Extraordinary Golf at Alton Towers: Is It Worth Playing?

All about the golf service

Tucked away behind the car park's Monorail station, easy to miss if you're not specifically looking for it, sits one of Alton Towers' most consistently well-reviewed attractions that has nothing to do with rollercoasters at all. Extraordinary Golf is genuinely one of the resort's better-kept secrets — a proper, well-designed crazy golf course themed around the park's own rides, open to absolutely anyone regardless of whether they've bought a theme park ticket at all. Here's whether it's actually worth your time.

What Extraordinary Golf Actually Is

Extraordinary Golf is an outdoor mini golf course, split into two separate nine-hole sections — commonly referred to as the East and West courses — each themed around different Alton Towers attractions, past and present. Rather than generic crazy golf obstacles, the course leans specifically into the park's own ride history, giving holes distinct personalities tied to rides like Oblivion and Nemesis, along with several holes referencing attractions that no longer exist at the park at all.

Genuinely notable about its accessibility: you don't need a theme park ticket to play. Extraordinary Golf operates as a standalone attraction, open to anyone, making it a genuine option for a standalone outing, a pre- or post-theme-park addition to your day, or an evening activity for anyone staying at one of the resort's hotels.

Where to Find It

The course is located next to Splash Landings Hotel, behind the car park's Monorail station. It's worth knowing a small piece of layout history here: when Extraordinary Golf first opened, the original walking path between the car park and the Monorail station was deliberately sealed up, with the route past the golf course becoming the only way to reach the Monorail — a genuinely deliberate design decision specifically intended to raise the new attraction's visibility to every single guest passing through, rather than leaving it as an easily missed side attraction.

One practical tip worth knowing from experienced visitors: if you're only planning to play golf rather than visiting the wider theme park, you don't need to pay the standard parking fee — parking at either the hotel resort car park (space permitting) or the main car park is available without the charge that applies to full theme park visitors.

When It Opened, and Why

Extraordinary Golf arrived at Alton Towers Resort in 2007, with a genuinely specific purpose in mind: offering more variety to guests staying overnight at the resort hotels, as well as giving day visitors something worthwhile to do on their way back to the car park at the end of a long day. It's worth appreciating this original intent, since it explains a lot about why the course still works so well today — it was never designed to be a headline attraction competing with the coasters, but a genuinely well-considered piece of "bookend" entertainment, filling the gaps either side of a main theme park visit.

How Much It Costs

Current official pricing lists the 9-hole option at £5 per person, with the full 18-hole course (both East and West combined) at £7 per person. It's worth knowing you're not obligated to play both courses — if you're short on time, or simply want a quicker game, paying for just the 9-hole option is a genuinely reasonable, cheaper way to experience the attraction rather than committing to the full 18.

For anyone staying at one of the resort's own hotels, it's worth knowing about a genuine, no-hassle perk: hotel guests receive a complimentary 9-hole ticket for Extraordinary Golf as part of their stay, valid for one visit at any time during their break, with no need to book a specific time slot in advance.

What the Holes Are Actually Like

This is where the course genuinely earns its reputation. Rather than generic windmill-and-loop-the-loop crazy golf obstacles, Extraordinary Golf's holes are specifically themed around Alton Towers' own rides — putting your way toward Oblivion, or facing off against Nemesis, as two commonly referenced examples of how directly the theming ties into the park's actual ride history.

It's genuinely worth knowing the course leans into a proper level of design detail rather than feeling like an afterthought bolted onto the resort. Several reviewers have specifically praised the impressive standard of detail across the holes, and the course includes a thoughtful accessibility touch worth knowing about if you're playing with a mixed-skill group: each hole offers both an "easy" route and a "hard" route, clearly labelled on the course marker at each tee, letting younger children or beginners take a more straightforward path while more confident players attempt a genuinely tougher route on the exact same hole.

A Genuinely Honest Look at the Criticism

It's worth being fair and including the less glowing feedback too, rather than presenting the course as flawless. A recurring, specific criticism concerns a small number of individual obstacles where the physical construction hasn't held up perfectly over time — one detailed review described a "teacups" hole specifically, where the ball is meant to travel up a hill and back down into a teacup-shaped hole, but can instead get genuinely stuck between the edge of the hole and the green, a minor but real design flaw affecting the smoothness of play on that specific hole. The same review also noted the greens can run quite fast in places, occasionally causing the ball to roll further than intended.

It's worth noting this same reviewer was careful to frame these as fairly minor gripes within an otherwise positive review, concluding the course was still genuinely fun and reasonably priced overall — worth keeping in proportion rather than treating isolated hole-specific quirks as representative of the whole course's quality.

The Nostalgia Factor: Holes Themed After Rides That No Longer Exist

One genuinely distinctive quirk of the course, worth knowing about specifically if you're the kind of visitor who enjoys the park's history, is that several holes are themed around attractions that have since closed — Ripsaw and The Flume among them, both retired rides covered elsewhere in this site's own ride history content. This gives the course an unusual, accidental role as a small, physical piece of Alton Towers heritage — a handful of retired rides preserved in miniature, putt-putt form, even after their full-size counterparts have long since been demolished and replaced.

One reviewer specifically suggested these older, now-nostalgic holes could be worth rethemeing to reflect more current rides — a Wicker Man hole, or something tied to the Alton Towers Dungeon, were both floated as genuinely appealing potential updates. Whether or not Alton Towers ever takes up that suggestion, it's worth appreciating the course as it currently stands as a small, unintentional time capsule of the park's ride history, layered alongside its more contemporary theming.

Opening Hours: Later Than You Might Expect

It's genuinely worth knowing Extraordinary Golf runs on a longer daily schedule than the main theme park itself — open from 9am until an hour after the theme park closes each day. This makes it a genuinely useful option for anyone looking to extend their day at the resort beyond the theme park's own closing time, particularly relevant for hotel guests wanting one more activity before heading back to their room, or for day visitors specifically timing a round of golf as the final activity of their visit, once the rides themselves have stopped running for the day.

Family Reception: A Genuine Crowd-Pleaser

Independent family reviews consistently frame Extraordinary Golf as a genuinely strong, often underrated addition to a wider Alton Towers visit. One detailed family review specifically praised the course as "the best crazy golf" a young child had played, having tried "loads" of comparable courses elsewhere — genuinely strong praise given how many mini golf courses exist across the UK's tourist attraction landscape. Another reviewer, having played the course themselves, specifically recommended committing to the full 18 holes rather than stopping at 9, given how well-made and enjoyable the full experience proved to be.

It's also worth knowing the course tends to run considerably quieter than the main theme park, particularly earlier in the day — one reviewer specifically noted playing shortly after opening and encountering no queuing between groups at all, a genuinely different pace to the crowds you'd typically expect elsewhere at the resort during peak season.

Is It Actually Worth Playing?

Based on the consistent pattern across reviews, the honest answer is yes, genuinely — and it's worth understanding specifically who gets the most value from it. For families staying at a resort hotel, the free 9-hole ticket included with your stay makes this an essentially risk-free addition to your trip, worth using given there's no additional cost involved. For day visitors, the modest £5-£7 price point represents genuinely fair value by UK crazy golf pricing standards, especially given the level of thematic detail woven into the course.

It's particularly worth considering as a deliberate bookend to your day — either as a way to ease into your visit before the main park opens, or, perhaps more usefully, as a way to extend your day beyond the theme park's own closing time without needing to leave the resort entirely, given the course's later closing hours.

Who Might Want to Manage Expectations

It's worth being fair about who this attraction suits less well. If you're a serious mini golf enthusiast expecting flawless, perfectly maintained obstacles throughout, the documented issues with a small number of specific holes are worth knowing about in advance, even if they're relatively minor in the context of the wider course. And if your visit is purely focused on maximising ride time within a single theme park day, it's worth being honest that Extraordinary Golf, while genuinely worthwhile, represents time not spent queuing for rides — a reasonable trade-off for many visitors, but worth factoring into your overall day planning if ride count is your absolute priority.

Quick Reference: Extraordinary Golf at Alton Towers

• What it is: A two-course, 18-hole outdoor mini golf attraction, themed around Alton Towers' rides past and present
• Location: Next to Splash Landings Hotel, behind the car park's Monorail station
• Opened: 2007
• Access: No theme park ticket required — open to everyone as a standalone attraction
• Pricing: £5 per person for 9 holes, £7 per person for the full 18
• Hotel guest perk: A complimentary 9-hole ticket included per stay, no time slot booking required
• Opening hours: 9am until one hour after the theme park closes — later than the main park itself
• Course design: Each hole offers an "easy" and "hard" route, suiting a wide range of ages and skill levels
• Nostalgia factor: Several holes are themed around retired rides, including Ripsaw and The Flume
• Known quirks: A small number of holes, including a "teacups" obstacle, have documented minor construction issues affecting smoothness of play
• Parking tip: No parking fee required if you're only visiting for the golf, not the wider theme park