Cool Crest Miniature Golf Course — Attraction in San Antonio

Used to be a great kid-friendly place. The biergarten was especially nice for parents with children. A few years ago it was a great place to bring the kids, who could play with other kids while the parents could watch them, listen to the live music, and drink some beer. Unfortunately, it changed over time to the point where you rarely see kids on that side because of management and their changed attitude towards families with children. They started harassing kids who brought toys to play with. My son brought a back pack with his Polar Express train. He set it up with another boy, out of the way and not near any areas where anyone could walk. The manager brought the set over one piece at a time and slammed them down on our table. Several of my friends were there and were shocked by his behavior. For some reason he never did seem to like my boy and always found excuses to pick on him. This is the same manager who let his dog roam the place, unleashed, and whose dog attacked another dog on a leash with his very elder owner who tried to stop the attack only to be attacked by the dog. The elder gentleman had to sit for quite a spell to recover. Of course we know there is a fine for allowing a dog to go with no leash and, as well, as a business they could be sued for such carelessness. After a while I noticed there were rarely any kids showing up. One of the owners met with me to complain about my son running around. He told me there were some teenagers leaning against some railing in the biergarten area talking and he told them to go and sit with their parents. What teenagers do you know who would ever want to go back there after that? And what parents? It is sad to see the change at such a historically significant place. If they want to continue to generate business and grow they should understand it is supposed to be a family place, not a place where kids have to sit at attention while their dogs are free to...

Some people say that this is the oldest mini golf in the country but all we care about is how amazingly fun this place is. They are very laid back so we bring drinks and go from hole to hole having a great time. We sometimes get passed by a family full of energetic kids having a wiley time and I hope they do both courses and wear themselves out.

The courses have all sorts of things you never see anymore like jumping over water, aiming for one hole that leads to underground tunnels where the ball can come out in different places and some are even three levels!

There are some holes you have to WHACK the ball so hard it almost feels like a driving range since it has to make it up an incline that is so long and steep or so long and curved you can end up having the balls come back again and again until you finally knock that sucker hard.

This is definitely a family place and they have picnic tables where you can set your things, but we're a normal couple (between young and old) who love just being together surrounded by all the lush plants, beautiful and historic landscaping, and playing a game together. My wife would disagree and say that it is her job to annihilate my score, but we always have a great time. I think this is one of the best kept secrets in San Antonio and if you have not been this year, you're going to have to keep an eye on the website for the next time they are open or next season. Until then my friends, your seething jealousy of our pure joy and entertainment will just have to reinforce your motivation to go there next chance you get...

Whenever we travel, we look for mini golf and came upon this GEM. They have 2 great courses and for its age is very well maintained. The original course was built in 1929 and the "newer" course built in 1959. We have played many newer courses that are not as nicely taken care of. We were greeted by a sweet young man, Jason, who got us all set up to play, and then the manager, Mario, came out to visit with us, finding where we were from and how we were enjoying our vacation. We had so much fun, we got back to play a second time. What a great place for all ages to enjoy the day out. Lots of benches for sitting if need be. Clean restrooms, tables to sit at in the shade. Not much in the way of food served, but they did have soft drinks. If we were ever back in San Antonio, we would make it a priority to play there again.

Thanks for the fun...