In Search Of Mini-Golf

We found ourselves searching for mini-golf this weekend.  You see, I spent a significant portion of my childhood in Southern California.  My memories include the beach, Disneyland, strip malls, sixties ranch home communities, freeways, and mini-golf.  I left California in 1992 for Tacoma.  Whenever I returned to visit family or friends, I would stop by my ‘golf course.’  The games in the arcade changed.  Where I used to play Centipede, then Dragonslayer, was Dance Dance Revolution.  The course was looking a bit more rundown as the years passed.  The three fiberglass dragons needed some love.  Generally speaking, it seemed to age with me and my memories were intact.

Several weeks ago, when we were in Southern California, for my brother’s wedding, we decided to stop by my mini-golf course and play 18 holes.  We drove down Beach Boulevard.  Then we went too far.  I missed it.  We turned around and drove back the other way.  I couldn’t find it.  Then, I saw it.  Where my mini-golf used to be was a half built mixed use building with three levels of commercial space and one level of retail.  Behind it, on my preferred ‘back eighteen’, was an apartment building.  Oh, sad. 

After we got back to Tacoma, we were determined to try a bit of local mini-golf.  Determined to get outside this weekend, we made our way to Tacoma Firs Golf Center on South Tyler.  Tacoma Firs has a small 18 hole mini-golf course.  It was interesting to see a course that tried to look natural.  Our courses in Southern California were Technicolor with blue, red, purple, and green grass.  The water was nearly always sky blue.  The obstacles and ‘buildings’ were nearly always taller than us – like a miniature city. 

Tacoma Firs is a more natural course.  The water features look like creeks.  The ‘grass’ is green.  The obstacles are designed to look like trees, gravel pits, and sand traps.  How novel.  The course doesn’t have any active obstacles like windmills, swinging poles, or drawbridges.  The course doesn’t have large hills or sweeping curves.  It’s a simple course with simple objectives.  The water traps are real.  Twice my ball hit rock obstacles just right and bounced off the course and into a pond with tremendous bravado.  While not the type of course I grew up with, it was still a decent game of putt-putt.  We’ll try it again.  At the same time, however, we’ll keep looking.

Anybody up for a round?

Link to Tacoma Firs Golf Center

p.s. Yes, I know that there’s mini-golf at Tower Lanes (or used to be at least).  That doesn’t count…