Mini-Golf Debuts at New Canaan's Pop-Up Park

New Canaan's Pop-Up Park, a popular feature over the summer that would shut down parts of South Avenue at Morse Court to traffic to allow for features like Zumba classes, coffee tables or live music, made a surprise appearance over this past weekend with a brand new feature. 

"We had six holes of mini-golf," exclaimed Tucker Murphy, Executive Director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. "We knew kids would like it, but we really had no idea how popular it would be."

Murphy said more than 750 people enjoyed the new mini-golf course debut at the Pop-Up Park, which normally runs weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and everyone from small children to parents and grandparents and even teenagers stopped to take part. 

She said they got clearance to put up the park this past weekend because, even though it was Columbus Day weekend, because schools were open on Monday, lots of families would still be in town when they might otherwise be away. Murphy credited the construction of the course to volunteer Jeff Holland, "a volunteer extraordinaire," who designed and build the feature. 

"It was such a hit," Murphy said. "I went home so exhausted but so energized. We wanted to feature something that makes people come to town, stay in town and enjoy our town. [The Pop-Up Park] has become such a central hub for people to meet and talk with their friends and hang out."

Murphy said the town even had a special club available for children with special needs and one child was able to play the whole course while in a wheelchair because of it and loved it. There was also a special moment between a father and his autistic son Murphy was able to witness. 

"It was very moving, there was a family here with an autistic child," she said. "His brothers were playing and his father was helping him putt and he had this big smile and the father told me we didn't understand, that they would maybe only see a smile from him like that once every three months."

The Pop-Up Park—and the mini-golf course—will make one more appearance before the end of the season during the last weekend in October on the 26th and 27th for the Halloween Parade, Murphy said, though the golfing set-up will appear this coming weekend at the New Canaan Nature Center's Fall Fair.