Vince’s Sports Center Return to Delaware page
(302) 738-4859
Price: $5 (for both
courses together)
Par: 41 (both
courses) Other
Activities: Indoor Batting
Cage, Par 3 Golf, Arcade
The Safari Trail The
Difficulty: 3 Difficulty: 3
Creativity: 4 Creativity: 4
Atmosphere: 6 Atmosphere: 5
These two courses are attached to a larger sports complex that includes a Par 3 course, indoor batting cages and an arcade. The courses are very similar in that they are cut from concrete forms. One course has a safari theme and the other course has a village theme. The comments that follow are common to both the courses.
One of the nicest things about these courses is that they are in a very nicely shaded area and the course does a decent job of keeping most of the tree bits off the holes (there was even a guy leaf blowing as we were playing). Both courses use the rubber mats for starting mats, which is not ideal but can be easily bypassed if one chooses. The free game hole also serves as the 18th hole for both the courses. Since the ball goes away, you have to wait until the end to play the 18th if you plan on playing both courses at once (though you might as well just mark 1 on the scorecard since that’s the only score to get). Also, the free game hole is very awkward and for the most part, with the exception of some small or more nimble people, there isn’t enough room for a right-handed person to stand and putt comfortably. When we played the first weekend of June there was only one of the three water props working, which was a drawback to the otherwise good design of the water running through the course. Overall the mats on the courses were in relatively good condition, but as you’ll see below the Village Course has some that were in some disrepair, though they didn’t interfere much with play. The courses also play very similar to each other. They aren’t tough and most of the obstacles are repetitive. For example, the Safari Course has many holes where all one needs to do is putt through the legs of an animal. On the Village Course, there are many holes where all ones needs to do is putt through a building (be it a barn, house, church, etc). Both courses also have some holes where one putts from carpet, to concrete, back to carpet again. This creates an uneven putt and some major bumps where the two materials meet. Finally, there was some poor draining in the cups themselves (many were filled with water a day after some rain) but the drainage on the course was adequate.
There wasn’t much specific to either of the courses. However, as we noted the Village Course seemed to have more mats with rips and tears than the other course did, but there didn’t seem to be any particular reason why that might be. In addition the Village Course had one hole where one needs to putt up a ramp in to a house. However (as seen in one of the pictures below) the ramp is warped and had a tendency to shoot the ball in the air so that it wouldn’t go into the hole in the house. It was frustrating to say the least.
In summary, as one can see by the scores, the two courses are fairly easy and not all that creative. However, the short falls of the courses are offset greatly by the fact that it’s only $5 to play both courses. This is quite a deal these days, especially since the courses overall aren’t that bad. While not a course that one needs to go out of the way to play, its worth stopping by now and then if you are in the area.
Reviewed by Pat, Liz and Putt
Reviewed in 2009
Course Pictures (click to enlarge)
Map