Gone But Not Forgotten. I have pleasant memories of this once beautiful and challenging mini golf course. The atmosphere of the place made you feel like a trip back to the 1950's era. A nostalgic time set in a tropical landscape, complete with a flowing stream, music from the '40's-'60's playing, and the building, furnishings, and sign all dating back to that period. My parents would take me and my sisters there on a warm Summer Friday evening as children in the late 1970's-1980's. We would stop for an Ice Cream cone at the nearby Baskin-Robbins before heading over for a family night out at the golf course. Those were the days!! My parents always had some small conversation with Mrs. Metzger, the wife of Harold Metzger, who was always behind the counter with her little dog handling the transactions and displaying the many sizes of Putters on the counter. According to the play card you would receive, the course dates back to 1937. Mrs. Metzger was originally from Germany, but spoke very good English. She had a youthful healthy appearance in her advancing age! A very pleasant lady with a slight German accent when speaking English. Her husband Harold was the all around maintenance guy. He reminded me of Norman Fell, the actor who played the fictional character Stanley Roper in the TV series Three's Company. Less sociable, and looked similiar to the Actor Norman Fell. He died in 1998, his wife then took ownership of the course. He kept the landscape of the place looking lush and colorful and in immaculate shape. The place was truly a garden of paradise, one of the most beautiful in the city in its day. Well it is sad to say that when Mrs. Metzger died in March 2008, at age 86, the place closed. Hope that someday soon, an investor(s)/business person would come along and open the place again, and restore it to its former '50's era glory. I hope it does not become bulldozed away and forever lost to newer development. That would be a shame, as we would lose yet another unique place in San Antonio for the locals and the tourists, and become ever increasing the same as anywhere else in America syndrome.…
Memoryville. My sisters husband was stationed at Kelly in the late 60's. I was around 10 at the time and everytime I visited San Antonio from my home in Kansas, I made sure she took me here. When I moved to San Antonio 2 years ago, one of the first places I HAD to visit was Cool Crest. It may be showing it's age but I loved my visit and was flooded with memories. This is a place that MUST be saved from extinction.…
flowers from the concrete cracks.
I'm so happy it's still open, most of the time it looks closed. Friends and I have prematurely mourned its demise accidentally. But it is not long for this world; the owners/artists are
one-of-a-kind and not spring chickens. I think they live there. It's their world, and I'm happy to be allowed in.
Cool Crest is by far the best mini golf I have seen in my 43 years: big pecan trees, teeming bananna trees, purple vincas growing from the cracks in the sidewalks, wafting strains of "...is that some Hawaiian Johnny Cash music?", more than I can recall; the (w)hole far exceeds the sum of its parts. It really should be subsidised; it is an American national treasure.
If you like mini golf, make the journey; you won't be disappointed.…
Cool Crest rocks. God this place rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If only it was open more often. I have not had the pleasure of taking my kids yet. If they would like, I would offer to help assist in the operations of this facility in the summer. I live right down the street from this heavenly haven and it seems getting into Heaven, Hell, or Jail is easier than this wonderfully situated place. This place is just the best minature golf course in San Antonio, maybe Texas and/or the United States. Let's start a petition with the city of San Antonio and get these wonderful people, who had a Minature Golf Course imagination that cannot be topped, some assistance in the operations of this historical Minature Golf Course.. I want to go play miniature golf right now and I have to drive out to highway 151 inside of Loop 1604 and find out just what their golf experience is like,(Probably nowhere near this masterpiece) What a shame!!!!!!!!!! Patrick Lopez…
An miniature golf course for ADULTS, skill based and excellent atmousphere. Cool Crest has a long and wonderful history pre-dating World War II. Created by a man with a vision the course was designed to challenge and entertain. You will not find castles, windmills, or even the Great Emancipator... but you will find miniature golf at it's finest. It became a passion of mine at an early age when I played "Green Acres" in Austin, Tx circa 1965... but it wasn't a patch on Cool Crest. Situated on the side of a steep hill, the breeze typically from the South East comes up the hill, being cooled all the way.. hence the name. The atmousphere is akin to an evening down on the river walk, coupled with a banana plantation and pleasant music from the 50's and 60's. It is a premier date spot, as you are guaranteed a good time. The course is challenging and inventive and features holes that you will never see at any other course. I have spent decades searching for it's equal and nothing has ever come close. Do to it's postion on the side of the hill, the holes will be two and three tiered and even one requires a chip over the flowing stream which laces through both 18 hole courses. At $4.00 a round, you simply can not find a better value anywhere. Open late in the Summers, this is a must visit for everyone local or tourist. Relax on the quiet patio before or after a round, and then go again... it's worth it.…
