A list of the most fun, intriguing mini holes

July 31, 2010 Last Updated: July 31, 2010 12:44 PM Community

No. 9 at Wise Guys — This hole at the Saxonburg course features a windmill with an interior bankshot.

Put down the ball, pull out the putter.

Hit the ball up a ramp, over some bumps, under a rock, over a bridge or through a tunnel, avoiding obstacles along the way.

Such is the world of miniature golf.

One never knows what it will take to get the ball into the cup.

"There's a fine line between challenging and fun," said Estol Harp, owner of Eracers mini-golf in Connoquenessing Township. "Make it too easy, people get bored. Make it too hard, they won't come back."

Chris Camp, owner of Fun Fore All in Cranberry Township, agreed.

"A course has to be challenging to hold an adult's interest, yet an 8-year-old has to be able to sink a hole-in-one," Camp said. "That's a tough combo deal."

Different mini-golf courses in and around Butler County offer various approaches and angles toward finding that happy medium.

Here is one writer's view of the nine most intriguing mini-golf holes in the area, in no particular order:

No. 8 at Lick-N-Putt• The shot must go across a bridge, through two small holes and down a ramp to get to the cup."There's some precision there," course owner Larry Richardson said. "We've got a lot of holes you can say that about."Richardson has owned the course — built on a hillside — for less than six months. Shirley Smouse of Worthington is the original owner and contributed to the design of the course."They had to make the holes fit the terrain," Richardson said.

No. 2 at Eracers• Ball must be struck uphill, precisely between a few rocks and into the hole."It takes a tight shot, but hole-in-ones happen there," Harp said. "We had the rock work done there just to make it interesting."My personal favorite is No. 14, a three-tiered hole. I like holes that challenge the player and No. 2 does that, too."Eracers was designed by Leisure Time, out of Tucson, Ariz. Harp estimates he has $150,000 tied up in the course. He has owned Eracers for 24 years.No. 9 at Wise Guys• The hole features a moving windmill with a bank shot inside."We built the entire course out of a kit," said Rick Wise, who co-owns the facility with his wife, Vicki. "We just made it work for the amount of available land we had."Wise described the course as "old school," with nearly half of the holes featuring moving obstacles."I like No. 10 because there's two cups to choose from," he said. "You can hit the ball in different directions and we can switch the cups around from time to time."No. 12 at Mr. C's• This features a downhill shot, the ball traveling through a long tube to a lower level once it goes into the upper cup."We revamped that hole because a lot of kids would run down that hill to get to the bottom part," said Naomi Courson, who co-owns the course with her husband, Dave. "Now we have a ramp in there for them to walk down."The Coursons put the course in 17 years ago. The Astro-Putt playing surface comes from Georgia."Dave put this whole thing in by himself," Courson said. "We started this business because we wanted to provide an activity that families can do together. There seems to be so little of that sort of thing out there anymore."We're always looking at new ideas. Even when we vacation in South Carolina, Virginia Beach, California ... We're always checking out the miniature golf."

No. 10 at Mars-Bethel• One of the longest holes around, the ball must be struck hard, proceed through a small opening, ricochet off a bank and go into the cup sitting atop a round mound."We had enough land here to have 20 holes at one point," course owner Mary Hooten said. "We condensed four holes to two. One is that No. 10, the other is No. 15."No. 10 is the toughest hole here and probably the most popular. We call that type of hole a mole hill."The miniature golf course has been in the Hooten family for 60 years. It was originally in Bethel Park before being moved to Mars in 1965."We only had eight acres there. We've got 20 acres here, so we could do more things," Hooten said.The course was designed by a Virginia-based company "that specializes in this stuff," Hooten said. "So much goes into constructing a fair, competitive course. There's angles, probabilities, safety measures, etc."No. 17, Cave Course, at Fun Fore All• The ball must be struck straight across a narrow ramp, between two obstacles along each side, into a sunken hole."That hole is our nemesis," Camp said. "I could hit the ball 20 times and not get it in. The hole definitely requires a combination of precision and luck."Fun Fore All was designed by the same Arizona company that designed Eracers. The carpeting comes from Michigan."You need the right grain and the seams have to be perfect," Camp said. "There are so many minute details about building and maintaining a course."You can shoot under par here if you really try or you may end up well over. Much of mini-golf still comes down to the luck of the bounce."

No. 1 at Round the World• Ball must be struck onto an inner circle that features only four openings around it."I get no complaints. People seem to enjoy playing it," course owner Lawson Gilmore said. "This course probably goes back 30 years."The course is spread out over sloped terrain and features numerous long holes.No. 10 at Lick-N-Putt• The ball becomes airborne as it's struck up a ramp and hits a backboard."You'd have to hit it incredibly hard to clear that back screen," Richardson said. "I've never seen it happen. Most people leave it short and have to hit the ball a couple of times. It's a struggle to get it up there."No. 7 at Round the World• Ball must be struck over a jump, to a steep ramp, to the hole. The ball will be airborne."Definitely one of the more unique holes around," Gilmore said. "Sometimes it's hard to tell one hole from the next down here, but that one stands out a little bit."Any miniature golf course offers its own identity, from water to sand traps, lighthouses to giraffes.Too challenging or too cheesy?Courson, for one, doesn't care."I keep thinking about Father's Day out here, watching kids and parents laughing, happy, enjoying each other's company," she said."This business brings families together. That's what counts."

These miniature golf courses can be found in and around Butler County:• Lick-N-Putt Ice Cream and Golf — 1805 Route 422 between Fenelton and Worthington in Clearfield Township. For information, call 724-282-2049.• Eracers Go Kart Park — 640 Evans City Road, Connoquenessing Township. For information, call 724-482-2555.• Wise Guys 4 Fun — 554 W, Main St., Saxonburg. For information, call 724-352-3711.• Mr. C's Funspot — Off Route 422 east of New Castle in Lawrence County. For information, call 724-368-3153.• Mars-Bethel Miniature Golf — 540 Route 228, Adams Township. For information, call 724-625-2759.• Fun Fore All Family Entertainment Center — 8 Progress Ave., Cranberry Township. For information, call 724-779-2270.• Round the World Mini Golf — 20660 Route 19, Cranberry Township. For information, call 724-776-1447.

Here are a few other intriguing holes at local miniature golf courses:• No. 16 at Eracers — Ball must be struck across a ramp in the middle of the carpet, go between two white markers and into a sunken hole. Similar to No. 17 hole at Fun Fore All, designed by the same company.• No. 9 at Lick-N-Putt — A double-tiered hole that sends the ball through a pipe to the hole below, similar to No. 12 hole at Mr. C's.• No. 5 at Mars-Bethel — Hit the ball up a pinball board, into a mouse hole.• No. 10 at Wise Guys — A double-bank, followed by a hump make this hole out of the ordinary.• No. 11 at Mr. C's — A downhill shot with open water off either side of the green can make for some wet golf balls.• No. 3 at Mr. C's — A long straightaway shot over three bumps in the green, with the cup sitting off to the right, in a gully.• No. 15 at Mars-Bethel — A long straightaway shot going up a ramp, avoiding obstacles to a hole at the top, leading to the cup at the bottom of the green.• No. 4 at Round the World — A big rock sits in the middle of a long downhill fairway.• No. 15 at Round the World — Ball must travel around a bobsled track-like ramp to get to the portion of the green that houses the cup.

No. 2 at Eracers —This hole requires you to hit the ball uphill precisely between the two large rocks and into the hole. “It takes a tight shot, but hole-inones happen there,” said course owner Estol Harp.

No. 1 at Round the World — The ball must be struck into an inner circle that only has four openings. The Cranberry course has numerous long holes.

No. 12 at Mr. C's — Young golfer Brennen Porter, 5, hasn't realized the ball he is about to hit will disappear in the hole closest to him and reappear in the hole that is barely visible through the railing nearly 50 feet away.