Not every mini golf course has characters. Most are just obstacles — a windmill here, a llighthouse there. Eden Alvor is a bit different.
Walk the 18-hole course and you’ll encounter three animatronic residents who have, over time, become genuinely beloved by the people who visit. They are Baz the Talking Tree, Mr. Cob Ra the snake, and the Eden Kong – a towering gorilla who watches over the course from above the waterfall with the kind of presence that makes you look up in awe.
Baz has been known to charm as he welcome guests to the course and sets the mood for what you can expect.
Mr. Cob Ra is slyer. He surprises you when you least expect him, adding a slithery kind of tension to what should be a simple putt. Children and adults tend to have strong feelings about Mr. Cob Ra, most of them very loud, but often leaving the hole smiling.
The Eden Kong is the centrepiece. He presides over the waterfall – a genuinely impressive feature in the heart of the course – and from a distance he looks like something that wandered in from a different, much larger adventure and took to the top of a mountain to show his might. The waterfall beneath him is real and beautiful, the kind of thing that makes you enjoy coming out of the cave where you just took a challenging obstacle over the water to land as close to the hole as you could.
Between these three characters, the water, the birdsong and animal sounds woven into the ambient audio of the course, and the 2,000-plus tropical plants from over 100 species that make up the garden itself… Eden’s mini golf is something closer to an experience than a game. It has a world to it. The course doesn’t just ask you to get a ball in a hole; it invites you to look around as you go.
Adults who haven’t played mini golf since they were children tend to be surprised by how much they enjoy it. Kids who’ve played plenty of mini golf tend to be surprised that this one is different. Both reactions are the right ones.
Rounds typically take around 45 minutes, but nobody’s counting. There’s a courtyard to retreat to when you need a break, a drink, an ice cream or an excuse not to play the next hole immediately. The arcade games and foosball tables are right there.. There is, genuinely, no rush.
Next time you’re in Alvor and you’re wondering whether mini golf is worth your time – it is worth it.
