South Mountain Recreation Complex Safari Mini-Golf

We took another shot at making the rounds at the new mini-golf safari experience in town today.

Out in the bright lights, it was apparent where (literally) millions of dollars went in terms of building out this miniature golf course.  Sound effects.  Landscaping.  Numerous animals integrated into the course.  And that shiny trolley bus sitting out front…

The minigolf safari was at capacity – we waited for one other group ahead of us to begin.  After that it took us 35 minutes to make it all the way through.  Hopefully it would be at full capacity everytime we (or you) go to play the 18 holes in the wild.

I must say, though there’s a couple of things that came to mind as we worked our way through the entire course today:

• SIMPLE GREENS. While the place is certainly impressive, they could have been a little more creative with the actual playing field.  There’s a lot of razzle dazzle surrounding the course, but the actual greens aren’t as imaginative as could be. What do I mean by creative?  Check this out:
• SAND.  Because it is supposed to be “safari” themed, I guess they chose to put down sand instead of grass or mulch around the course.  But this is one of the most impractical things they could have done.  Just wait for heavy rains and that sand will be moving around *onto* the actual greens.  What’s more, people keep walking right through it and making deep foot prints everywhere.  One staff member was assigned to just go around and rake the sand clean — needless to say, she didn’t have a break the entire time we were golfing.
• GARBAGE.  They sell concessions at the main hut, $1.50 for a can of soda, $2.75 for a hotdog, etc.  But once you enter the course, there’s not a single garbage can.   How inconvenient.  I was so tempted by hole 12 to just leave my soda can on a bench.  But luckily the sand-raking woman was around to take the soda can off my hands.
• REPLAY.  On our last vacation, we noticed at the local mini-golf that when you’re done with the last hole, they upsell you with another round for just $2 more.  Here, they kick you off the course at the last hole (it’s actually the 19th hole where you loose the ball to the ball collecting grate in the ground).  If they’re going to hit the 1/4 million dollar revenue target each year, small upsells like this are important.
• REDIRECT. While this is part of the “South Mountain Recreation Complex” it’s all alone on the outside.   How about a 1/2 off admission to the zoo with your golf receipt?  Or free skate rentals with skate admission and your golf receipt?   There’s no cross sell signage, deals or anything!  At the very least, why not promote the other venues and vice versa?
• CONCESSIONS.  The concession desk is at the ticket booth.  But the seating area and the entrance/exit to the golf course is around the corner.  You’re probably more apt to buy the kids some ice cream or other treat at the entrance/exit of the course than you are when you are basically in the parking lot by the ticket booth.

OK, enough brainstorming for now.  Take a look at some pictures of the golf course safari in the daylight!