Max’s Country Golf - tyngsborough, MA
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Would we play this course again? Yes.
Should you play this course? Yes.
The Takeaway: Max’s Country Mini Golf stands out as one of the more unique courses in Massachusetts and is worth the drive out to the border with New Hampshire. Set on and around an ambitious man-made (presumably) waterfall, Max’s Country Golf provides a fun, grand, and tantalizing 18 holes. In addition to the massively oversized waterfall, there is an operational barn with a goat to judge your putts, spacious greens and a wide variety of hole designs that keep you on your toes and looking forward to what the next hole will bring.
Max’s Waterfall - One of the Best Mini Golf Waterfalls in the Massachusetts
TECHNICAL REVIEW
Max’s Country Golf in Tyngsborough includes a mini golf course, driving range, ice cream and bumper boats. The complex is located in a large field near the majestic Merrimack River, around 15 minutes past UMass Lowell if you follow the river north like the true pioneer you are. Across the street there is a La Santa Tacos and Tequilas restaurant as well as a the Dream Diner if you need to refuel after such a stimulating round. If you’ are driving up, there is no need to fret about having to look for a sign, because the first thing you will see is a 2 story tall waterfall towering over the landscape. If that is not a sign to pull over a enjoy a round of mini golf, then I’m afraid i don’t know what is.
Upon pulling into the parking lot at Max’s, it is hard to ignore the farm-like wide open atmosphere that they’ve cultivated. With parking to accommodate at least 20 more mini golf courses, this facility is welcoming to even the most vehicle-parking-skill inept individuals. Does your bumper resemble the surface of the moon? Well have no fear, there are about 7 football fields worth of pavement to park in.
From the entrance building, to the big red barn and pleasant landscape, it is obvious that ownership is still well invested in the upkeep of this course. The pathways were clean and the holes had their own individualized theme and each felt like its own challenge, never repeating the same opening shot. What resonates with me the most is the creation of childlike joy this course aspires towards right out of the gate. As a man who enjoys the simpler things in life, like looking out a window, or eating a tasty snack while looking out that same window, I do love a good man-made water structure and Max’s puts that on prominent display.
I know my priorities may not be exactly where my father would like, but when I see a waterfall looming over a beautifully crafted mini golf course radiating bright blue dye, I am thrust back to a memory of driving to Six Flags for the first time and seeing the high structure of Superman (now Bizzaro?) towering over the tree line. Your heart’s rhythm picks up as your imagination goes wild over the impending experience. Now, to be fair, I cannot say that is exactly an apples to apples comparison, seeing as we never got 142 feet up in the air looking over western Massachusetts while playing at Max’s. But the palpable excitement was there nonetheless. The variety of features in use here, from barns to caves to bridges, coupled with long hole length adds to the intrigue and elevates the level of play and focus. By committing so much effort to the surrounding décor, Max’s Country Golf achieves a level escapism and leaves much more of an impression than any flat surfaced course.
The first impression when starting the round was the use of blue turf. Typically, I lean towards the traditional standard green color, but oddly, I did not find this to be off-putting (pun intended) at all. On your way towards the first hole, there is a bright blue practice putting “green.” A nice gesture and thought, albeit the green (or blue if I may) ran extremely fast and if it was any indicator of what was to come in, my own putting inadequacies might have been laid bare in this review. However, all that needless worrying was for not as the actual greens, although fast, were more forgiving than the practice green and we found this course extremely playable with plenty of chances for hole in ones and heartbreak alike.
The first couple of holes on this course are standard holes to get your confidence going and set your mind right. Hole one is a straight shot with a slight circular curvature. The second hole had four rocks parallel to each other that tests your ability to hit your ball in a straight line (always a challenge). On the third hole, the charm of Max’s Country Golf begins: You have to hit your ball through a big red barn. Now, unlike in other courses throughout this great Commonwealth, Max’s Country Golf uses a real barn, with real animals. On the other side of hole three, a friendly looking goat is waiting for you, providing some oversight and added pressure as his watchful eye stares you down.
Continuing, you embark on a series of fun hole designs. Hole 4 features a multi-tiered platform. As was a semi-constant here, the tiers alternated between blue and green turf giving off a fun aesthetic and elevation indicator. Hole 5 featured one of my favorite designs: the halfpipe. Both holes are longer than your typical hole and, although not the most sophisticated, served as enjoyable challenges. There is something refreshing about giving your putt a hardy swing and watching it go up, down and around the hole (as stated earlier, I’m a man who enjoys the simpler things in life). Unfortunately for us, we didn’t land any hole in ones during this phase and the resident goat was watching and remained unimpressed with our performance.
As the front nine continued, there were similar long wavy greens. On hole 6 there a boomerang-shaped outline, followed by a long ramped bank shot. Despite doing your mental calculus before your shot, you end up just hoping for the best as you watch your ball rolls back unequivocally, definitively down toward the hole. It is noteworthy that while we were mini golfing, there was a substantial amount of debris on the course. Granted, it was windy while we were playing, but even so, there were quite a few leaves and various tree-related detritus scattered throughout. One hole with the ramp was especially hindered by mother nature debris and doing its best Dikembe Mutombo impression by blocking our shots. On the positive side, a couple leaves prevented my ball from rolling back to the tee area on my first shot and set up me up nicely for the next putt.
Debris be damned, this course works. By hole nine, you’ve made your way to entrance of a cave, which is a hollowed out portion of the waterfall. A fitting bear statue (it is a cave after all) is next as well as a viewing window to see the waterfall and scenery below. Holes and designs like this is what makes exploring mini golf courses so rewarding. It is impressive the amount of infrastructure that was involved in crafting and executing these holes, and there is something mesmerizing about the absurd spectacle of it all. As you may see in the photo below, there is minor water staining going on, but to me that’s just a small price to pay for having a two story flowing waterfall.
Through the Bear Cave on Hole 10
As progress along your journey, the greens pick up speed. The focus becomes managing the turf speed and undulations of the green. Where the front nine featured more big-scale fun designs, the back nine require more finesse. With an elevated hole on a plateau a simple two putt can quickly turn your palms and scorecard sweaty. That being said, there were some gimmicky holes which are more geared to seeing your ball do some gymnastics and land around the target. In contrast, the holes with simpler designs are far more nuanced than their flamboyant counterparts. At first glance you may want to let your guard down. However, the slight angle of the greens wreaks havoc on the pace of your ball. On holes 16 and 18 specifically, when walking up, it appears to be a boring flat straight shot. You think of the stress-free one or two stroke score and maybe begin looking ahead and counting up your total. However, this is where the speed completely caught us off guard. My partner appeared to hit the ball with the expert precision that I am used to. However, a slight undulation and turbo style green propelled the ball against the far wall, well away from the cup. When it was my turn, I knew that I needed to pay better attention lest I suffer a similar fate. What looked simple turned into 3’s and 4’s. For this, I really do applaud Max’s. There are plenty of mini golf courses where you’re met with mundane throw away holes. It was a pleasant surprise being challenged on even the straightforward designs here.
There were some faults, as with everything in life. The foliage on a couple of front nine holes was akin to playing craps. Some of the fun was whacking your ball and hope for the best rather than trying to do the mental calculus. There was some scuffled turf in areas, and then too there were some overly friendly designs that lead to some very manageable hole-in-one chances. All this nit-picking has more to do with trying to give an honest and thorough take than any fundamental criticism. I would highly recommend playing Max’s. The spacious feel of the area, the ice cream and most importantly the entertaining 18 holes of miniature putting fun (plus a goat to be found) make it a joy to play here.
In terms of difficulty, despite many creative greens and speed on the back nine, this is a relatively easy course to manage and an aggressive attitude is recommended. There are a couple of holes with favorable odds to sink a hole-in-one (holes 9 -11 in particular). Hole 9 has gives you the option of hitting your ball up a twirling mound. If you are successful in this endeavor, you will be rewarded accordingly and without fail. Hole 10 is the “bear cave.” Although the hole is 15 feet away, the green sinks down a bit before the hole, providing a generous roll if you are able to hit your ball close to the target. This is immediately followed by a another straight forward putt on Hole 11. This soft spot in the course can mislead you into runaway thoughts of course records. The back 9 requires more finesse. If you let success get to your head on the front 9, your scorecard will suffer. On Hole 12 if you do not expertly land your ball on top of the plateau, your ball will roll and roll and keep rolling, leaving you as far away from the cup as when you started, if you’re fortunate.
The borders used on the greens are not the friendly bricks or patio-esque smooth rock walls. The rocks that surround the greens are unpredictable and cannot be used reliably to help you if you over shoot your putt. The course does do a nice job fitting the greens into the border smoothly and without lumps or defects, but nonetheless, the green to border interface is a challenge you will have to face, especially when the greens are running as fast as they do in the final 7 holes and you end up relatively close to said border.
Ultimately, Max’s Country Golf has a good blend of hole types, there are changes in elevation, live farm animals, enjoyable and tricky green management, a cave, and some blue turf. So grab that putter of yours, head north to the border, and have yourself an enjoyable round.
APPENDIX
We’re almost halfway through our quest to play every mini golf course in Massachusetts and it is worth noting that Max’s did surprise me. There have been instances of visits to courses requiring an hour or more drive and resulting in pure disappointment. We never know what to expect when showing up to a course (we don’t read reviews or look at pictures in advance), so when I spotted the looming waterfall, I breathed a huge sigh of relief that this is indeed a real full length operational mini golf course. Additionally my mood was buoyed by my ability to uncharacteristically hit three hole in ones, which if you could notice in the tenor of my writing probably made the experience significantly more pleasant and reshaped my memories of playing here. If you think how you play has nothing to do with how you remember your experience, then you’re a better man than me.
What is another consistent finding is the type of ‘complexes’ that go along with mini golf. Max’s was no exception checking the boxes on some of the standard features (e.g. bumper boats). It’s a legal requirement in the state but all mini golf courses must also include some permutation or combination of a driving range, batting cages, bumper boats, an arcade, ice cream, a Par 3 course, go-karts, and probably a dozen more things we are forgetting. It’s nearly an embarrassment of riches on display at mini golf courses. Sadly we chose not to review every bumper boat facility in the state, though that very well may be our next project.