Best Little Roadhouse Golf Garden (Salem, OR)

July 20, 2011, late morning

I was on a solo mini-vacation to Portland, which naturally meant looking up mini golf places in the areas I was going to be.  Conveniently, there was a course in the back of a restaurant only a few minutes from the capitol in Salem, the Best Little Roadhouse, so after an early lunch, I hit the mini-links.  Naturally, I had the course all to myself.  I started in fine fashion - though I bogeyed #2 after the first putt rolled back to me, I birdied #3 and then rolled in an ace at #4.  I birdied the sixth and eighth, but lipped a short par putt at #7 to go out in two-under 20.  I was feeling good - and then the wheels completely fell off.  Well, not just yet.  First I parred #10 and #11.  But then I came to #12, one of only two holes on the back nine with a par above 2 - and made bogey 4.  I reached the green in one shot but the ball ended up behind a rock with no shot at the cup, and I left myself too much work and couldn't hit the par.  I lipped another par putt at #13, then bogeyed #14 and #15 as well.  At #16 the shot needed to go through a hollow log - and my drive got stuck on the edge of the log, requiring a second shot just to knock it through (and it failed to roll right in - another bogey).  At #17 the ball rolled behind a rock and I again had to settle for bogey.  Finally came the par-4 18th, featuring one of those appalling fiberglass logs.  The ideal shot would bounce off a rock near the log and send it directly through, but my shot hit the rock and rolled away to a point where there was no second shot at the log.  I had to lay up - and then could not manage to get either my third or fourth shot into the correct opening.  (In my defense, from above the log, the exact position of the hole is hidden from view, making it trickier than it probably should be.)  My fifth shot finally hit the log correctly and then went right into the hole - but it still capped off a string of seven consecutive bogeys, one of the worst runs I've ever had.  From such a promising start, I ended up at five-over 48.