Quail Ridge Golf World

Quail Ridge Golf World    4130 West Hurley Pond Rd, Wall, NJ 07719

Mini golf courses at a driving range or full scale golf course can really be a hit-or-miss experience. Some can be really exceptional (like Farm View Golf Center) and some can be really neglected (see Scotch Hills Mini Golf). We are probably somewhere in the middle with Quail Ridge Golf World, located a bit inland from the coastal towns of Asbury Park, Belmar, and Spring Lake. 

While Quail Ridge does have a driving range, pro shop, and an 18 hole pitch & putt course, we are obviously going to be focusing on the miniature golf course. It boasts the same substantial turf and wooden barriers that many of our favorite park courses have, and the fairways are very well kept. There is no real theme here (again, typical of most driving range courses) but just some standard mini-golf paraphernalia scattered around the course (windmill, lighthouse, and a giant giraffe to name a few), which are in desperate need of a new paint job. The course charges $8/person, which is pretty reasonable for this type of course, and the par was a purposeful 44. Our winner came in right at par, and we had three hole in ones rim out, as well as several twos that became threes because of the conditions of the cups (more on that below). The front 9 rattled us a bit, but we got our groove back on some easy par 2s in the back 9.  

Another feature we weren’t sure about that kind of grew on us was the use of blue gravel instead of actual water. We can tell that there once was water at the course, but we know that drainage and operation can be a huge expense. While a water feature can add a cooling effect, we appreciated this idea much more than an empty pool or dirty standing water. 

One of the things we really hate at some courses are the metal cups that are literally welded on the course. We aren’t an expert in golf course creations, so we can’t go into the technical details, but we can tell you that our putts just hit different on these courses. For one, they extended the surface area the cup takes up, while not increasing the area for the ball to go in the hole. This means a shot on the left or right edge will fall outside the whole instead of in. We also can tell that the cup edges are not always circular, which must be the effect of heat on the metal cups. 

Overall, Quail Ridge isn’t going to host any mini golf tournaments anytime soon, but this is a quality driving range course. It is clear that the turf is well cared for and may have even recently been replaced. If you want to make this an add on to your pitch & putt game, this is definitely a place with fewer crowds than the courses at Asbury Park and Point Pleasant.