2026-08-31 11:04:00
Half the fun of a themed golf round is proving you were actually there, and a plain group selfie by the entrance doesn't really cut it. A course built around cauldrons, portals and a hidden gargoyle hands you far better material than that, so it's worth going in with a few shots in mind rather than scrambling for a photo on your way out the door. Turning your round into a proper photo challenge, where everyone tries to bag a set list of shots before the ninth hole, adds a whole extra layer of fun on top of the putting.
It's one of the reasons the best York mini golf course draws groups back again and again, since every hole seems built for a photo rather than just a swing. Some venues give you one decent backdrop and leave the rest to your imagination. A course built around an actual story tends to hand you five or six without even trying, which is exactly what a good photo challenge needs.
Here are five ideas to steal for your next round, plus a few tips for actually getting the shot right once you're standing in front of each one.
Every good photo challenge needs a signature shot, and a giant picture frame built into the course is about as good as it gets. Rather than just posing next to it, get each player to climb properly into the frame and strike a pose like they've just been painted there. It works even better if you assign each person a different character to play, a knight, a sorceress, a nervous apprentice, so the final set of photos looks like a gallery of portraits rather than the same pose repeated six times.
Take a few from different angles too, since the frame often looks completely different straight on compared with a shot taken slightly from the side. If your group's feeling a bit braver, try a slow zoom video instead of a still photo, since the frame practically begs for a dramatic reveal. Whoever goes first sets the bar, and it's rare that the rest of the group doesn't try to top it before you move on to the next hole.
Dark holes are made for dramatic photography. When your group reaches the hole that needs a light spell to find the way through, that's your cue to slow down and grab a shot before rushing to the next tee. Try lighting one player's face from below with a phone torch while everyone else stays in silhouette. It's a simple trick, but it turns an ordinary phone photo into something that actually looks like it belongs in a fantasy film. A few tips to get the shot right:
Turn off the flash and let the course's own lighting do the work
Hold the camera steady, since low light photos blur easily
Get low or crouch slightly so the shot looks like it's peering into the dark rather than looking down on it
Take a few burst shots and pick the sharpest one afterward
A bubbling cauldron is one of those props that photographs well from almost any angle, but a close-up beats a wide shot every time. Get someone to lean in like they're stirring up trouble, or hold a prop wand just above the bubbles as though they're casting the spell that made it froth in the first place. If your group brought any dress-up pieces, a cloak or a pointed hat, this is the hole to break them out.
The steam or bubbles add movement to the photo, which makes it far more interesting than a static shot of someone standing next to a fake pot. Try shooting from just above the cauldron looking down, then compare it with a shot taken at eye level from the side. One usually looks far more dramatic than the other, and it's worth finding out which before you move the whole group along to the next hole.
Anything that looks like a portal is an open invitation for a jump shot, and a golf course built around magical doorways why indoor crazy golf is growing in popularity gives you the perfect excuse. Line up a few players and time a group jump right as they pass through the frame, or get one person mid-leap while the rest cheer from the side. These shots take a couple of tries to nail, so build in a bit of extra time at this hole rather than rushing the group through. A short list of what makes a jump photo actually work:
Someone counts down out loud so everyone jumps at the same moment
The photographer crouches slightly to catch more air in the shot
Burst mode or several quick shots in a row beats one single attempt
Keep the background as clear as possible so the portal itself stays the focus
Not every photo needs to happen on the course itself. Once the round wraps up and everyone's holding their potion drink, that's a natural spot for a toast photo before anyone actually takes a sip. Line the group up, glasses raised, and get a shot that looks like the closing scene of an adventure rather than a snap taken at random in a bar.
If a few players ordered the grown-up version of the drink, mixing potion colours across the group makes for a much more interesting lineup than everyone holding the same glass. This is also a good moment for a slower, posed shot rather than a rushed one, since it's the last photo of the day and tends to be the one that actually gets shared afterward. A slice of cauldron cake in the background never hurts either.
Before you wrap up, run through a quick checklist so nobody leaves without the shots they wanted:
The picture frame portrait
A dark hole light spell shot
A cauldron close-up
A portal jump
The final potion toast
A crazy golf photo challenge doesn't need much planning, just a bit of intention before you start putting. Pick a handful of spots on the course that already look great on camera, assign a shot to each one, and give your group permission to slow down and actually pose instead of rushing through nine holes how to plan a crazy golf night out as fast as possible.
The results are worth it. A set of photos from a picture frame, a dark tunnel, a bubbling cauldron and a magical portal beats a single group shot by the door every time, and you'll have a much better story to tell than “we played mini golf.” It also gives everyone a reason to actually look at their photos afterward instead of letting them sit unopened in a camera roll.
Grab your camera, round up your party, and see how many shots you can collect before the round is over.
by Stuart Jarman
