We Headed To Lost City for an Afternoon of Boozy Mini Golf

Like many organisations up and down the country, we were forced to abandon our Christmas party plans when a new strain of COVID reared its ugly head last December. But March, as the old saying goes, is as good a time for a Christmas party as any, so we swapped our keyboards for golf clubs and headed down to Lost City Adventure Golf for a day of crocodiles, cocktails and more competition than any of us would care to admit.

While some of us had visited before, more than a few of the LeftLion team were Lost City newbies, and were struck by how immersive the jungle theme is as soon as you enter the venue, located downstairs in The Cornerhouse. The motif expands far beyond just the two courses – a pith helmet-wearing parrot greets you as you enter the checking-in area, a bamboo shack that doubles as a bar serving a number of jungle-themed cocktails. The attention to detail is remarkable – including palm trees, bird sounds and fairy lights - and the extra effort to ensure the entire venue fits one immersive theme pays off enormously, transporting you seamlessly from the hustle of Nottingham’s city centre to a tranquil Tiki paradise. And this is before we’ve even picked up a club. 

Well lubricated with cocktails (I made the tactical error of sinking a Zombie before play), we headed down to the first of two eighteen-hole courses, The Temple Trail and The Sacred Skull Pass. While we’d had a taste of the immersive experience at the Tiki Bar, the courses themselves ramp things up to another level. Part-Indiana Jones, part-Crystal Maze, the courses are crammed full of fun effects, from animatronic animals goading you for missing, shadowy spiders cascading from the hole as you’re trying to putt and thunderous rainfall sounds adding to the sense of jungle adventure, it’s a transformative experience unlike anything I’ve seen before at a mini-golf venue. The level of detail is something you’d expect at a high-level escape room, but magnified enormously to cover 36 holes, each with its own level of difficulty and distinct theme.

What started as a friendly bit of competition inevitably got heated, as we split into four teams. The plan was that, with a trio of holes left, the person coming last from each group would play against one-another over in a three-hole play-off to determine who was the ultimate loser. I’m not ashamed to say that I was one of them, which I put down to my earlier Zombie consumption more than my prowess as a golfer. I was determined not to come last but, as I squared off against our Marketing and Partnerships Manager Adam and Ash, our Editor, the fates had other ideas. Tension was at a peak as we played the final hole no less than three times, having drawn the first two, but the pressure, rum and constant trash-talking got to me, and I missed the deciding putt to my eternal shame. 

But even that wasn’t enough to sour the day. The three-month wait to have our Christmas party was well worth the wait, and we couldn’t have picked a better venue. As I re-emerged out of the jungle paradise of Lost City into the real world, I was already counting down the days til we can come back next year. 

lostcityadventuregolf.com