For Good Exercise-Go Golf!

My doctor said I should take up an activity or sport for exercise like walking or golf so I decided to start out small, as in miniature, miniature golf. You know how some sports enthusiasts take trips all over in an attempt to see a baseball game at every major league stadium in a season or see every NFL team play (and not on TV) in a season kind of thing? Well I figure I can afford to get enthusiastic about the sport miniature golf and try out all the courses I find in my travels here and there. Here is what I have to report on the three courses I have tried out so far.

Island Golf in Fernandina Beach Florida is a fun minigolf course. The exercise is great to because you can actually get some hill work in (at a relaxed pace of course). The place is owned by a sweet couple, and Bob, of Bobalou (the gator at the top of the hill) fame, is the person who got us set with our clubs, balls, and scorecards and sent us on our way. I love this place because the price was reasonable and the weather ocean breezy. I got to golf around a waterfall (man-made) too. They have a nice (although a bit dampish) room under the waterfall for birthday parties and the room rental was reasonably priced. Their Birthday Party Package includes golf games for 7 or 8 partiers and soft drinks and ice cream. You just bring the cake, paper goods, and kids and have fun.

The only hazard we faced there was when Jonas hit his ball out of the park and into the street. Thank goodness he didn't get a hole in (some) one (’s car)!

Crooked River State Park in St. Marys Georgia has a great minigolf course too. You get your club, scorecard, and ball from the main office at the park entrance and then can stroll under the pines and oaks and among nature over to picturesquely located course situated up on the river bluff. I love this place because each hole features a placard about the animals that inhabit the park so you can learn while you exercise. This was also the least crowded of all the miniature golf courses I have visited so far so you can really take your time and perfect your game.

The only hazard there was a gopher tortoise hole under the shrubbery near the last hole. My ball went in there and that caused two problems. First, it was all I could do to keep my grandsons from wanting to put their hands in the hole to retrieve the ball. Since gopher tortoises are sometimes referred to as a sentinel species that in fact share their burrows with many other species of wildlife, snakes, at that time came immediately to mind I knew there was no way I would be returning the ball back to the park office with my club. Second, it was a tough sell trying to convince the park ranger that I did indeed get a hole in one… gopher tortoise hole and he would be the one to retrieve my ball if he wanted it badly enough. Maybe he thought I was practicing driving balls over the cliff and into the river because he really wanted to charge me for not returning the ball but in the end he relented (or believed my story about the hole in one!).

KOA in Madeira Beach Florida, just over and under the causeway coming from St. Pete has a nice little minigolf course too. There, along with the exercise of getting up each morning after waking up on the ground in a tent packed like sardines with a bunch of grandchildren, you can enjoy a leisurely game of miniature golf between swimming in the campground pool and soaking in a hot tub (how I survived sleeping on the ground for several days-some of them cold last New Year’s weekend).

The only hazard there didn't occur on the golf course but instead in the intracoastal water way, beside which the golf course and campground are located, when my granddaughter Julie dropped her phone in the water and subsequently fell in to follow it. She survived no worse for the experience but the phone unfortunately did not.

That’s it so far for this exercise season but as I continue to venture between here and there I will keep you posted.