Sunset Golf used to be the girls’ miniature golf course and next week it will be closed permanently in order to be developed into housing.
South Park outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been growing and developing at a rapid pace. New housing has been popping up everywhere and it was only a matter of time until my children’s favorite place would be no more. Recently we found out that the dreaded day of doom will be this coming Sunday, August 10th. The closure will be the third miniature golf course that has closed within fifteen minutes of our home in the past five years with one having a new fire station built were it once stood and the second is now a field. So any time my children want to play miniature golf, the closest course will be more than a half hour away. However, the now closing course was their favorite of all.
Sunset Golf which consists of 27 holes of miniature golf and a pleasant sized driving range that has been in existence since 1959. Anyone who has made the voyage to this cute miniature golf course would tell you that is so much fun to play. With the 27 holes being geared towards kids and those young at heart, this course was nothing less than a pleasure. Some holes sprayed the players with water while others would have holes go up and down. Naturally there would be mazes and uphill challenges. The noises coming from the decor were welcoming distractions. The best were in fact the characters from various cartoons, movies and even video games. I really cannot say if my daughters love seeing their favorite Christmas cartoon on display was more important than the game itself.
We went to Sunset Golf a couple of weeks ago prior to tonight and our parental hearts started to ache. Not all of the holes were fully functioning any more and there would be no cartoons playing on the kids’ favorite hole (thank goodness they were tonight). The noises were less numerous and some of the decor which would occasionally change were just not there anymore. Sunset Golf had already started losing its luster. The writing was on the course, it was only a matter of time. Just a week later, we found out that we had little less than ten days to make one last trip.
My girls keep asking why this is happening to their favorite miniature golf course and although we keep telling them that it is for buildings, the news does not soak in with the younger crowd. They only see what they are losing. We wish nothing less than the best for the owners, but sometimes, we hope for something more. This day deserves nothing less than a yelling of “Fore!”
