One thing that will make a statement about the quality of your miniature golf facility is the action and realism of its waterfall system. A thundering waterfall facing the road frontage is sure to attract the attention of potential guests driving by. If it is done poorly the rest of your facility may be seen as second rate as well. Here are a few tips on how to make your system visually effective and economical.

Walk around the perimeter of your site and evaluate which direction a waterfall will draw the most attention from nearby roadways, intersections, high traffic businesses, etc. This will require the waterfall with the highest flow rate and elevation. Next locate a waterfall directed at the common area of the park to attract guests from outdoor seating areas or other attractions. Guests need to be excited about playing near water features from inside the park. Position caves or other structures to support these waterfalls at a high enough elevation so that the desired visibility is achieved.

The main lagoon must be large enough to act as the main reservoir for the entire water system. This means that a pump and piping system must pump from this lagoon to the uppermost point of the waterfalls and that the water must return through a series of streams and pools to recirculate back to supply the pump. The main lagoon is generally three feet deep and is located at the lowest part of the miniature golf course.

The most efficient pump for miniature golf water is a vertical turbine. It consists of a pump with an impeller on a shaft submerged below the water level and driven by an electric motor mounted on top with a coupled drive shaft for a direct drive. Pump and motor are mounted on top of a precast concrete manhole structure on the side of the lagoon for a "wet well". A PVC pipe (12" to 18" OD) is coupled to the discharge flange of the pump and runs underground to the bowl at the top of the cave or other structure to supply the waterfalls. No check valves are required for this system as it is self-priming. A themed enclosure is built to conceal the pump and motor as it is more than six feet high above the water level of the lagoon.

The amount of water flowing over the waterfalls depends on the effect desired. If you need a thundering torrent that guests will have to shout to each other to be heard when standing nearby, at least 2,000 gallons per minute (gpm) will be required. A nice calm garden effect waterfall will require only about 500 gpm. We experimented with flows as much as 7,000 gpm on some Mountasia facilities to get the spectacular effects of rushing waterfalls and whitewater streams, as the cost of the pump system does not significantly increase with larger flows. We found, however, that the construction costs significantly increased because of the larger height of the banks of the streams and waterfalls to contain such a large flow. A skillful designer can get the full waterfall action effects with less water by making shelves and splash pools to spread the flow and create more visible white water action. Water that flows smoothly as over a dam is nearly invisible from a distance, even though it may be a high volume flow.

Many miniature golf waterfalls look like a large lump of concrete with water coming out of the top of it. This looks out of place with the landscaping and theming of the rest of the facility. A natural waterfall has pockets of plants growing in islands in the middle of it or along its banks. Soften that ugly concrete with some planters with flowers, hanging vines, palm trees, or ornamental grasses. Mix some natural rock that has moss growing on it with the carved and painted concrete rockwork. If your waterfall is big enough, make one section calmer with stair-stepping pools overflowing into each other and around planters while another section has more action with a larger vertical drop splashing on boulders or shallow pools at the bottom. Visiting real waterfalls and photographing effects can give you ideas to copy.

Much can be done inside a cave when water is flowing over the top of it. The easiest feature to add is a window waterfall where guests can see the waterfall from behind through a window in the side of the cave. There is always quite a bit of spray inside the cave and the carpet may stay wet from it. Another common effect is a small waterfall trickling down an interior wall with a small stream flowing next to the golf hole in the cave. This is done with a gravity pipe through the top of the cave to supply it and a buried pipe leading to a stream for an outlet.

Depending on the topography of your site, streams can be very active or calm and peaceful. Many sites are too flat to get enough fall to make active streams. Save the fall for water movement where guests have themost visibility, such as where a bridge crosses or a golf hole is played on the bank. Widening the stream slows water down as does deepening the flow. Make a border of carved or natural rock so that landscape mulch and clippings do not wash into the streams easily. If there is not much land available a miniature golf hole can bridge over a stream to avoid building a bridge between holes. Once again, do not make the stream a smooth boring flow, as in a flume. Create rapids, ripples, and pools with some well placed rocks to make the most of the flow.

Plan some miniature golf holes with water flowing across or around them at strategic places. Supply the flow with small open streams branching off waterfalls or main streams or with buried gravity pipes. Remember that guests wading in streams after lost balls are not having fun. Everyone loves playing the trick water holes, such as the one where the ball seems to be lost in the nearby stream only to appear from the border near the cup.

Many facilities are now making the miniature golf lagoon into a bumper boat lagoon with a dock for the boats and filter system to keep the water clean. There are specific factors to consider when doing this, such as:

There is considerably more volume of water to filter than a normal bumper boat lagoon, since the same water is circulated through all the other water features. This may require you to install a larger filter system or electric boats.

When the pump system is turned off at night the water level in the main lagoon will rise by about six to ten inches from the waterfalls and streams draining down. The skimmers then are submerged and not filtering the gas and oil from the surface.

The main lagoon is often used as a stormwater detention pond, meaning most of the facility drains into it. This has the potential for silt and debris to wind up on the bottom and will be churned up by the propellers of the boats. In order to get the calculated detention volume the sides of the lagoon are often raised as well, meaning that the dock may be under water in a storm event.

A bumper boat lagoon is considered to be similar to a swimming pool by regulatory agencies, since guests are actually on the water and being splashed during the ride. Otherwise it is considered as an ornamental water system and is held to a lesser standard.

In general, your main lagoon is a major feature of your facility and the miniature golf holes should be placed as close as possible to the bank, as guests really enjoy playing next to water. Many regulatory agencies are now requiring a childproof fence around lagoons for safety. This can be accomplished with a wooden rail fence with the black netting covering it. This will also prevent your expensive golf balls from rolling into the water.

Often there will be places where a smaller lagoon is desirable, such as near outdoor seating areas or below major waterfalls. These lagoons can be much shallower, as they are only ornamental and not the main reservoir for the pumping system. Make sure they do not drain back to the main lagoon when the pump is turned off at night, as this will require the pump to fill it back up in the morning and will cause considerable delay in getting the entire system circulating again. It will also cause a very large fluctuation in water level at the main lagoon. The smaller pools in the waterfalls and streams should drain empty as much as possible at shutdown for ease of maintenance and repairs.

Miniature golf is primarily an evening activity with most of the busiest times after the evening meal during the week and starting later on weekend evenings. The beautiful water effects you have created will be wasted unless they are adequately lighted. Most miniature golf facilities are brightly illuminated from overhead fixtures on poles since guests must be able to see their small golf ball rolling on dark carpet more than 30 feet away. Many facilities use small colored fixtures to accent the waterfalls and streams, but these are washed out by the strong overhead lights. The best method for lighting a waterfall is to position one of the overhead poles near it to light it from above and add some large ground mounted floodlights at the bottom shining up to fill in the shadows. Remember that the major water action occurs at the bottom of vertical drops where the water splashes around as it slaps onto rocks and into shallow pools. The overhead lights tend to make these areas in dark shadows.

Design your water system so that it is realistic and highly visible, as it can be your best draw for drive-by visibility. It must be designed before the miniature golf holes are added to the plan. Use it to vary the mood in different areas of the facility and remember that guests love to be around moving water.

By Paul L. Zellar

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