Jurassic Adventure Golf is located at Santa-Fe Fun Park in Swanage, Dorset, right next to the Shipwreck Island course on the same site. It’s a good location near the centre of the town, on a small hill above the beach, looking out over Swanage Bay.
You’ll know by now what to expect from a Jurassic-themed course – life-size or near-life-size models of dinosaurs, a jeep or two, and a few water features to add to the atmosphere.
All of that is present and correct here. What’s missing is the gameplay. Like so many other modern courses, the 18 holes offer nothing in the way of challenge or jeopardy. There’s little choice about whether to take a hard or easy option; nothing imaginative that would make you want to play a particular hole again.
By hole 12 or 13 you pretty much know what’s coming, and by the time the difficulty level is raised on the 18th, it’s all too little too late.
It’s not cheap either. £8.50 for adults – which is anyone aged 12 and over – and £6.50 for children under 12 means you’re talking £34 for a family of four including a couple of teenagers, with no cheaper family tickets available. There are discounts if you choose to play Shipwreck Island as well, but to be honest 36 holes of this quality is less attractive than playing 18.
More proof, if any were needed, that for many places the money used on course architecture would be better spent on designing the holes themselves.