Old Orchard Links

Make sure to check their opening hours, they vary by season. Not much shelter on the orange course when the sun is beating down. Went Tuesday evening and had the place to ourselves. Has a few challenging holes.

The «grass» outdoor carpeting is in really bad shape. The poor condition of this, coupled with the uneven surface (I am not referring to the designed-​in slopes, bumps and hills) make ball movement unpredictable. The course is also littered with tree seeds, sticks, and other natural debris that interferes with play. Lastly regarding surface conditions, the area immediately surrounding the hole is slightly higher than the surrounding turf, like an anthill. This means that if you tap it just right, so the ball stops rolling just as it reaches the cup, you risk your shot rolling 5′ away as it veers off and rolls down these slopes. All these issues combine to make the mini-​golf experience here pretty crappy. You should not win or lose because of worn carpeting, garbage on the course, and poor pouring of concrete around the pins.
This would be a one-​star, but +1 for the long weeds that are growing near the holes which, though an eyesore, allow players to take a break by reliving their fantasy Masters tournament run a la Carl Spackler. Its in the hole!

One of the more «adult friendly» mini-​golf courses around. I disagree with other reviewers that the course is easy — I think it’s rather challenging. Mostly because of small hills, and of course the dreaded waterfalls. (getting the net to fish your ball out of the water can be a pain!)
A lack of trees and shade on the course means you’ll be stuck in the glaring, hot sun during the summer. best to visit in the spring or fall when it’s more comfortable. Also a plus: the course is open in the evening!

Somewhat better than the Putt Zone on Dennison in Champaign. It’s still really simple, but at least the sides of the courses are a little curved and there’s some water hazards.
The real problem here is the flags. Each hole has a removable flag in the cup, just like in real golf. So, on every hole, you need to decide whether you think it would be worth it to walk all the way down to the end of the hole (upwards of eight feet on some holes!) and remove the pin, or whether you’re just going to fire away. Here’s the worst part: you’re always wrong! If you remove the pin, you’ll end up skipping the ball over the hole and wishing you had left it in. If you leave it in, you’ll end up bouncing the ball off it and wishing you had removed it. Then, somehow, you get accused of cheating by your sore loser opponent who you demolished in a sudden death tiebreaker at the Putt Zone the day before. Also, your opponent has a drinking problem.

Sometimes I wish the course was more difficult and had more novelty tricks to them, but I’m actually rather content with the way things are. Good clean fun, unless for some reason you would prefer to make dirty jokes the whole time you’re out there.