(WXYZ) — If you’re looking for a mini-golf course with maximum personality, there's one in Bloomfield Hills that just may be fore you.
Welcome to Cranbrook on the Green, where you won’t find any windmills, pirate ships or fake palm trees.
Because nestled right outside the Cranbrook Art Museum, is not your typical mini-golf course — no putts about it.
“We were really just going for a level of uniqueness. So each of the holes has a different sort of game-play feature,” said Lyla Catellier, Curator of Public Programs at Cranbrook Art Museum.
And the course is home to holes designed by artists meant to celebrate Cranbrook’s campus and rich history.
“We wanted to involve the community. Everyone loves this place so much,” she said.
There’s The Gateway, a nod to Cranbrook’s famous gates.
And Steggy’s Escape, featuring Cranbrook’s favorite dinosaur — with an added twist.
“We call our stegosaurus 'Strata.' She's Steggy's little sister and she is cloaked in a textile … designed by Ruth Adler Schnee. Ruth is one of the first women to graduate from Cranbrook with a design degree,” said Catellier.
You’ll also have to make some music on the Bertoia Bronze hole.
And just imagine trying to putt putt while your friends block your shot with their legs. That’s the reality at the Slum of Legs hole, a nod to Eero Saarinen’s iconic tulip chair.
If all of this sounds a bit obscure to you — that’s fine, because the goal here is to have fun, but to also come away with newfound knowledge.
“As I like to say, play as you learn,” said Catellier.
This year, there are two new holes that have been added to the course roster.
Katie Mongoven is the designer who brought the Glassy Green to life, intrigued by the windows of the Cranbrook dining hall.
“I was always inspired by the tessellation of the glass and how they're all different and they're all unique designs. And I actually learned after the fact that the shapes within each pane are references to aerial views of the architecture around campus. So it pulls in all these different aspects,” said Mongoven.
Priscilla Llyod and her sister created another hole, inspired by Cranbrook’s Greek Theatre.
“There's so many different parts of Cranbrook, but this kind of summarizes every aspect of it, there's so much going on here," said Llyod of Cranbrook on the Green.
With the additions, this course offers 11 unique holes for the art-loving public.
“I'm just so excited for people to come here and explore the campus and to see, for example, the the real stegosaurus and then our miniature stegosaurus, for them to, you know, check out the light pylon, to look at the gates, to recognize some of their favorite features and see more of what the art museum has to offer this summer,” said Catellier.
Opening day for Cranbrook on the Green is this Wednesday. The course will remain open through September 3.
Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (every Thursday, the Cranbrook Art Museum will offer a cash bar to those playing the course)
Adults: $15
ArtMembers & Detroit Residents: $10
Children under 12: $8
Prices do include admission to the art museum
Check out a list of the nine other holes (in addition to The Glassy Green and the Greek Theatre) and their description from the Cranbrook Art Museum below:
Gateway: Play through Cranbrook’s famous gates and around Cranbrook Schools’ Quadrangle Fountain.
Lightside Up: The Kingswood Auditorium has been turned upside down in this skee-ball inspired hole.
Bertoia Bronze: Strike a chord with Harry Bertoia’s Sonambient sound sculpture-inspired hole.
Sunken Garden: Get lost in the hedges of the sunken garden…but don’t lose your ball in the flower beds!
At the Wheel: Take a spin at the potter’s wheel. Drop your ball inside the vessel and turn the wheel. Play among the giants of ceramics, such as Maija Grotell.
Slum of Legs: Have a seat! Move Your Feet! Distract your opponents by adding your own legs as obstacles in this hold inspired by Eero Saarinen’s iconic Tulip chair (which was his solution to a traditional table and chairs “slum of legs.”)
Steggy’s Escape: Cranbrook’s favorite dinosaur has made his escape! Camouflaged in Ruth Adler Schnee’s Strata fabric, can you find him?
Triton Poolsball: The Triton Pool has been turned into a giant foosball table! Don’t get caught up dancing with Carl Milles’ sea creatures. You must make it past the Tritons to score!
Peristyle Playthrough: End your play at Cranbrook’s grandest architecture. A portal has opened in the Orpheus Fountain – can you make it through? Or will the Peristyle become your limestone trap?
