*Closed as of July 2010*
Cascade Miniature
Golf Return
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955 Portland Rd
Saco, ME 04072-9675
Par: 45 Other
Activities: Driving Range
Price: $2.50
Difficulty: 6
Creativity: 5
Atmosphere: 4
At first this mini-golf looks like it’s in the front yard of someone’s house, which really isn’t all that far off. It appeared that whoever ran this miniature golf and driving range lived right on the property, which is very convenient for keeping an eye on all your goods. The course itself is nothing terribly special, although it did have one nifty obstacle and a couple different ideas thrown in there.
We’ll start with the good side of the course and to do so, we’ll begin with that obstacle. Most of the obstacles on the course were normal fair, nothing too exciting. This one, however, combined the fun of a windmill with something a little more hypnotic. Essentially, it was a wheel with a twirling design painted on it (think one of those spinning things that supposedly hypnotize people). At first, we thought it was nothing more than an optical distraction because it didn’t appear to come close to the ground. After watching it though, we noticed that it was actually set a bit off center so that it did come right down to the carpet for a few moments during each rotation. This made it quite an interesting obstacle because not only did you have to time the wheel, but looking at it made it difficult to do that timing. The course also had a new design for a hole with a version of the Valentine’s Day arrow through a heart. It looked like it was a newer hole (at least the carpets looked newer) and it was definitely a design we had never seen before. Also, on the bonus 19th hole, the course rules give you not one, but two chances at landing a hole-in-one for a free game. Very generous of them, if we do say so.
Now for the not so good side. To begin with, most of the major features on this course are in rough shape. The carpets are worn, it has those despicable metal cups for the holes, most of the obstacles are in need of some maintenance and there is great inconsistency in the starting areas (sometimes there’s mats, sometimes there’s not). None of the water was working the day we were there and what little water there was on the course sat around in stagnant pools. The holes also could have used a set of numbers on them to make it easier to follow as you’re moving around the course.
On the upside, the owners do seem to be putting some money
into updating this course. There are all
new stands at each hole to put your scorecards on while filling them out and
there was before-mentioned new carpet on the heart hole. It may be a slow process, but at least there
is an attempt to better things, unlike some courses we’ve visited. One final plus note, as with any good coastal
Reviewed by Pat, Mandy and Putt
Reviewed in 2002
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