Swingtime

Swingtime    2390 US 9 South, Howell, NJ 07731

Swingtime is your normal family fun center, especially those that you find dotted around in smaller towns around New Jersey. The facility is mainly built around their two mini golf courses, but does also include batting cages, and looks to be trying to make the most use of land possible by adding in a small gel blaster area as well as small RC-truck racing. An intriguing sparkle along Route-9, although some of the conditions leave a bit to be desired.

Swingtime has two sprawling 18-hole courses centered around a beautiful waterfall. We must say that we are a real sucker for a good water feature, but Swingtime has probably some of the most gorgeous water features we have ever seen at a non-park course. The two course are called Raccoon Hollow and Highland Falls. We started out on Raccoon Hollow, which takes you underneath the cave with the waterfall flowing alongside you, and finished up on Highland Falls which, as you may have guessed, takes you over the mountain with a great view of the entire course. Unfortunately, the waterfall is the most well kept thing on the course.

The course mainly relies on rock or wood barriers, sometimes just planks set at various heights. Most of the holes are long and make great use of space, including having interesting contours and a nice layout overall. While some of the holes do have an interesting design, there is some clear water damage on the relatively thin carpet. What is perhaps a bit worse is the amount of mud damage, debris, and overgrown shrubbery we found on the course. Unfortunately, despite the 6 teenagers behind the counter when we arrived, we have little doubt given their attitude that they have any interest or actual training in maintaining or caring for the course. But it does give you a new appreciation when we walk into park courses and their putting surfaces are nearly spotless.

Prices at Swingtime are a bit steep, but we are now finding that some 36 hole courses upcharge for the first 18 to give you a better discount on the full 36. Adults were $12 for 18 holes and $18 for 36, while seniors & children were $10 for 18 and then $15 for 36. Both courses list par as 42, which is a tad bit unimaginative, and we certainly wouldn’t put it at any less. We started very stiff on Raccoon Hollow and came out quite poorly, with our winner carding a 45. We found our grove going into Highland Falls, with our winner coming in at 39. While we were listening in to some other families on the course, it seems like the prevailing opinion is that Raccoon Hollow is a bit more challenging.

Overall, this course is a nice in-land option if you don’t want to go to the Jersey Shore. We frequently have used it as a stop on our summer trips down to Ocean City. However, we would love to see a little more TLC to put this course in top contention.