After four years in Minneapolis, we finally made it to Skyline Mini Golf on the rooftop of the Walker Art Center. The putt-putt course features 10 artist-designed holes, including two new additions made in collaboration with the Native Youth Arts Collective.
Tee times are assigned in person on a first-come, first-served basis. (No, they won’t save you a spot for later in the day.) Before heading up to the roof, we ate lunch at Cardamom, the new restaurant from Shawn McKenzie (Café Cerés) and Daniel Del Prado (Sanjusan, Colita, Martina). Inhabiting the old Esker Grove space, seating is available indoors and out and diners order at the counter or via a QR code on their phone.
The menu takes its cues largely from Café Cerés, building on a Mediterranean-inspired mix of mezze, salads, and lamb and seafood dishes. Everything we tried was delicious, especially the fried chicken challah sandwich topped with harissa honey and the Mediterranean corn tossed with rose za’atar, serrano, lime labneh, and feta. Had we been hungrier, we would’ve been all over the baklava tart and ras el hanout latte.
After lunch, we headed up to the terrace for our pre-assigned slot. Masks were optional outdoors and most visitors removed theirs. Golfers are given putters, balls, scorecards, and mini pencils. We were told we could follow the holes in numeric order or jump around—but the latter created the exact bottleneck it was intended to avoid.
Many of the holes were more challenging than they looked, particularly when we realized how easy it’d be to accidentally swing a ball straight off the roof. Holes 3 (“Color Wheel”) and 10 (“Piece of Cake”), designed by Tom Loftus and Robin Schwartzman, were particularly tricky. Hole 6 (“Reflection of Choices”) from Chris Crammer was our favorite because it reminded us of Plinko from The Price is Right.
You can’t tell from these photos, but it was uncomfortably crowded the afternoon we visited—and made worse by unruly kids running amok on the course. Sweating under the hot sun, we couldn’t get through it fast enough—and longed for the shadier, more spacious putt-putt course and sculpture park at Big Stone Mini Golf in Minnetrista.
The course is fun in theory and certainly photogenic. But if we were to do it over, we’d go first thing on an overcast morning or around sunset.
Wanna judge for yourself? Skyline Mini Golf runs through September 26, and is open Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for Walker members and kids ages 7 to 18, and free for kids 6 and under with a paid adult. Tack on an extra $5 if you want to tour the museum while you’re there.
Skyline Mini Golf at the Walker Art Center
725 Vineland Pl., Minneapolis, MN; 612-375-7600.
