Putter’s Paradise Miniature Golf Return to
Connecticut
Page
(860) 828-7518
Cost: $4.50
Par: Challenging- 48,
Obstacles- 39
Challenging Putting
Course
Difficulty: 10*
Creativity: 2
Atmosphere: 0
*see below for an breakdown of this number- in short this course was hard for all the wrong reasons
Putting Through Obstacles
Difficulty: 10*
Creativity: 2
Atmosphere: 0
2001 Review
Terrible. If we had to
describe this course in one word that would be it. The only thing we
liked about this course is that they gave you metal-head putters instead of the
normal rubber-head. The first reason this course is terrible is the
overall condition of the course. Much of the ancillary parts of the
course, such as the waterfalls or little rivers, are dry and any objects set
along this course (as opposed to the “Obstacles course”) are poorly constructed
and in disrepair. In many places the mats are worn down almost to
the concrete and there are seams showing on almost every hole. In
addition, there are many divots or canyons in which the ball can easily get
stuck. Much of this is due to the design of the drainage system on
this course. Instead of doing something real with the drainage, the
proprietors obviously felt that the easiest and cheapest solution would be to
make sure all the holes have a severe slope to them, and that the mat forms a
chasm in some places for the water to run off, or for a ball to get hopelessly
stuck.
This leads us to the second
problem of the course: hole design. On 90% of the holes on this
course, if you don’t nail the hole in the first shot, you’re doomed to at least
a 3, more likely a 4, 5, or 6. Granted this is supposed to be the
“challenging” course, but even great miniature golfers will find this sort of
challenge frustrating. Trying to hit a two after missing the first shot is
near impossible. Part of this has to do with the severe slope
mentioned above. If you miss the cup by a ¼ inch, you’re doomed to
watch the ball roll 15 feet, no matter how hard you hit it. If you
hit the ball a bit too hard or soft off the tee, it’s almost guaranteed to fly
over and land in a ditch or roll back helplessly to the tee. Any
skill you have won’t help you much on this course, save for a few flat,
decently built holes, but those are rare. Another drawback is that on at
least 50% of the holes, the cup is set on the top of a little mound, making
landing anywhere near the cup out of the question. If you don’t put
it in the hole, you’re easily looking at a 5-10 foot putt every single
time. There are no “tap-ins” on this course. One hole was
even designed so that the carpet was pushed about a ½ inch up the back wall so
that it is impossible to bounce the ball off the wall. Since the
hole sloped towards the back, unless you hit the ball right in off the tee, or
are lucky enough to get it away from the bottom of the hill and right into the
bottom of the cup, you’re doomed to a 5 or 6. Further proof of the
poor design of the holes is the “clumping effect” that we saw on nearly every
hole. This effect is simply that no matter where you hit the ball,
no matter how hard you hit it, the design of the hole brings all the balls to
the same spot.
What may be the worst hole on the
course is the “Criss-cross” of holes 5 and
15. Essentially these two holes form and “X” with tees on one end
and holes on the other, sharing the same green space. Now, this
causes a problem when two different groups arrive on this hole at the same
time. Because of the lack of signs to tell you what’s going on, it
seems as if you can shoot at either hole, causing a huge headache for everyone
involved. Players and balls get in the way of each other and the
place turns into a mess. There was no creativity at all on this
course, as most holes are just knock-offs of the standard mini-golf
holes.
It’s because of all these factors
that this course ranks a 10 in difficulty. However, we consider this
to be a bad 10 and not a good 10. The holes themselves are not
designed to be difficult in a good way, with fancy water hazards, sand traps or
other devices that we have seen on other courses. They are designed
to make you frustrated once you miss the first putt. Now, we know
this may seem like the disgruntled ramblings of a bunch of people who didn’t do
well, but it’s not. In fact, one of our group hit under par, and two
of our group hit within eight strokes of par. Basically, this course
is terrible and provides no fun whatsoever, especially when compared to the
rest of the miniature golf courses we’ve played (and the one down the
street). It’s so bad that we couldn’t even bring ourselves to play
its sister course. Stay away from this course at all costs; it’s not
even worth the lower than normal price they charge.
2005 Update
Yikes. So we tried
giving this course another go and it still was as bad as the first time we
played it. This time we started with the obstacle course and while
slightly better than the challenging course, we ended up with many of the same
conclusions (especially the clumping effect). The drainage system
was still flawed and many times I had to put my ball out of the drainage hole. We’ll
just say that after giving this course a second chance we won’t be playing
there ever again.
2011 Update
Putting Through Obstacles
Difficulty: 4
Creativity: 4
Atmosphere: 5
We are pleased to report a far
better experience on this course than in past years! We played one of the courses again as part of
the Putt Putt for Charity Mini-Golf Tournament
sponsored by American Eagle Federal Credit Union. Even though we have some of the same
complaints about some of the carpets in disrepair, the drainage holes, and the
chance that your ball will bounce out of the cup; we did find the obstacles were is very good condition.
Overall we had a some-what enjoyable
experience. (Of course it didn’t hurt
that play was free with advance registration.)
We would still not recommend anyone go out of their way to play the
course, but we would recommend that any local family at least sign up for this
even next year. Not only are you
donating to a good cause, you also receive free gifts, such as a lunch
bag. There are also other family
activities, which include go-karts, bumper boats, and a batting cage.
Reviewed by Pat, Mandy, Putt,
Michelle, Ryan
Reviewed in 2001, 2005 & 2011
2011 Pictures
Map
Cost: $5.75
Par:
Challenging- 48, Obstacles- 39
Obstacles
Difficulty:
5
Creativity:
7
Atmosphere:
7
Putting through obstacles - Liked this course because I enjoy the courses with traditional mini golf obstacles. The obstacles were fairly standard but I thought the way the slopes were incorporated was rather creative. Did not see any problem with drainage. Staff was quite helpful for this type of facility - since it was not busy I was allowed to play both courses for one price - but found the putting challenge course not worth the bother.
Reviewed by: Glenda R
Reviewed in 2017
Cost: $4.75
Par:
Challenging- 48, Obstacles- 39
Obstacles
Difficulty: 5
Creativity: 5
Atmosphere: 7
After reading all the previous reviews of this course I expected to be in for something terrible. Boy, was I surprised! We enjoyed an afternoon on the obstacle course. Maybe the course has been fixed up recently. All the greens were in great shape with beautiful green carpet. There were many obstacles such as windmills and ferris wheels that all functioned properly. The water was flowing throughout all the waterfalls and other water areas. This was fun course to play and had its fair share of challenges too. We did not try the putting course next to it, but will certainly be back to do so sometime.
Reviewed by: Roger Katz
Reviewed in 2010
1823
(860)
828-7518
Cost:
$4.75
Par:
Challenging- 48, Obstacles- 39
Challenging Course
Difficulty: 10
Creativity: 1
Atmosphere: 1
We agree with the previous reviews! This
should be called Putter's UnParadise...Our family of
4--(2 adults, 17 yr old and 9 yr
old) has been on a putt-putt vacation this week and has visited several
mini-golf courses in CT. This one by far
is the worst! It is out to rob anyone of a good time. We chose the challenging
course because the obstacle course was quite crowded with little kids. We finished all 18 holes with mostly 5's and
6's--(whereas just coming from Safari Golf down the road, our scores were rarely
in the 5's and the atmosphere was much more enjoyable) Putter's atmosphere
could use some sprucing up. The whale could
also use some water. Very pathetic!
Since all the holes are set up on a slope and just about every cup is up
on a mound, we were fighting a losing battle.
Also, several greens had areas of little stones that seemed to have a magnetic
pull that just lured the ball right into that area. It was a stroke penalty
right there to get it out and make it playable.
The balls often ended up together in huddles, with no room for a decent
putt. When we left, we all vowed never
to play there again. We would bypass this golfing nightmare and stay on course
to Safari Golf.
Reviewed by: Michele
Reviewed in 2008
Cost: $4.50
Par:
Challenging- 48, Obstacles- 39
Challenging Course
Difficulty: 1
Creativity: 1
Atmosphere: 1
You people were right on the money on this golf course. This course sucks majorly! There is hardly any shade to go under which is the worst part because it is only open in the summer when it is dieing hot out. I'm surprised no one had a heat stroke because it gets so hot out there plus it is on a hill. I totally agree with you guys when you say that it is a total waste of your money if you go to this course.
Reviewed by: Amy
Reviewed in 2004
Cost:
$4.50
Par:
Challenging- 48, Obstacles- 39
Challenging Course
Difficulty: 10
Creativity: 1
Atmosphere: 1
People will have bad comments about one of the courses at this location (the hard course) and I must agree with them as this course was designed by a masochist who obviously did not want to give anyone the opportunity of actually having fun with the exception of the first 3 holes and 18th hole. While the cost was
good, the course itself was devilishly hard even for a good player. Do not take any beginning players here or they will be turned off from miniature golf because they will not have any good scores and as such will only have fun if they enjoy getting 5's and 6's on every hole. Many holes were designed so that if you do not get a hole in one (not likely) you will get maybe a 3 or 4 and quite likely a 5 or 6. Very frustrating even for the good player. I will never play this course again because if was not fun and not well maintained - period. I would have more fun taking a hammer and smacking my head than playing the difficult course here!
Reviewed by: Marc, Lin, Milhouse, F.J and Scat
Reviewed in 2005