You know that quote about sex, attributed to both Mel Brooks and Bill Clinton, that even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good? I always felt the same could be said about miniature golf.
Or to borrow from another cliché if golf is a good walk ruined, then miniature golf is a good walk with windmills, astroturf, and silly structures.
For someone who’s never teed up on a regular golf course, I’ve had a long love affair with its miniature cousin. But for some reason Miami has always slacked in providing courses compared to other Florida cities. There was one in Crandon Park, that was running in the 1970’s, but by the time I was sentient, the course was barren. You could still play on it if you brought your own clubs and balls, but there was no maintenance nor rentals.
If you drove out by the Mall of Americas, Castle Park existed with its two mini golf courses, but that shut down in the 1990’s.
I’ve recently learned that there’s a Palmetto Mini Golf down in Palmetto Bay, which I haven’t tried, but looks to have very affordable rates. So I guess I’m not as passionate about miniature golf as I thought I was when I started writing this.
But when I was given the opportunity to take advantage of a pop-up mini golf course in Fort Lauderdale called Pixar Putt, I packed up the family and rushed out for the hour drive north. The 18 holes are on Las Olas Boulevard, overlooking the ocean.
Each of the 18 holes is themed around a Pixar movie.
My favorites were the Italian town based on the movie Luca and the delicious looking wooden food you have to maneuver the golf ball around meant to remind you of Ratatouille. The final 18th hole has a “special effect” where you putt into the house from Up, then a worker has to spin the crank so the house flies to another green.
The course isn’t large. Each hole is confined into a relatively small space, so our party of three finished up within an hour. But it was an hour filled with enough laughter, that it had me looking up where else we can mini golf around town.
