One of summer’s many pleasures is miniature golf (though these days it’s called mini-golf).
You can’t find a course in Westport, of course. The 2 I remember from my youth — both on the Post Road — were long ago transformed into the Regents Park and Lansdowne condominiums.
But there was a 3rd miniature golf course (and driving range) here. Tophat was located on Hillspoint Road, just over the railroad tracks on the right as you head to the beach.
(Photo courtesy of Paul Ehrismann)
It sat opposite the Penguin — the old jazz club that eventually turned into a spooky apartment building. You can see the Penguin in the background above — and you can click here for that Friday Flashback, posted last August.
Tophat occupied a special niche in Westport history. And — I am told — more than 60 years after it closed, golf balls still occasionally find their way to the surface on the lawns of the homes that now fill the site.
So what happened to the Penguin?
It too was demolished. And became condos.