Mar-Lea Miniature Golf & Driving Range

Cheap, easy and nice people work there. My golf game is still embarrassing but its getting better due to this place.

They get five stars because they are close to home and the only place to go in the area without having to drive. They don’t just get five stars for that but also because they staff is very nice, the grounds seemed kept very will maintained, the driving range now has a grass hitting area which is a huge advantage and that was exactly what I was looking for. The one downside is they charge you an extra $ 1 to use it but I understand that is to maintain the grounds. I haven’t played mini golf but from what I saw it seemed like a nice like course with fun obstacles. I will return for the driving range without a doubt.

Quality mini golf course, very traditional obstacles, average difficultly. The course overall is somewhat well kept, the holes are the only thing that need to be replaced. The free game hole is challenging but not impossible. Price is fair and beware, they only take cash. Owner and operators are very friendly. Always love coming back here at least once a season.

Ever since Club Golf went out of business in Manchester, I’ve been looking for an alternative driving range and have driven by this place on multiple occasions. Finally decided to check it out. This is a pretty nice place out in the middle of nowhere, along the Manchester/​Bolton town line. Its very clean and kept up very nicely as opposed to Club Golf which was kind of dingy. I went to use the driving range so can’t comment on the miniature golf but the miniature golf section looked decent. It wasnt huge but that’s to be expected, right? It is Miniature golf, after all… The driving range was alot bigger than I expected. Its pretty much rubber tees and mats, which I am not a big fan of (thus the 4 stars vs 5 stars) but as I was leaving I thought I saw a little section for grass tees. Try not to use the mats for iron shots because you’ll end up having to scrape off green plastic residue from the bottom of your club. Anyway, there is plenty of room for alot of people to practice so no worries about getting there and not finding a space to tee off. A medium bucket of golf balls is $ 7.00, which is about average, maybe a shade above average. There is plenty of parking. So in summary, as a driving range, its a good place to practice. For me, its close, and its nestled in a nice, quiet section of town away from all the mall traffic and noise so I can say, without reservation, for now, that I am a fan.
Update (June 2013) — I had to take the rating of this place down a notch because I found another driving range close by in East Hartford called East Hartford Golf Center. I liked that the E. Hartford place has natural grass tees and not the artificial mats. The fact that Mar Lea’s mats leave a green plastic residue on the end of your clubhead is a big drawback.