Castle Cove Mini Golf

Castle Cove Mini Golf    705 Rt 15 South, Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849

We first ventured out to Lake Hopatcong in 2022, and we were pleasantly surprised to find not one but two spectacular courses in the area. You can check out our A+ review of Lake Hopatcong Golf Club, and Castle Cove, despite some odd quirks, does provide an excellent experience for both the experienced and amateur player.

Castle Cove is situated back from the highway, and despite being a Harris course, has some extremely unique holes that play with terrain and break. The property is on a hill, so the course is on two different levels. The turf quality is fantastic, with high quality turf on all but one hole (odd, since this was the case last year as well). Flags in the holes are a minor inconvenience. The course features a bit shaggier rough than most, which we have started to find more enjoyable. It makes the rough feel like more of an obstacle than just something aesthetic on the course. There are several different water features, all of which are dyed a deep blue, and there are a few holes where the water is an obstacle, as well as the classic “hit it into the river” hole.

The biggest problem for this course however appears to be the installation of that high quality turf. It seems in many places that the turf was actually cut short of the bricks, so appears to be at least a half inch of space between the brick and the turf, exposing concrete which causes some weird bounces off the brick. There were other areas where there was a literal half-inch seam between two patches of turf, in the middle of the green. It’s a shame given that this was really high quality turf, and those seams will make it easier for people to pick at it and damage it. Just getting this fix could easily launch this course into a B+ or A- rating!

The price is a little high compared to the rest of NJ, but probably because this is a bit of a tourist destination in season. Adults are $12, children are $11, seniors are $10, and you can play a second round for $6/person. We had a terrific game here, scoring three aces when there are definitely no gimmie putts. The course doesn’t have a par, but we would estimate about a 42 or so. Our winner had a fantastic back nine, carding a 17, to come in with a total score of 37.