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Emilio Ristorante & Mini Golf
45 Millrock Rd. East
Old Saybrook, CT
(860) 395-1882
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Our Review

• Last Reviewed: 2001
• By: Chris (MiniGolf CT Staff)
• Overall Rating (1-5): 2
• Maintenance: 4
• Playability: 4
• Price: 1
• Fun: 2
• Difficulty: Hard

Emilio Ristorante has a miniature golf course in back. I turned into it one day to see how it was, but came out dissatisfied.

The course starts you out with two negatives: first, a $6 green fee, which is quite high unless the course in question has special qualities that make it fun to play. This course had none. Second, a sign in the clubhouse boasted, "Nobody who has visited has ever gotten par on this course yet!" The scorecard lists only a total par, and not pars for each hole. If you do the math, the total par indicates that most holes are Par 2, but playing the course shows you that most holes are a minimum Par 3.

The holes are difficult and boring, tending not to have obstacles, but rather expanses of green that one can find putting through either tedious or difficult, depending on the hole. On my visit, at least one cup had water in it, and a few greens were soaking wet.

After my visit, I realized two things: I spent more than I should have to play this course, and I didn't have much fun at all. I cannot recommend this course.

Note: The reviewer rephrased this review in 2005 to more accurately describe his view of the course. No numerical ratings were changed, and the overall opinion is the same.

Our Review Criteria

• All numerical criteria are on a basis of 1-5. For most items, 1 is worst, and 5 is best.
• Overall: The reviewer's overall opinion of the course. 1 or 2 is not good. 3 is average, but nothing special. 4 is worth a visit, and 5 is an exceptional course.
• Maintenance: How well the course is kept.
• Creativity: Is this a cookie-cutter type of course, or does it have some flair?
• Price: How does the price of the course compare to the quality?
• Fun: Simply put, how fun is the course?
• Difficulty: 1-5, 1 easiest, 5 hardest
• A number of older reviews have a "Playability" rating. This indicates how able is one to play the course. Things like bent cup rims, twigs, clogged pipes, and too-difficult holes were included here. (These considerations are now part of Maintenance; Creativity was added in place of Playability in 2005.)