I swear I have been eating ice cream at Hillbilly Fun Park since I was quite young. They have this custard-based soft server that I just very much enjoy, and there is always plenty of rainbow sprinkles! While Dann and I were visiting my family in upstate New York, I mentioned to my grandfather, Tyde, that we wanted to go for soft serve, so he picked us up and took us there. I got myself an orange twist, and Tyde said “want to play some mini-golf?” As it was a hot day, of course we did.
Now, none of us have been mini-golfing in quite some time! The last I remember was the Legoland Windsor Adventure Golf a few years back. Dann had also not been on a track that had these older style, slightly moving holes, so was pretty excited. There was just a lot of joy in hanging out with my grandfather and partner, playing on these holes that I remember from when I was a kid. This is an 18-hole course, with a good variety of things that feel very local; skunks, a pumpkin patch, an outhouse, a banjo – each of these holes felt unique. The holes at Hillbilly Fun Park had a slate title at the start of each one, which is very cute.
Hillbilly Fun Park has two options when it comes to golf courses; Puttin Thru New York and Hillbilly Holes. Puttin Thru New York has a bunch of iconic holes themed around New York City, primarily, though none of them have movement to them. Hillbilly Holes on the other hand has wooden, moving holes themed around upstate New York, so we went with that one as it felt more unique to the area. You get handed your golf putts, your score card, and get to pick a colored ball before the start.
Hillbilly Fun Park has a lot of holes that do stand out in my head. I do like the dancing cows, which spin on a plate, and I love the banjo, which has your ball rolling down the metal “wires” of the banjo, into the hole. There is also a hole that has a guy chopping down wood, which Dann got stuck on for a moment, and a hole where you can putt down the barrel of a shot gun! So many of these holes feel extremely small-town-America. The final hole actually has you putting into a hen house, trying to win a free game if you hit the centre middle. The course was very well maintained too, which is always very good. Tyde, Dann and I all had such a fun time!
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!