Great things miniature packages

Mini golf at Greens of Padstow promises to be hugely popular!

Overlooking the Camel estuary, Greens of Padstow has become a year-round haven for foodies and nature lovers alike, being privy to views over the estuary and the many species it’s home to, as well as the sumptuous menus on offer in the licensed café. And the team is about to do one better!

The site used to be home to a mini golf course, which, as you can imagine, was incredibly popular with both visitors and locals, especially considering the site’s beautiful location. While the 18 holes are currently playable, owner Sharon Whittock shares with us the team’s plans to completely overhaul the course, creating what will be, in effect, a whole new course.

“Now that we have the café properly up and running, we’re beginning the ‘second phase’ of Greens’ development, which is to totally renew the mini golf, the site’s original business.”

The course, according to Sharon, is now ready for extensive planting, and the aim is to create gardens around each hole, honouring the beauty of the site using four planting themes: ‘Cornish orchard’, ‘Cornish cliff and grassland’, ‘Cornish woodland garden’ and ‘Cornish subtropical’. “Each of the golf holes has been contoured and sculpted to provide playing challenges. However, the intention is to enrich and diversify the landscape and the playing experience through further creative physical interventions within the holes themselves. These may be sculptural or constructional. They may be created out of readymade or recycled elements, natural materials or bespoke pieces. They may be useable for only a season, or could last a lifetime. The point is that they should be ingenious, fun, thought provoking and engagingly beautiful.”

We’re told that the intention is to commission 18 of these pieces over three years, one for each hole. The planting is set to begin after half term and the course will be open to play as of Easter, before the rolling programme of enhancing each hole begins. Combined with the quality food on offer at Greens café, the course will make Greens of Padstow the perfect place to spend an afternoon with the kids while enjoying one of the finest estuary views Cornwall has to offer.