Golf Gone Wild!

This unique Japanese-born golf variation, described as “mini-golf on steroids,” has finally found its way to Ohio

By Melinda Green / Photos by Jordy Middlebrooks / Story Design by Atlas Biro

It’s like golf. No, it’s more like mini golf. Well, that’s not exactly right, either; it’s more like… croquet? Not exactly…

It’s called park golf, and it’s poised to become a hot new activity across the nation. For now, though, you can only find it in two places in the USA – including right here in Central Ohio.

Off the highway and on the way to Hocking Hills State Park is family-owned Campbell Cove Campground. Hobart Shaw, the son of the owners, manages their Wormburner Park Golf course as well as the campground.

“It's the pickleball version of golf,” he explained. “It's easier to learn, easier to play, more accessible. Think about how pickleball is to tennis, as far as going out and having some fun with friends. Not super frustrating like a real, right game of golf.”

New York state boasts the USA’s first park golf course; Campbell Cove is the second. Since word’s gotten out, though, Shaw has been fielding many inquiries of, “How did you do it?”

It all started in 2020 with a YouTube video that mentioned park golf. Shaw went “down the rabbit hole” and realized that this sport was perfect for the open field in the campground his parents had recently purchased. After a quick trip with his father to Destroyer Park Golf in New York, he was hooked.

He took drone photos of Campbell Cove’s field and mapped out a course, and his brother handled the landscaping. The course opened in 2021 and has been steadily gaining popularity.

But what is park golf? First of all, it is, as they say, “big in Japan.” Born in the 1970s, park golf was a way for Japan’s retired golfers and amateur seniors to continue enjoying golf into their twilight years. But it’s become a craze with other age groups, as well.

The ball is a little larger than a golf ball and often brightly colored. The holes are par three or four, and the greens are only 100 to 250 feet long. There are no sand traps, and flat-faced clubs ensure that the ball never flies more than about knee height off the ground (thus the name “Wormburner,” a golf shot that scoots across the ground).

At Wormburner, eighteen holes are packed onto 2.8 acres. Its flat, straightforward design makes the course fairly accessible to wheelchairs and assistive scooters as well as those who walk the course. “As long as you can go through the grass, drive through a yard, you're good to go,” Shaw said.

“People will always say it's like croquet, but it's really not. It's a lot more. It's really more like golf,” he explained. But not quite. “You don't have to put a lot of thought into it. It's not going to take you 4 hours to go play a real round of golf. Nobody's going to get super frustrated. Everybody can have fun.”

And yeah, it’s a little like mini golf, too, but, as Shaw noted, “Personally, I think it I think it's more fun in that you get to give the ball a good whack. I know that sounds funny, but you get to put some oomph into it.” He admits that he takes park golf fairly seriously when he plays, although fun is still his ultimate goal.

“Over here at my course, it's fun for everybody,” he said. “I had my 4-year-old out playing the other day. He was loving it. That's the thing about it—the elderly can play, your grandparents can play, but also, your teenage kids can play.”

Wormburner is open from 9am to sundown daily, on a first-come, first-served basis. “It only takes around an hour and a half to complete the course, so the wait usually isn’t more than 10 or 15 minutes,” Shaw said. Of course, weekends are peak times.

In addition, Wormburner hosts charity tournaments and has a seasonal weekly league. Some die-hard players are buying their own equipment—and yes, equipment has to be imported from Japan.

Shaw’s actually looking forward to seeing more courses open across the country. “I want more closer to me. I follow Instagram accounts in Japan and Korea, and I see all these beautiful courses that have been around for 40 years now, and they're so awesome.” He’s absolutely ready to see this sport take off.

For now, he’s putting his energy into promoting the sport locally to everyone who will listen, noting, “I think anybody who likes taking a walk outside and hitting things with a stick is going to enjoy it.”

To learn more, visit wormburnerparkgolf.com