I don’t golf, but I do enjoy a rousing round of putt putt. This week, we are counting down my top three miniature golf themes.

Miniature golf is one of my preferred vacation activities. It’s a little absurd but always fun. I’ve been known to get a hole-in-one and a triple bogey (or higher) in the same game. Plus, there is the inevitable need to chase a ball when it bounces out of play and down a concrete path.

The best thing about miniature golf is the themes. The overall theme determines what each hole looks like. Are there water or sand traps? What about tunnels? Is an animatronic going to block my shot? What are the odds I need to make a blind shot that goes down multiple levels of track?

I love seeing the details of design come out and I always give bonus points for a water cannon.

Blacklight

One could quibble that blacklight is a style of miniature golf and not a theme. I argue that blacklight is its own theme because the best ones use blacklight to design the entire space. Blacklight is used to shape the holes. Obstacles are obscured using light versus dark shapes. The walls are painted in various colors and most places have parts that move to enhance the trippy experience. There are even glow in the dark balls.

Blacklight is great because it gives you a full sensory experience. It can feel like you’re underwater or out in space. Lots of places will pipe in music or smoke to heighten the darkened experience.

An added bonus to black light, is that these are all indoors. The air conditioning is a wonderful option on hot days.

Old West

Give me an excuse to bank a shot off of a tilted over mining cart any day. Old West mini golf is like a cartoon. It goes out of its way to pull things from high noon films and Wile E. Coyote’s habitat. Lots of cacti, fake tumbleweeds, weathered wood, and corrugated metal.

Inevitably, there will be train tracks, a mine shaft, and an old town wooden façade main street. I once played a hole where you had to knock your ball into a water wheel which carried it over to the next part of the course. It was awesome!

Old West excels when you can hear a storyline as you walk through the game. I love hearing tinny saloon music and about standoffs at high noon.

Plus, there are often places for photo shoots. You can put yourself in jail or sit on top of a crate of dynamite.

Pirate

Nautical based courses are, by far, my favorite. These courses almost always include a hole played in or on a ship, water cannons, and cages of skeletons. I love that you often get to walk behind water falls and bounce your ball through caves which contain buried treasure. Sometimes you luck out and get a course with animatronics of pirates popping out of barrels, drinking rum, or chasing wenches.

The best thing about pirate mini golf is that even the paths get in on the game. You get to walk across “rickety” wood bridges and enjoy the spray of fountains. There are always wooden pier posts wrapped in rope. Rocks hide speakers which pipe in “yo hos!” and “arrrs!” The music is jaunty and the landscaping lighting really brings the place to life at night.

While I love the courses themselves, the pirate theme screams vacation to me. When we’re at the beach, I always track down a pirate course to play. In fact, I’m already scoping one out for our vacation next week.

We are going to be on vacation so there is no My Top 3 next week. Our regular posting schedule will resume of Thursday, August 18, 2022 and we’ll be counting down my top three office supplies.

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This post is a part of the free preview. My Top 3 will go behind a paywall on September 1, 2022.