Miniature golf combines the challenge and precision of golfing with all the fun of using regulation-sized shrink rays on your friends. Minimize boredom with today’s Groupon: for $18, you get four games of mini golf for up to four people and four ice creams or sodas at Southwest Golf Ranch in Lebanon (up to a $36 value).
To attract players who prefer a smaller game, Southwest Golf Ranch tucks an 18-hole miniature golf range into its 2.5-acre driving-range facility. Dotted with colored flags, tiny lakes, and wooden bridges, the course brings to mind the fabled plains of Scotland, where the game of miniature golf was invented. Available hazards include sharp inclines, sudden twists, and unexpected slopes, which promise to foil even the most hardened golfers. During the game, family-friendly competition dramas unfold before winding trails and rolling hills, forging great alliances or deep rivalries depending on how many people cheat and how successful the cheaters are at cheating. After the scores have been tallied, regroup and share tales of putt-putt’s glory days with a choice of either an ice cream or soda at the snack bar.
Southwest Golf Ranch
Golf balls soar above the driving range and roll over tricky putt-putt greens at Southwest Golf Ranch, a practice facility designed to help golfers improve the full spectrum of their skills. With 2.5 acres of bent-grass hitting areas and 20 heated, covered hitting stalls outfitted with synthetic-turf mats, the range lets players choose their hitting surface or conceal their swing adjustments from spy drones sent by rival golfers. The mini-golf course features colorful flags, Lilliputian ponds, and wooden bridges that arch throughout the 18-hole layout, which is lighted for after-hours play.
Helmed by PGA pro and Director of Instruction Kevin O'Sullivan, Southwest Golf Ranch’s staff of instructors puts the facility’s resources to use in lessons and golf camps. The resident aces groom golfers’ swings with the help of video analysis and FlightScope swing tracking, the same technology used in the Ranch’s club fitting studio, which pairs golfers with their ideal clubs without forcing them to meet random sand wedges on the Internet.