This New York Mini-Golf Course Is the Oldest In America

Alright, so much of New York State was blanketed with snow in the first few days of spring 2024. With temperatures warming to where they should be this time of year it won't be long before we visit the ice cream shop, take in a movie at the drive-in and play a round at the local mini-golf course.

Did you know the oldest miniature golf course in America is located in New York?

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During the Great Depression from 1929-1939, as the History Channel reports, mini-golf became a wildly popular form of entertainment with 30,000 courses opening around the Nation. For approximately 25 cents you could play a round of mini-golf and it all started in New York.

Parkside Whispering Pines Miniature Golf, located at 4353 Culver Road in Seabreeze, NY, opened in 1930. Today the famous course is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest miniature golf course in the United States.

YouTube.com-Parkside Diner And Whispering

This course, located along side the Parkside Diner, was built from fossil stone purchased from out west during the Miniature Golf boom of the 1930's. The course has a very unique design, which has entertained generations for decades.

Please call the Parkside Diner for hours, as they change during the season, at 585-323-2710.

RANKED: Top 25 Golf Courses in Upstate New York

There are numerous "best golf course" lists circulating. These are proposed by popular golf magazines, websites, golf professionals, and others. Surprisingly, almost all of them agree on the best New York courses, with some moving one particular course up or down slightly in their rankings.

I like this list of Top 100 Golf Courses online in association with sports company TaylorMade. I like it because for each entry they also put a bit of course history in their comments section. Each of the top 25 golf courses in Upstate New York (in this gallery) have a link "to the list" so you can see other courses, not in Upstate, and where they ranked.

Note: This featured gallery includes just the top 25 for Upstate New York, but there are others, so be sure and check "the list."

Have you played any of these great golf courses?

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio