Midget Links was a historic miniature golf course located at 1215 E. Morgan Avenue in Evansville, Indiana. Opened in 1947, the course entertained generations of Evansville families for more than 70 years and became one of the city’s most beloved roadside attractions.

History

Midget Links was established in 1947 by Roy and Mary Esther Brenton, who owned and operated the Evansville course for 52 years, from 1947 until 1998.

The course was built along Morgan Avenue near Fares Avenue, which at the time was part of U.S. Highway 41. A 1949 Evansville telephone directory already lists Midget Links Golf Course at 1215 E. Morgan Avenue, showing how long the attraction was part of the city’s landscape.

In 1998, longtime Midget Links customer Paul Dayton became the owner. Dayton had first played the course in 1970 and continued operating it as a deliberately old-fashioned miniature golf attraction.

The Course

Midget Links was famous for its colorful, traditional miniature-golf obstacles.

The course included a spinning windmill, drawbridge, loop, wishing well, waterfalls, cannon and other obstacles. One of its most unusual features was a large aquarium located near the center of the course.

Rather than constantly modernizing, Midget Links retained much of its vintage character. By its later years, playing a round there was almost like stepping back into the miniature-golf culture of the mid-20th century.

Local reports described Midget Links as one of the oldest miniature golf courses in the United States.

An Evansville Tradition

For generations, Midget Links was a destination for childhood outings, dates, birthday celebrations and family nights.

Parents who had played there as children eventually returned with their own children and grandchildren.

The course also hosted community events, including the annual Putt Fore Life fundraiser benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Its longevity made Midget Links more than simply a miniature golf course. The windmill and other colorful obstacles became recognizable pieces of Evansville nostalgia.

Closure

By 2016, Midget Links had been placed on the market as owner Paul Dayton prepared to retire.

The course remained open for several more years, but in 2020, Midget Links announced that it had permanently closed.

After more than seven decades on Morgan Avenue, demolition of the historic course began in May 2020.

As the property was dismantled, people were even allowed to retrieve pieces as keepsakes before the old course disappeared.

The closure generated an outpouring of memories from Evansville residents who had played there as children.

Legacy

Few Evansville recreational businesses lasted as long or crossed as many generations as Midget Links.

Opening in an era before television was common in American homes, Midget Links survived the arrival of television, shopping malls, video games, arcades, multiplex theaters and modern family entertainment centers.

For more than 70 years, its basic attraction remained remarkably simple: a putter, a golf ball and a collection of colorful obstacles.

Although the Morgan Avenue course is gone, at least one piece of Midget Links survives publicly. The old Midget Links sign has been preserved and displayed inside Casey’s Dugout, an Evansville restaurant filled with local memorabilia.

Midget Links remains one of the most fondly remembered recreational attractions in Evansville history.

Quick Facts

Name: Midget Links
Address: 1215 E. Morgan Avenue, Evansville, Indiana
Opened: 1947
Original owners: Roy and Mary Esther Brenton
Later owner: Paul Dayton
Known for: Vintage miniature golf, windmill, drawbridge, loop and aquarium
Years in operation: More than 70 years
Closed: 2020
Demolished: May 2020
Category: Lost Evansville