This isn’t your old-time Disneyland kid’s miniature golf by any stretch of the imagination. You won’t find drawbridges, windmills, castles, clown heads, or log tunnels at Las Vegas’ newest miniature-golf course, Pop Stroke. What you will find is a serious putters’ challenge, with all kinds of sand traps and roughs, contouring from gentle to wild with all kinds of banks, humps, turns, and waves, and different grades of synthetic surfaces. Which is appropriate for a mini-golf company in which Tiger Woods and Taylor Made Golf are partners.
Pop Stroke was founded all of six years ago and now has 16 locations in six states; the one at Town Square near the junction of I-15 and the 215 Beltway, which opened in April, is the only location in Nevada.
Pop Stroke features two 18-hole courses, one easier than the other. You can bring your own putter or pick one of Pop Strokes’ based on your height; the balls come in different colors and you get to keep the one you play with. You can download the app to keep score and order drinks from the three bars and food from the sports bar, which the staff delivers to you on the course. Shareables include chicken tenders, hummus platter, nachos, wings, and tuna tartare ($12-$21), while tacos, sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and steak are $13-$24.
There’s also an ice cream counter, with 25 flavors (1/2/3 scoops $6/$8/$10) and a variety of toppings ($1 each), plus floats and milkshakes ($9-$12).
An outdoor play area offers a couple of foosball tables, ping pong, and cornhole. There’s a warm-up green for practicing, but it’s not really necessary; admission is good for all day, so you can play as long as you like, hang around the game area or bar and start up again, or even leave and come back.
Being barely six months old, Pop Stroke’s palm trees are young and provide little shade. We were there during the heat wave in July when it was 115 out and it was sizzling out on the greens. But plenty of water, wet towels, fans, and misters are stationed around the property that help to keep things if not exactly cool, at least not roasting.
This place is very popular. There’s plenty of free parking, but the lot does get full. And depending on the size of the group/groups in front of yours, you might have to stand around and wait for everyone to take a turn. We saw a group of eight take 15 minutes on a hole.
We also watched couples and groups of three and four bypass them to the next hole. Since you can play all day, unless you’re intent on competing and the score really matters, anything basically goes. From our observations, groups of two to four seem to be the best size.
All in all, Pop Stroke puts a new spin, so to speak, on mini-golf and in clement weather or at night, it’s a very fun outdoor activity. It’s open 9 a.m. to midnight Sun.-Thurs., till 1 a.m. on Fri-Saturday. Summer pricing is Mon.-Thurs. $35, Fri,-Sat. $40 per person, locals $30/$35. Kids 3-12 are 40% off, seniors/military/twilight (two hours prior to closing) 20%. Special events happen almost every day: Mondays senior day, Tuesdays kids day, Wednesday college day, Thursday ladies night. And there’s a happy hour Mon.-Thurs. 3-6 p.m. with 50% off drinks and a discounted food menu.
