With its much-anticipated opening day approaching, my daughter and I got a full tour of Subpar Miniature Golf, a Bay Area-themed 18-hole indoor miniature golf course on Park Street in Alameda, California. Owner & Manager Michael Taft showed us around the new (and custom built) course which winds around the Bay Area, starting with an Altamont Pass hole (most courses have a windmill, this one has a wind turbine) and ending with a Winchester Mystery House hole. Some points in between include a Golden Gate Bridge loop de loop hole, an Alcatraz hole and more. There’s even a East Oakland one, complete with its own mini-taco truck (Taqueria Sinaloa, naturally).

While I was there, painters Kelly Alterman and Steve Yamane were carefully putting on finishing touches to pieces and Caren Corley, the future Assistant Manager, was tending to last minute details in anticipation of opening day. Course designer and builder Jacob Cohen participated in the creation of the Subpar course. It is a well-thought-out tribute to the Bay Area with all kinds of fun surprises to be discovered in the details.

Upstairs there is an arcade room, downstairs there is a reservable party room and, should you get hungry, food can be ordered and delivered from Linguini’s, the pizza & pasta restaurant across the street. It is expected to open the weekend of August 18, 2012. Check the Subpar Miniature Golf Facebook page for the latest information.

Oh, and about the name:

You know what Subpar means, right? We are aware that subpar usually implies something that is not quite up to snuff. This is us not taking ourselves too seriously. Being below par in golf is a positive thing, so the silly name works in our case. And only our case.

Front desk

The Port of Oakland hole

I-580 hole that doubles as the City of Oakland tree logo

The Golden Gate Bridge double loop-de-loop hole

Alcatraz hole with Kelly Alterman in the background

My daughter SJ goofing around at the Winchester Mystery House hole

Park Street Bridge (Alameda) hole

Owner & Manager Michael Taft plays Skeeball with SJ upstairs in the arcade room

Subpar Miniature Golf is located at 1511 Park Street in Alameda, California.

Laurence Scott of NBC Bay Area recently visited too (video):

photos by Rusty Blazenhoff

Thanks for the great tour, Michael!

Thanks Alex Kexel!