Not-So-Miniature Golf: Stone Harbor's Club 18 Turns 35 (In Dinosaur Years)
The dinosaur at the 10th hole peers over the edge of the building, looking down at Third Avenue.
Here’s a riddle for you …
What do a 7-foot pig, dinosaurs, a putter, and a disappearing gorilla all have in common?
They’ve all been a part of Club 18, Stone Harbor’s distinctive five-story, dinosaur-themed miniature golf course that is celebrating its 35th anniversary this summer.
The brainchild of Cape May County businessmen Vince Lamanna and Bill Diller, Club 18 has entertained generations of families and become a Stone Harbor landmark over the years. With a unique layout, a quirky theme, challenging holes, and amazing views from the top, the course is dotted with humongous dinosaur sculptures and one hulking polar bear. It is both filled with memories and memorable in and of itself.
It all began in the late 1980s when Lamanna and Diller acquired the space between 95th and 96th streets on Third Avenue in Stone Harbor’s shopping district.
“It was a Fun Land at the time. One of those places where you climb nets and dive into a big room of balls,” Lamanna recalls. “From the minute we were looking at it, we had miniature golf in mind.”
The pair brought in engineers and contractors to create bridges and walkways to reconfigure the five-story, open-air structure and hired Harris Miniature Golf to design and build the course. Lamanna and Diller quickly agreed on a dinosaur theme for their new family attraction.
“Dinosaurs seem to be popular for all ages and continue throughout the ages. We weren’t looking to scare anybody with them, that’s why most of the figures have smiles on their faces. They’re benign dinosaurs,” Lamanna says with a laugh.
Yet, an interesting part of Club 18’s history is that its most distinctive dinosaur, the giant one on the 10th hole that looms over the edge of the course onto Third Avenue … was once a pig.
Lamanna explains: “Initially, the dinosaur we wanted wasn’t available, so we went with a pig that was 7 or 8 feet tall.”
In fact, the giant pig became a minor controversy with Stone Harbor’s architectural review board. “Stone Harbor had a very strict sign ordinance and someone on the board thought that the pig exceeded our signage,” says Lamanna. “I explained that the pig was temporary that first summer and we would replace it with something else. But he felt that because the pig had open hands, it was beckoning people. And I said, ‘Well – we could turn it around.’ Keep in mind it was a bare pig. And he said, ‘No! Keep it the way it is!’
The pig was replaced the following summer by the friendly dinosaur that remains there today.
Another notable figure in Club 18’s colorful history was a wandering gorilla.
“In the early years we had a gorilla that was about 5 or 6 feet tall and he had a tendency to leave the course,” Lamanna says with a smile. “I guess our security wasn’t as good back in those days and it wasn’t unusual for people leaving the bars, having a few extra beers, to take our gorilla back home with them.”
Beyond the dinosaurs, bare pigs, and disappearing gorillas, the heart of Club 18 remains the five fun-filled stories of miniature golf that has become a vacation tradition for generations of families.
“We are a family tradition, kind of like Springer’s,” says club manager Caroline Jones, a special-ed teacher in Dennis Township who has worked at Club 18 for 20 years. “A lot of people who come here with their kids today, came here as kids themselves. They talk about how they came here decades ago and played with their dad and now they’re bringing their kids.”
And while some families just come for the fun and camaraderie, others are ready for some hard-core competition.
“People are very intense,” Jones notes. “Friends and families get very competitive. We’ve had people make their own trophies and fancy jackets and they compete like in a tournament. They’ll come up and say, ‘We need a ruling on this shot!’”
Lamanna also has been surprised over the years at the competitive nature of some patrons.
“I came to learn there are a lot of professional mini golf players out there,” he shares. “They bring their own putter and they’re very serious. So, over the years we designed the course so it would be both challenging and fun, and that was sometimes a difficult line to draw.”
Whether patrons are there for fun or competition, Club 18’s popularity has never waned. “It was successful from the jump,” says Lamanna, who bought out Diller’s share of the course about 20 years ago. “There have been nights that we just ran out of clubs.”
Jones concurs. “We have people that come back multiple times a day,” she says. “We sell prepaid package deals that have 20 games and people will go through them in a week because they play so frequently. They love the competition, and they love that they know the holes because they’ve been coming here. Customers also like the little updates we do. They notice everything.”
In fact, meticulously maintaining the course has always been an important mission at Club 18. “We make improvements each year,” says Jones. “We like to keep things clean and fresh.”
Lamanna is proud of the continual course upgrades over the years as well.
“We maintain it very seriously,” he says. “When we have a chance to put in something new or different or enhance it, we do it. We’ve also been able to secure some really good artisans, who’ve done some great paintings and wall hangings throughout the course. I think people appreciate all of that.”
Of course, in addition to featuring a fun theme and a well-maintained course, Club 18 also boasts one of miniature golf’s most distinctive layouts. Winding 18 holes of mini golf around five narrow stories, Club 18 is an architectural feat.
“A lot of people comment that it’s like a treehouse and they’re fascinated by that,” says Jones. “They also love the views. Out over the bay, we get really cool sunsets.”
While families have kept coming back over the years, so have a steady stream of employees. In fact, Jones’ family has been involved with the business since the beginning, when her mother managed it along with Laurie. Her dad Tom and brother Alex also helped by maintaining the course. Today, they employ many teachers and students and former teachers and students from Dennis Township.
“We’ll have employees who have younger siblings and as they mature, they fill in the spot that their older sibling had,” explains Lamanna. “So, it’s really been a family event with respect to the employees as well as the patrons.”
Looking back on 35 years of Club 18, Lamanna is proud of the space the business holds in the community and in the memories and traditions of generations of families who have worked there and played there.
“It’s been a huge success,” he says. “It’s remained popular through the years and I’m so happy we made the decision to do it.”
Club 18
9505 Third Avenue, Stone Harbor
609-368-4362
Open 7 days a week
9am to 10pm
