Raleigh is home to one of the 10 best new attractions in the country, USA Today says
A mini golf place in downtown Raleigh is one of the best new attractions in the country, according to USA Today readers.
Hop Shots Mini Golf, which opened in August in downtown Raleigh’s Glenwood South (614 Glenwood Ave.), was ranked No. 8 out of the 10 best new attractions of the year.
The entertainment venue is one of the newest concepts from Niall Hanley’s Hibernian Hospitality Group, the company that also operates Hop Shots’ neighbor, Raleigh Beer Garden. (The large outdoor bar also snagged a USA Today 10Best award, as the third best beer garden in the country, The News & Observer reported in 2023.)
“A lot of families are coming out with their kids,” Hanley told The N&O this summer. With kids running around with mini golf clubs while parents have a drink, it’s like a “new age kindergarten.”
USA Today’s 10Best attractions
Businesses are nominated to the 10Best lists by USA Today editors and are voted on by readers.
These attractions made the top 10:
- No. 10: Wonderverse — Virtual reality experiences, arcade games, restaurant and bar in Oak Brook, Illinois
- No. 9: “Basquiat x Banksy” at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden — Exhibition featuring paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Banksy at the Washington, D.C. museum
- No. 8: Hop Shots Mini Golf — 18-hole putt putt venue where visitors can sample some of the hundreds of brews on tap or play foosball, ping pong and cornhole in Raleigh
- No. 7: The Valley Alley at The Westin Maui Resort & Spa — Bowling, arcade games, virtual golf, food and drinks at the resort in Lahaina, Hawaii
- No. 6: Painted Pickle — Indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, golf, darts, ping-pong and cornhole venue in Atlanta, Georgia
- No. 5: Wildwood’s Honky Tonk Saloon — Restaurant and bar with a dance floor, live music and arcade games in Wildwood, New Jersey
- No. 4: Dopamine Land: A Multisensory Experience — Interactive exhibits with lights, sounds and video in Washington, D.C.
- No. 3: Flyover — Immersive experience that takes visitors above the famous landmarks of Chicago, Illinois
- No. 2: Lost Mine Mountain Coaster & Mini Golf — Coaster cart and mini golf in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
- No. 1: Sky Pirates of Mermaid Bay — Indoor and outdoor mini golf with pirate and mermaid actors, a candy store, retail shop and concessions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Golf-centric business openings in the Triangle
Besides Hop Shots, a few other venues centered around golf opened recently or are coming soon to Raleigh and Durham.
- ParTee Shack, which already has a Raleigh venue, is expanding to two additional locations in Raleigh this year — at Celebration Six Forks and Capital Marketplace, The N&O previously reported. The new sites are expected to open in the first quarter of 2025.
- Videri Chocolate Factory founder Sam Ratto opened Golf Golf Golf, a bar with golf simulator bays, a putting green and games, in Raleigh in December.
- State of Golf, a bar with three Full Swing Golf simulators, opened in June at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus.
- A custom golf club fitter called Club Champion opened its sixth North Carolina store in Durham last summer.
