By Kyle Kondor
Miniature golf enthusiasts have several options in the area, and for a light-hearted round of family fun, there’s nothing wrong with tilting at a few windmills.
But players who wanted to test their putting mettle on a more devious track used to head up to Pine Creek Miniature Golf, just north of Hopewell on Route 31, whose twin courses featured holes longer than the standard mini golf set. Few offered a realistic shot at a hole in one, and many challenged golfers to choose the best of several approaches in an effort to put the ball in the cup.
Pine Creek, in Ringoes, closed in October 2010, when founder Terry Lynman retired, but thanks to Newtown, Pennsylvania resident Ed Rowen, the course is back.
Rowen is a certified public accountant with an office in West Amwell and he’s currently leasing the mini golf section of the 28-acre Pine Creek property owned by Delaware Township resident Ryan Kerr.
Rowen works as Kerr’s accountant, so Pine Creek’s new caretaker knew about the opportunity for several months prior to his commitment.
“I’d always had a passion for golf,” Rowen said. “Then this came up, and I thought it was an interesting proposition, so I took a leap.”
Kerr originally purchased the property in November, and successfully opened his own liquor store, Pine Creek Liquors, in June. During the process, Kerr was hoping to come acrossed an individual like Rowen who’d operate the mini golf course that he’d enjoyed playing at back when was a kid.
“It was a shame to see a totally vacant facility that I grew up using,” Kerr said. “There’s nothing like this place anyhwhere.”
He said about five others were interested in leasing the golf course, but he put his trust in Rowen because of the relationship they had.
“It’s always easier when you know the person that you’re dealing with,” Kerr said. “I think Ed’s doing a great job so far.”
Kerr’s still attempting to find someone interested in running a hot dog, hamburger, and ice cream stand on the property as well as a restaurant inside of the courses clubhouse. Once that is accomplished, Kerr plans to host wedding receptions, wine festivals, and charitable events for local rescue squads at the Pine Creek property.
Rowen, who has a wife and two children, one in high school and one in college, says that his family thinks he’s crazy for taking on his newest task. Though he also said they’ve been very helpful throughout the process and it’s given his children an idea of what it takes to run a business.
Rowen and his staff at Pine Creek worked for close to eight weeks before being able to open up the course after it’s three-and-a-half year hiatus. He hired carpenters, electricians, and landscaping experts to help apply new astroturf to each hole, remove all of the overgrown plants, and refurbish anything else that it took to make it look like the state of the art course that it was when first opened in 1993.
“Improving all of the landscape is something that we’re still working on,” Rowen said. “Right now, the focus has been on golf and just giving everyone a nice day out on the course.”
The dimensions of the two courses, an upper and a lower, at Pine Creek Miniature Golf are the same as they were 2010. Each six-acre course consists of 18 holes, and takes just over one hour to complete. The courses are just off of Route 31, but all traffic noise is voided after taking a four minute walk behind the clubhouse toward hole number one.
The spacious course also prevents the congested feeling that you’d get at an average course after finishing a hole and waiting for the group ahead of you to finish.
“There’s times where there’s two foursomes at a specific hole and it doesn’t seem crowded,” Rowen said.
At Pine Creek, there are no windmills and no putting through a clowns mouth as you’d see on a typical miniature golf course. Instead, the setting is trees, flowers, ponds, streams, fountains and waterfalls.
“It’s (about) more than golf at Pine Creek,” Rowen said. “If you have an extra hour and a half to spend here, then it’s like taking a nice walk through the country.”
Each of the 36 holes at Pine Creek sits nearly 50 feet away from their starting point, with a few undulations to overcome. One thing that is guaranteed at Pine Creek as opposed to other courses is that it’s unlikely you’ll stroke a hole-in-one on more than a few of the holes.
“The golf here is different,” Rowen said. “You have to strategically think your way around the course.”
Standard daily rates differ on each course. For the upper course which is a little easier and takes a bit less time, adults are $11, seniors 61-years and older are $10, and children are $9. On the lower course which is more difficult and takes a bit more time, rates are $1 more for each age group. They also offer a double play package for $17 that allows you to play each course or your preferred course twice.
Rowen, who’s taken charge of marketing the golf course, said he has been pleased with the flow of customers since the upper course opened on May 20 and both courses officially re-opened on June 15, especially on weekends with good weather. Summer camps have been visiting for day trips, keeping the facility busy. Customers come from nearby towns like Hopewell and Pennington, as well as farther off locations like Hamilton and Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
It is planned that Pine Creek Miniature Golf will remain open everyday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.(9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday) through October and into November and December. That is weather permitting of course.
On the Web: pinecreekgolf.com. On Facebook, search for Pine Creek Miniature Golf.
Pine Creek Miniature Golf operator Ed Rowen tees off on a typical hole. (Staff photo by Joe Emanski.),
