Twelve dollars. That is all it requires to have an afternoon to talk about many years later. No booking at a resort or a passport or a complex program. Nothing but a putt putt places near me, a ball, and somebody to bother.
Putt putt is a game with this image as the game of children. That reputation is wrong. Adults are no less competitive -and occasionally, conspicuously so. Something about that little ball that will not drop causes some very personal feeling in even the most mature humans. The course is turned into a battlefield. Friendships are tested. Scores get disputed. It’s wonderful.
In fact, to find a good course, one needs to do some research. A search of putt putt near me results in a long list being displayed almost immediately, yet the first in a list is not necessarily the best. Read reviews as opposed to being obsessed with star ratings. Individuals that state whether the barriers are operating effectively, how slender the grass is below foot, or whether employees are mindful – those critics are worth believing. The 4.2 rating with 900 reviews obliterates a 5.0 by eight happy strangers.
An action that most people avoid at all times: pick up the phone. A phone call is enough to know whether walk-in is possible, the duration of waits in the afternoon of a Saturday, and the option of group pricing. Two hours of standing about in frustration is equal to two minutes of talk.
All courses do not appear the same on the outside. Others are embedded within huge entertainment facilities – go-karts buzzing along, the sound of the arcades pouring out, battle cages in the rear. Others are independent locations, quiet next door to laundromats and sandwich shops, and have been doing the same charming menu since the early nineties. Spots that are independent have an added value. History, maybe. Or simply excellent old time appeal that cannot be copied by a franchise store.
Black light evening rounds are different. Radiant balls, painted barriers which appear to breathe in UV light, a certain kind of anarchy that is never quite generated in the daytime courses. At least worth trying once particularly when out on a date or during a birthday.
Younger kids on the trip? Search narrowly in the case of shorter layouts. There is a reason why there are nine holes. Eighteen holes is a test of adult patience–with a five-year-old on the trail, it is beginning to seem a little eternity since hole twelve.
You will be occasionally deceived by weather. Outdoor courses are normally closed during heavy rain, though the light overcast days are genuinely the ideal conditions to play. Grey air, vacant course, zero sunburn. Hidden gem situation.
Pick up a club. Swing with intention. The rest handles itself.