is not manufactured, but is supposedly due to the nature of the rock. But the whole point of mini-golf is to have fun, and be a little bit challenged. There are too many places where a missed putt would send you all the way back down to the start of the hole. It seems like way more luck than skill, where I feel that a mini-golf course should have a good mix of both. There should be holes where holes-in-one are possible, but....
3) The flags. I get what they are trying to do here - the flags make it "Feel" like a real golf course. The only problem is it's not a real golf course it's mini-golf. The cups are small enough that if the flag is in the cup, there is not legitimate way of scoring a hole-in-one on any hole. And the constant need to pull up the flag in order to put into it causes delays on the course.
4) On multiple holes, your ball can get stuck underneath an overhanging rock, making it impossible to putt.
5) No stand to set your scorecard down on to score the hole.
6) Not enough benches - and where there are rocks suitable to sit down on, there are signs saying NOT to sit on the rocks.
7) Putter organization is atrocious (See attached picture). They need a better way to organize the 4 sizes of putters. Even 4 colored bins to match the colors on the putters would be better that what they had.
8) The putting start areas had putting matts that were not put into the green, they were sitting on top - which makes putting from the matt more difficult because it's not a smooth putt.
9) The 18th hole is also the ball return hole. Which is different from every other mini-golf I've ever played, where the 18th hole is a normal hole, and you get a chance for a free game on the "19th" hole.
Overall:
I understand what they were trying to do - bring some mini-golf to the small town of Richmond. But I honestly think that this had no design in mind. It feels like instead of planning out a course and then blasting the bedrock, they did the opposite. Which means they couldn't control what the holes looked like or how they played. Which means uneven putting greens, and not many opportunities to have fun, when you are constantly putting up a slope, or missing putts because the ball is stuck, or the pin won't let it drop in the cup. read more