A weekend away at McInnis Park Golf Center

Kylie Horstmeyer

Deciding on an activity to do in Marin County can be challenging. Whether you are a high school student looking for a fun place to go on a first date or a family seeking an exciting weekend outing, McInnis Golf Park Center may be just the place. Located off San Pedro Road in San Rafael, McInnis includes various activities from miniature (mini) golf to batting cages. I would like to share my experience to help you decide whether you should spend your day at the McInnis Park Center.

 

Mini Golf (3.0 stars)

Mini golf is one of the biggest attractions at the Mcinnis Golf Park center, especially since it is suitable for all ages. If you are looking for a quick hour-long activity to kill time and enjoy yourself, mini golf is a great activity. However, I would not recommend the McInnis mini-golf course. Each ticket costs nine dollars per round, which does not seem outrageous until you start playing. The first couple of holes were fairly easy to complete and did not have very challenging obstacles. I was expecting the difficulty level and creativity to increase from the first hole, but it did not, leading to a repetitive and dull game. There were only four creative obstacles out of 18 which included a swinging pipe, one colossal snail, a dragon and a clown. The “creative” obstacles were so simple that it wasn’t any more challenging to make par. Once I was on the 18th hole, I looked over and honestly could not tell the difference in difficulty from the first one. It did not have an extravagant path like most mini golf courses do. That being said, while the golf itself was a letdown, the atmosphere around the mini-golf course was well done. It had waterfalls streaming throughout the course, which gave it a natural feel. This failed to elevate the overall experience; I recommend spending your money on a different mini-golf that has tougher obstacles but the next closest course is Subpar Miniature Golf, 23 minutes away in San Francisco. 

Located in San Rafael, McInnis Park Golf Center attracts a diverse group of people with its mini golf course, batting cages and excellent slurpees.

 

Slurpees (4.5 stars)

 In between playing mini golf and hitting at the batting cages, I hopped over to the snack shack and tried all three sushi flavors: white cherry, blueberry and Coca-Cola. When I saw the price of a small slurpee that was $2.50, I thought that it was extremely overpriced for such a small drink. However, after taking the first sip, I realized it was one of the best slurpees I have ever had. The white cherry flavor had the perfect amount of ice to syrup ratio and was nicely chilled, which was perfect for a hot day. I then tried the blue raspberry. This slurpee was exceptional as well but did come with some significant flaws. The blue raspberry slurpee had a sweet flavor, but the ratio of ice to syrup was off. It was a little bit more liquidy and sweet, which is not my favorite because I could tell if I kept drinking it I would quickly feel nauseated. That left me with the final slushy: Coca-Cola. If you’re a fan of Coca-Cola, I would 100 percent recommend this slurpee. It had a perfect balance between ice and syrup and tasted exactly like the soda. It was not too sweet and had the perfect amount of ice. Overall, the slurpees at the McInnis golf course are some of the best I have ever had and are well worth the money. 

All three of the slurpee flavors offered at the snack shack, just a few feet away from the batting cages and miniature golf.

 

Batting cages (3.5 stars) 

Lastly, after finishing my incredible slurpees, I headed over to snack shack to buy my batting cage tokens. Roughly 25 pitches were four dollars, which in my opinion is overpriced. This did include a bat and helmet if you choose to borrow, but unfortunately, they were not in great condition. If you are looking to try batting out for fun, go ahead and borrow their equipment, but if you have the option, I recommend bringing your own gear. I started on the slow baseball or softball setting. To my surprise, many of the pitches thrown out of the pitching machine were not even strikes. A few times I had to jump out of the way because the ball came so close to my body. A fly ball would occasionally move through the top of the batting cage and end up on the other side of the fence, which did not seem very safe. One thing I liked about the cages is that there were multiple levels of difficulty to accommodate all levels of players, including slow softball (30 mph), slow baseball (40 mph), fast softball (50-69 mph) and five levels of baseball (ranging from 50 to 85 mph). There were small, painted, animated players hanging across the cage, which enhanced the atmosphere. In the end, these cages are old and overpriced; however, if you are looking for a batting cage that appeals to customers with varied skills, I would recommend the McInnis cages. 

The batting cages offer eight different levels of pitches accommodating for people with different skill sets.