Miniature Golf on Cape Cod

News from the High Pointe Inn, a Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast:  This morning at breakfast a guest asked me where to play miniature golf on Cape Cod. That question is a sure sign that the season has begun here on Cape Cod. Not just the summer season, but the season for reliving our youth and remembering the simple pleasure of living in the moment. Like mini-golf.

Mini-golf is but one way to pass a lazy summer afternoon or evening. And it’s not just the kids who enjoy a challenging course. Many adults simply cannot pass up the temptation of a revolving waterwheel and tilting at windmills.

My days of mini-golf were pretty demure compared to the tricked-out courses of today. And there are no shortage of courses to choose from on the Cape. Route 28 from West Harwich through Dennis and Yarmouth could easily be renamed mini-golf alley. A long stretch of courses line the road. There’s Pirate’s Cove in South Yarmouth with its distinctive pirate ship sunk in a lagoon, numerous pirate statues, a shark, and brand new water cannons. And nearby, Wild Animal Lagoon features a newly installed four-seat airplane on its course in West Yarmouth.

Skull Island Adventure Golf in Bass River boasts, what else, a giant skull as its centerpiece, along with cascading waterfalls, alligator infested waters, a haunted treasure cave, and a Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. The course at Arnold’s Lobster and Clam Bar in Eastham, offers miniature hand-crafted, scaled replicas of lower Cape Cod’s historical landmarks in an effort to make history fun. What could be more fun than fried clams and mini-golf? Cape Escape, a nautical 18-hole adventure course in Orleans, touts an amply stocked Japanese koi pond, fishing boats and waterfalls, plus a fog machine to amp up the atmosphere.

But perhaps my favorite, and one of the oldest on Cape Cod, is Sandwich Mini-Golf, which started about a half century ago along Route 6A. Originally opened with just nine holes, over the years the owner hand-built 18 more holes to expand the operation to a 36-hole course, including nine hand-built bridges.

Elsewhere on the Cape you’ll find Harbor Lights Mini-Golf in Brewster, Harbor Glen Miniature Golf and Weatherdeck Restaurant in Harwich, Holiday Hill Miniature Golf in Dennisport, Cataumet Light Mini Golf in Cataumet, Sand ‘n’ Surf in Buzzards Bay, Popponesset Mini Golf in Mashpee, Putters Paradise in West Yarmouth, West Main Mini Golf in Hyannis, Poit’s Lighthouse Mini Golf in Eastham, Cape Cod Miniature Golf in Hyannis, Wellfleet Mini Golf , and Cape Cod Storyland Golf, also in Hyannis.

Certainly there is no shortage of options to choose from when the mini-golf mood strikes. So break out your nine iron and loosen up your swing. Let the season begin. Fore….