Mini-golf plays a part in NO SHOW. It’s not something you expect to see in a mystery novel, but if I’m anything, it’s unconventional.
I have no interest in traditional golf, but I do love mini-golf! It’s where Indiana Jones meets the game, making it a far superior game than ordinary golf. Any idiot with a club can bang a ball 200 yards across an open field, but it takes real skill to get a ball in the hole after getting it through a windmill or around a castle.
Mini-golf was something I played as a wee one and stopped playing once my voice broke. That changed when I moved to the US, where I found mini-golf is a staple of every kiddie arcade I came across. One of the things about living away from home is nostalgia kicks in because you’ve yet to develop any touchstones in your new country, so you turn to the familiar and the comforting. For me, my nostalgic touchstone was mini-golf.
Since rediscovering my love of mini-golf, I’ve become somewhat of a connoisseur of mini-golf courses and Julie and I make a point of playing it wherever we travel. Some of the standouts for us have been a “glow in the dark” course in Hawaii, a course on the edge of a graveyard in New Zealand and probably my favorite, a technically challenging course with actual water features in Seattle.
The one course that really struck a chord with me was a gold-mine themed course outside of Sacramento which was partially subterranean for several holes. Sadly, it closed down a few years ago and I don’t know if it even still stands. I hope so, because it formed the basis of The Gold Rush, which is the fictional course that’s featured in NO SHOW and I’d love to get some photos of it for my records.
Some authors have book signings at stores. I’m thinking I should have them at a mini-golf course. If I did, would you want to play a round with me? 🙂
Daisy
Did you know there’s an indoor course here in Alameda? As mini-golf, it doesn’t look like it’s particularly good, but it’s the best use for an empty former furniture store that I can think of.
Simon Wood
I’ve been and played there. My senses are attuned to seek out M-G courses. 🙂