Keswick Vineyards in Keswick, Virginia with views of the Southwest Mountains, had a nine-hole eco-friendly Modular Advantage® miniature golf course designed and installed by Adventure Golf & Sports (AGS) next to the vineyard’s family-friendly tasting room last July. The ADA compliant course features some wine-themed holes along with specially designed tables at each hole to hold wine glasses, other beverages and snacks. “Now instead of people just sitting and drinking, now they can get up, move and it’s creating an experience, a memory, and that’s what we try to do here,” says Cindy Schornberg, owner of Keswick Vineyards.
“...Miniature golf serves so many purposes and it gives people something fun to do and it’s gaining popularity,” says Schornberg. “We’re going into our second season, but last year not many people knew about it. Already you can see the increase in people playing. Everyone loves it.
“I had a few holes play off the winery theme so hole number one is shaped like a wine bottle with the initials KV on it. Hole number four is a wine key, like a corkscrew opener, and hole number eight is a decanter.
“We also have a hole shaped like a dog bone because we are also very dog friendly and have a dog park here.”
The course also includes a table/sitting area midway through the course to serve players as a refreshing point for beverages and snacks or as a relaxing spot for those who prefer watching players on the course. The vineyard charges $10 per person to play the course.
Guest reaction to the course has been very positive. “(They) love it, “says Schornberg. “They always ask ‘who’s brilliant idea was this?’ And I love it because I’ve been wanting it for years and years....What I love is everybody can do it, from a hundred-year-old to a one-year-old it really doesn’t matter, and everybody usually has a pretty good time.”
Schornberg and her husband Al engaged Adventure Golf & Sports (AGS) to design and build the mini golf course to blend-in with the natural surroundings of the vineyard. The eco-friendly Modular Advantage system AGS recommended was appealing to them for a couple of reasons. “Installation like within a month you’re up and running,” says Cindy Schornberg. “You can’t beat that. And what is nice you don’t have the expense of major excavation and pouring concrete. There’s minimal prep work.
“We already had this leveled area that was for picnic tables and stuff like that. Had some big oak trees. So we just wanted to lay the course where it could wrap around trees and they did a beautiful job doing that.”
According to AGS, their Modular Advantage® system used at Keswick Vineyards uses interlocking, patented panels made from recycled materials that are also permeable to allow easy water drainage so the course won’t disrupt natural flora and fauna and the surface can be ready for play soon after a rain shower since there is no water pooling common with other surfaces.
“All we have to do for maintenance,” says Schornberg, “is take a leaf blower to blow off any leaves or debris on the holes. So it’s very low maintenance.
“...And let’s say now I don’t want miniature golf there. I want to put a parking lot there. I can just lift that course up and I could move it to another location. So it’s not like you build something and now you’re stuck with it. For a fraction of the cost, you’ve got all the pieces so you can pack it up and move it.
“AGS took the design lead. When they got here and they started laying it down, that is when you realize it’s like sewing. They bring pattern pieces of each hole in a ground cover fabric, like the fabric you’d put under a flower bed, and lay it out on the ground and figure it out and make sure everything fits before you start cutting and assembling it. That’s when we changed the position or shape of some of the holes... They were so wonderful. They (AGS) surprised me by putting in the middle of the bottom of the wine bottle shaped hole they created a slot with white turf and placed the initials KV surrounded by rough turf. But they separated the initials, so if you can get your ball through those initials you could have a hole-in-one!
“It’s amazing how quick they work. They are so good. So professional. Focused on work. In and out of here. Cleaned up. I can’t say enough great things about the company itself. On budget. On time. Wonderful people.”
The Schornberg’s bring a fresh perspective to the winery business because they began their vineyard with no prior industry knowledge. Al had successfully operated a computer business in Michigan, but after he and Cindy survived a plane accident, Al decided to sell his company and follow his childhood dream of owning a winery. In 2000 they purchased property situated on the historic Edgewood Estate in Keswick, Virginia, hired people who knew how to plant a vineyard, hired a winemaker and planted grapes. 2002 was their first vintage and it was named “Best White Wine in America” at the Atlanta International Wine Summit. Since then they have won two Governor’s Cups as well as numerous Gold, Double Gold and Platinum awards across the country. The vineyard is located along the Monticello American Viticultural Area (AVA) which was named Wine Enthusiast’s 2023 Wine Region of the Year.
“We have two sides of the business,” says Cindy Schornberg. “Over by the estate is where we do weddings and it is under a large, tall, sail-cloth white tent. It allows the people to create whatever look and feel they want....Over on the winery production side, you have the winery itself, the land where we grow the grapes and the tasting room and mini golf course. We are just expanding that tasting room so in about a month we will be opening another building we’re calling the Four Season.
“We’ve also added our own food truck to our facility. That’s brand new and called ‘Barrel and Board’ and we have a wonderful chef and we pair different food dishes with our wines...
“People when they come here, we offer beer, a hard cider and the wines of course. We also have wonderful wine slushies or slushies without alcohol so the kids that come can also enjoy a slushy. So whatever you’re thirsty for, we have. We have the food; we have something for your four-legged friends and your children and your friends. On weekends we always have music on Saturday from twelve to four.”
Are other vineyards expected to follow the Keswick Vineyard example and add mini golf? “I think it will gain in popularity,’ says Schornberg. “and you’ll start seeing more and more companies doing it because it’s really cost-effective and quick to get it up and running. The longest wait is trying to get on their (AGS) calendar for an opening because they are booked.”
Adventure Golf & Sports (AGS) is a global leader in the design and installation of fun, interactive, cost-effective entertainment attractions like Miniature Golf, Pickleball, Shuffleboard, Bocce Ball, Duck Pin Bowling and other recreational courts. Besides traditional concrete-poured installations, AGS has long term experience installing interlocking panel system versions like the environmentally-friendly Modular Advantage® Mini Golf system and Bunkers & Bumps™ for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications for businesses, family entertainment centers, amusement parks, campgrounds, retail centers, hotels and resorts, as well as installations on rooftops, piers and cruise ship decks.