Crazy golf, mini-golf, whatever you call it, this fun game was a true staple of my childhood holidays. It was an easy win for my parents to entertain me and my sister for an afternoon, and we loved it. I have to admit, I’ve hadn’t played mini-golf since. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed indoor mini golf popping up in cities, and being targeted at more of an older crowd. In the UK it’s called Junkyard Golf, or Ghetto Golf, and is marketed as an alternative night out for twenty-somethings. A load of drunk young people didn’t inspire me to try it, but when I found a Groupon voucher for one in Frankfurt, called Black Light Golf (or Schwarzlicht Mini-Golf).
I’d put off using it for quite a while due to the rise in Corona cases over here, but my voucher was running out at the end of October, and another lockdown was imminent, so a friend and I decided to see each other once last time until who knows when, and take advantage of the voucher. To avoid any potential crowds, we went at a modest 5pm on a weekday. We shared the whole place, 18 holes over two floors, with one couple and that was it. It was perfect.
We didn’t know what to expect other than fluorescent colours and UV light, so we were a little surprised to get 3D glasses before we went in. It turns out everything has a 3D effect on it, making holes jump out of the floor, the walls appear super thick, and just generally really, really cool effects. Sure, it made everything really trippy, and I was never really sure if a barrier was an actual barrier, or I could step on it, but there were some really clever game design with it that made the whole thing a little bit more interesting.
My friend and I had so much fun messing around in here. There was some good music on, we were dancing around, laughing, joking – I can see why it could be an alternative night out. That doesn’t mean it’s not good for kids. I think any child from 8 upwards would absolutely love it, it was such a fun experience. We didn’t take the game very seriously, and although did keep score, we were a little loose with the truth – there were definitely a few more “hole-in-ones” recorded than strictly should have been. What was amazing though, is that we added everything up we had somehow come out with the exact same score. We couldn’t believe it!
I would definitely do this again, I think it would be great fun with a few different people and just really enjoyable. My friend and I had such a blast, and we are definitely not the usual market for this sort of thing. A fun evening!
New Day, New Thing 