Golf is hard. And expensive. And there’s usually a dress code. Not the case with miniature golf. On the contrary, mini golf requires little money and even less skill. You don’t have to bring your own clubs, and you usually get to choose your ball color. Goofy pants are optional.

There are a number of mini golf courses on the Seacoast with various themes and levels of difficulty. In two marathon sessions, we visited all five courses in this area and assessed them based on a number of factors, including difficulty, creativity, ambiance, price and strength of theme.

While none of the courses around here are quite as wild as that one in “Happy Gilmour” with the taunting clown, they’re still good fun for families and friends of all ages. Like other mini sports, such as ping pong, foosball and air hockey, it’s a near injury-proof activity that requires little energy. And yet, it can still be highly competitive.

Chloe Johnson and I putted around at the Hilltop Fun Center in Somersworth and the Play On Fun Center in Kittery, Maine. Dover resident John Spoley later joined us at Sagamore Golf in North Hampton, Captain’s Cove in Hampton and Buc’s Lagoon at Hampton Beach. Our scorecards show that none of us are PGA material, and yet we each flashed moments of mini brilliance.

Rapid Falls

Rapid Falls miniature golf course is one of several attractions at the Hilltop Fun Center in Somersworth. The Route 108 venue also includes an arcade, laser tag, batting cages, Go-Kart tracks and, for golfers who prefer long shots over putting, a driving range. Mini golf is $6 for the first game, then half-price for subsequent rounds.

The grounds here are pleasantly landscaped with grass, shrubs and flowers spread across a hilly, winding course. The visual highlight is a waterfall that cascades over a rock wall and flows into a roadside lagoon. Above this waterfall, at the peak of the course’s central hill, a wooden gazebo offers a shaded respite.
The course incorporates a natural water theme, with some holes featuring narrow rivulets that, on at least one occasion, must be jumped. There’s a cool little whirlpool between holes 15 and 16, plus several other water hazards.

That’s about all you get in the way of a theme, however. Most of the holes are fairly straightforward, with rudimentary obstacles and phony sand traps. The hilly landscape allows for some sharp slopes, and one hole is exceptionally long and narrow, but other creative elements are at a minimum. Traffic noise from Route 108 and the nearby Go-Karts detract from an otherwise peaceful atmosphere.

The course is fairly easy, which is to the benefit of small children but not so exciting for serious mini golfers (if there is such a thing). All but two of the 18 holes are par 2s, while holes 11 and 12 are par 3s. I nailed consecutive hole-in-ones on 5 and 6 and also birdied one of the par 3s, but botched a few other holes and finished at an even par. Chloe got a hole-in-one on 16 but struggled early on and finished at plus 6. 

Shipwrecked Mini Golf

As its name suggests, this course features a prominent shipwreck theme that’s loads of fun. Located at the Play On Fun Center in Kittery, it’s got giant crustaceans, pirates, buoys and boats. Play On also has batting cages, a video gaming center and a Red Sox-themed restaurant, plus an ice cream stand by the first hole. Mini golf is $6.

The course is more compact and flatter than Rapid Falls, but it’s also much more cleverly decorated. The second hole, for example, features a ramp that leads into the mouth of a lobster, which then releases the ball from an opening in its tail. One hole is located just behind a 7-foot-tall pirate, while another is between two giant lobster claws.

Oars, buoys, fishing nets, propellers and other boat parts are scattered throughout the landscape, bolstering the shipwreck theme. One hole literally begins aboard an old wooden vessel. The course could use some maintenance, though, as the lobster is missing an antenna and a speaker affixed to a wooden carving is disconnected.

Play On’s location, though right off Route 1, is quieter and more out-of-the-way than Hilltop. It’s got a nice range of holes, with a mix of par 2s and 3s, and even a par 4 on 18. The most difficult and frustrating hole, however, is 17. It’s a simple, straight shot, but the actual hole is located in the center of a little hump. If you miss, the slope causes the ball to roll father away, increasing the likelihood that you’ll miss again. Both Chloe and I missed until we reached the stroke limit and gave up.

Chloe finished at a respectable plus 3 at this course, while I staggered to a dismal plus 10. I consoled myself with a cold root beer float from the ice cream stand.

Sagamore Golf

This mini course is a hidden gem off Route 1 in North Hampton. The property is better known for its vast driving range, which is visible from the street. The mini golf course is nestled behind a hillside that drops steeply from the road. It’s an exceptionally pleasant course with waterfalls, large rocks and even a cave. Plus, you can play as many games as you want for just $7—like a mini golf buffet.

There’s a nature theme here that makes you feel like you’re hiking over diverse terrain while golfing. The course forms a sort of maze with a high rocky peak, like a miniature mountain, overlooking other holes. There are several hollow logs (well, fake hollow logs) that form tunnels, a couple of which carry the ball over a stream.
There is one unusual feature at Sagamore Golf: Occasionally, a speaker disguised as a rock in the ground would begin blasting Bob Marley songs, which would then quickly fade out. None of us could figure out what, if anything, triggered these seemingly random bursts of music.

This was the first course where John Spoley joined us. He claims to have been known as “The Mini Golf Kid” as a child, which I find highly dubious. But he did win the game, finishing at 8 over par. I had an embarrassing double water hazard on hole 12, twice bouncing the ball off the green and into a pool of water. I was also responsible for a scoring miscue that drew undue wrath from Spoley (I apparently forgot to mark one of the holes). I knew then that this was a man who took his mini golf seriously. I finished at a lowly plus 11, and Chloe had her worst performance of the day at plus 15.

Captain’s Cove

Captain’s Cove is pretty much the king of area mini golf courses. The only clear disadvantage of this course on Route 1 in Hampton is that it’s often pretty crowded, forcing short waits between holes. But at $6.75 for the first game and $3.50 for subsequent rounds—plus soft-serve ice cream at the counter—it’s worth it.
With its powerful sea theme, this is the most professionally decorated course in the area. A virtual water park flows through the property with occasional falls and fountains. No hole is wasted, featuring anchors and mast heads and whole sections of shipwrecked boats. You even putt through a 20-foot lighthouse.

Captain’s Cove creates its own little fantasy world filled with deep sea relics that reflect the Seacoast’s fishing and shipping traditions. The pathway between holes is marked with rope railings tied to docking posts, some with old buoys dangling. If there’s a drawback to the course, it’s that it lacks any real slopes or angles to give it a three-dimensional landscape.

The obstacles are clever and, at times, tricky to maneuver around, with a mix of par 2s and 3s. Curiously, it’s the only course in the area that includes “tees” for the ball. My only major complaint is that the final hole is a throwaway. If you don’t get a hole-in-one, it sucks up your ball for an automatic 2. This was especially annoying when, after a devastating double-bogie for Spoley on 17, we went into the final hole in a dead tie. Of course, we both got 2s on the last hole and tied at 8 over par. No bragging rights for either of us. On the bright side, if you do get a hole-in-one at the end, you’re entitled to a mystery prize from the captain’s secret treasure.

Buc’s Lagoon

This course, located on the Seabrook end of the strip at Hampton Beach, has a couple of things going for it. For one, it’s got probably the biggest pirate on the Seacoast, a wooden-legged, eye-patched, sword-wielding giant that towers some 25 feet in the air. There’s also a cave and some other pirate-related features, plus ice cream.

But other than that, truth be told, this course offers little reward for the inevitable bumper-to-bumper traffic and parking woes of the strip. For your $7, you get the most basic of holes, mostly par 2s with no tricks or obstacles to be had. There are none of the multi-tiered holes found at other courses. And yet, there’s a stroke limit of 7, one higher than the standard 6.

There are a couple of nice quirks, though, including an oddly colored lagoon with the skeleton of a pirate hanging from a noose above it (you know it’s a pirate skeleton because there’s a hook where one of the hands should be). There are also buoys emblazoned with the skull and crossbones. A sign at the entrance reads “welcome, but beware,” a clear warning that pirates are about.

The cave should be another highlight, but it happens to shelter two very frustrating holes. Both have little sand traps—or rock traps, I should say—with slight angles funneling the balls directly into them. This obstacle is much more annoying than clever, but maybe I’m just bitter because I got a 7 on both of them.
The rock-lined greens provide good training grounds for putting, though. Chloe excelled on this course, taking first place at 7 over par. She had two hole-in-ones, and she and I actually went back-to-back on hole 5. Spoley got zero hole-in-ones. Spoley was furious. But, lucky for him, the Seacoast offers plenty of places to practice.