So, I heard about this thing, this Jack O’Lantern Golf up in New Hampshire. My buddy, Leo, he’s always stumbling onto these quirky local events. He said, “You gotta see this.” Golf with pumpkins? Sounded a bit daft, but it was October, and honestly, I didn’t have much else going on.
Didn’t really need to do a ton of prep. I mean, it’s not like I was trying out for the PGA Tour. Mostly just had to find my golf shoes. Found them tucked away in the back of the closet, still caked with mud from who knows when. Grabbed my clubs, tossed ’em in the car. Pretty sure they were as surprised as I was to be seeing daylight.
The drive up to New Hampshire was, well, a drive. You know how it is. The leaves were doing their autumn color thing, which was nice, I guess. But then I got stuck in this insane traffic jam just outside some small town. Seriously thought about just turning around and going home. Crawling along for what felt like an eternity.
Finally made it. The place itself? Uh, let’s call it… unique. Definitely not your fancy, manicured golf course. More like some folks had a big field and a bunch of pumpkins and just went for it. And the jack o’lanterns, man, they were everywhere. All sorts of faces, some goofy, some trying to look scary. Hundreds of them, easily.
Actually playing the “golf” part was an experience. The “fairways” were pretty rough, and the “greens” were just patches of grass they’d mowed a bit shorter. You weren’t really aiming for a little hole in the ground. It was more about trying to get your ball near specific pumpkin displays or through some makeshift Halloween obstacle. My golf game is atrocious on a good day, so this didn’t exactly help my score. Pretty sure I hit a hay bale square on. Nobody seemed to care, which was probably for the best.
It wasn’t all just about flailing at golf balls, though. They had a bit of a fall festival vibe going on. There was hot apple cider, which, I gotta admit, was pretty decent. Some local craft stalls. Lots of kids running around, hyped up on sugar and Halloween spirit. That part was actually kind of nice, made it feel less like a serious sporting event and more like a community thing.
So, this Jack O’Lantern Golf NH adventure. Was it a world-class golfing experience? Absolutely not. Not even close. It was a bit chaotic, a bit amateurish, if I’m being honest. But you know what? It was kinda fun. In a low-key, slightly silly way. The people were friendly. It got me out of the apartment. Sometimes that’s all you’re looking for, right? Something simple that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I wouldn’t write home about it, but am I glad I went? Yeah, I suppose so. At least I got a weird story out of it.
