The way miniature golf has shaped the history of this beach resort town is no small matter

USA Today

a day ago

A beach vacation is often about nostalgia, and few know that better than Matt Weiner.
When Weiner's father, Chuck, opened the first of three arcades in Rehoboth Beach 40 years ago, young Matt spent summers in the family-friendly business on the north side of the boardwalk, then known as Dolle's Arcade.
At age 7, he was wearing a change belt and walking around, handing out quarters to players for the coin-operated games.
The arcade, now called Zelky's Beach Arcade North, is a part of the Dolle's Candyland building on the boardwalk, slated to become part of the One Rehoboth Avenue Hotel project.
Demolition of the arcade and the former Dolle's Candyland building (the candy store moved in 2021 to Rehoboth Avenue) and several other businesses is expected by this fall. In its place, retail and restaurant areas will be constructed along with a four-story, 60-room hotel that will span the boardwalk between Rehoboth and Baltimore avenues.
Zelky's north arcade will return to a bigger space when construction is completed, and Grotto Pizza, a partner in the hotel, will move to the Rehoboth Avenue corner in what was once Dolle's.
The development comes on the heels of the recently opened two-story Rehoboth Beach Patrol building and public restrooms on the boardwalk at Baltimore Avenue that were under construction for 18 months.
Tourists and locals grumble that current and future modernization plans in the downtown area, which still features buildings dating back to the 19th century, are erasing the rich and vintage character of Rehoboth.
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As general manager of the three Zelky's Beach Arcades ‒ two on either side of Rehoboth's mile-long boardwalk and one off the Coastal Highway at the bayside Tanger Outlets ‒ Weiner understands that his businesses and others at the beach are where lifelong memories are often made with family and friends.
And in Rehoboth, there's a whole lot of history in miniature golf.
So when the Weiners had a chance to acquire the former Ryan's Mini-Golf course and building that housed it near Funland, they grabbed it.
Zelky's Rooftop Terrace Mini-Golf Course, located above their South Arcade near Delaware Avenue, brings a new entertainment attraction to the thriving business while preserving a piece of Rehoboth's historical charm. The oceanfront course opened Memorial Day weekend.
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There are other Rehoboth mini-golf courses off the Coastal Highway, Delaware Route 1, at places like Jungle Jim's and Nick's Mini Golf, a year-old dinosaur-themed course in an old former Capital One Bank on Old Landing Road.
But Zelky's is the only remaining miniature golf course in downtown Rehoboth since the first one opened about 95 years ago.
"People complain about the loss of nostalgia, and what's more nostalgic than mini-golf at the beach?" Weiner said as he stood in the middle of the renovated retro pink-and-green course, which has breathtaking, panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, the beach and the boardwalk.
"It's a step into history. It's a step back in time. People are seeing the changes [around town] and longing for what was," he said.
Zelky's knows and embraces Rehoboth's history
The history of the site of Zelky's Beach Arcade South has deep roots in Rehoboth.
It was one of the original plots carved out by the Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting Association, an outdoor religious arm of the Methodist Episcopal Church that formed between 1871 and 1873.
The site was purchased by J.E. Searles in July 1873. The boardwalk at that time was only 1,000 yards long and had 8-foot-wide planks laid on the sand. But as the camp meeting era began fading in Rehoboth, the popularity of the town as a seaside resort began to rise.
By 1884, the boardwalk had become over 1 mile long, and it was dotted with prominent amusements like Horn's Pavilion, which had a pier that extended 150 feet into the ocean. The pier, destroyed in a 1914 storm that ripped up the boardwalk, had shops, a bowling alley, casinos, a dance hall, a movie theater and a merry-go-round.
The present-day Zelky's Beach Arcade South site changed hands several times until the 1930s, when an amusement park called Playland was opened by the families of Rudolph Dolle and Thomas Pachides, who owned the Dolle's candy store.
The Playland site once had a Ferris wheel and an arcade.
After it was wiped out by the devastating storm of 1962, the property was purchased by Joseph Ryan. Several stores operated on the site, including Pete's Famous Luncheonette and Ryan's Gems & Junk, a souvenir shop that sold suntan lotion, beach umbrellas, jewelry, T-shirts and hermit crabs.
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In 2013, the Weiner family took over the Surf Side Arcade, next to Funland on the south end of the boardwalk. The business became known as Beach Arcade South. After several expansions, it merged with the Playland Arcade in 2017, and the name was changed to Zelky's a year later.
The building, leased to another family who ran Ryan's Beach Shop since 1997 and home to Ryan's rooftop mini-golf course, was sold to the Weiners in 2024.
Zelky's took over the entire 115 S. Boardwalk building, and Weiner said this past winter the family began making plans to renovate and rebrand the rooftop mini-golf course.
History of mini-golf in Delaware
Miniature golf courses have been around the United States since the mid- to late 1920s. The first arrivals in Delaware were in 1930 in Wilmington, according to News Journal archives.
Mini-golf courses planted at Delaware Avenue and Harrison Street and in Shellpot Park had 18 holes with bunkers, sand traps, water holes and rippling greens. An indoor "Tom Thumb" course known as Tri-cee opened at 4202 Market St.
But by 1931, there was a waning interest in the game in Wilmington, and city miniature golf managers blamed the Depression, according to a Sept. 10, 1931, story in The News Journal's then-Every Evening edition.
The game, however, continued to thrive at Delaware beaches. The appeal isn't hard to understand. Miniature golf might not be The Masters, yet rabid fans of all ages take it seriously when it comes to sinking putts and avoiding wacky obstacles.
The chance for a hole-in-one, on every single hole, is an advantage miniature golf has over its older sibling, real golf. Practice doesn't really help your game. Children can outscore adults, even if adults are trying.
When the Rehoboth Beach Sports Center, one of the town's earliest amusement parks that became Funland in 1962, opened in the 1930s on the boardwalk, it included a miniature golf course. It's long gone.
Other mini-courses in the downtown area sprang up, including some on the boardwalk like Dentino's at Baltimore Avenue, one at First Street and Baltimore Avenue, and the former Sea View on Laurel Street and the boardwalk.
Out on the Coastal Highway, the former Sports Complex had two well-known courses, Indiana's Trail and Sir Goony's Golf. The site on Country Club Road became the current Jungle Jim's in 1998 and still has two courses.
Weiner believes there have been at least three other mini-golf courses at and around the Zelky's Beach Arcade South location on the boardwalk since the first one around 1964.
Golfing moved to the rooftop of the site after a new building was erected in the late 1970s, Weiner said.
Old Pro Golf operated a popular circus-themed course that included acrobats, clowns, and a gorilla. The rooftop eventually became home to Ryan's Mini Golf course.
The simple course, close to the ocean, and the nearby boardwalk action had sentimental charm for several generations of players.
They could sit in a yawning hippo's mouth – it was encouraged – or pose next to the goofy gorilla, monkey, giant ant, turtle, rocket ship, and pink elephant statues and post photos to Ryan's Facebook page.
Kitschy plastic flowers decorated planters. Picnic tables with umbrellas to sit and rest may not have provided much shade when the sun was blazing, but the ocean breezes were cooling.
The beep-beep-beep of the kiddie rides from nearby Funland and the cackles of swooping seagulls also added pleasant background music while putting the par 2 and 3 holes.
The cash-only course was also one of the cheapest in Delaware's sand towns.
The end of one chapter, the beginning of another
While some might not like it, Weiner says there has always been change in Rehoboth. Go to the Rehoboth Beach Museum and you can witness it yourself.
A historically accurate diorama of Rehoboth Avenue from 1910, created by historian Paul Lovett, portrays how much the oceanside town has transformed in the past 115 years.
The fascinating miniature model of the city depicts the railroad that once ran down Rehoboth Avenue, a service that continued until the mid-1960s. (Parking meters weren't installed until the 1960s.)
The head of the main Rehoboth Avenue thoroughfare, where the bandstand now sits, was once grassy (it was paved in the early 2000s). Lovett has said the city then was as busy as it is today.
Some Rehoboth visitors may not know the famous, giant Dolle's orange sign, now on the side of the Rehoboth Museum, wasn't always a part of Rehoboth's landscape. It wasn't erected on the boardwalk until after the March storm of 1962.
Weiner's family looks toward the future, but always has a respect for the past. The pink elephant logo for Zelky's three arcades is based on Tusko, a 1950s-era elephant coin-operated kiddie ride that is owned by the family. Retired due to a damaged leg, the elephant ride is now stored in Weiner's home. Weiner said he is hoping to find another Tusko to put in one of the arcades.
Zelky's arcades also offer old-school, throw-back 20-cent skeeball games, because the Weiner family understands that tradition is important to visitors. Weiner said he sees the same people coming into the arcades who have been vacationing at the same time every year for several decades. They expect continuity.
"On the Fourth of July, I know to expect to see the same people," he said.
When creating the new rooftop miniature golf course, Weiner again looked to the past and said he was inspired by photos of old-school Rehoboth courses in the archives of the Library of Congress and the Delaware Public Archives and old postcards.
He planned the classic wooden golf course and installed the same kind of artificial turf that is used on football fields. Hot pink umbrellas dot the course, which now features a castle, a lighthouse and a grandfather's clock.
"Think of it like a really nice garden in the 1930s and 1940s," he said of the new course.
Most of the former figurines from the Ryan's Mini Golf era departed with the former owners, Weiner said.
Gone is the grinning mouse statue at the boardwalk level, welcoming players to the upstairs rooftop course, as is an open-mouthed shark that was over the wooden staircase leading up the stairs.
The dolphins on the rooftop, a longtime landmark for the mini-golf location, are in storage. They are owned by the Ryan family, Weiner said.
What has remained is the pink elephant figurine from the Ryan's Mini Golf era. It was recently given a professional paint job and awaits photos with golfers.
Pink was chosen as a central theme because it's Zelky's signature color.
"It pops," Weiner said, and helps create the vintage, nostalgic feeling of a mini-golf experience.
He said he hopes to add tower viewers, the coin-operated binoculars commonly found at scenic lookouts, so visitors can see further out into the ocean. And more attractions could be coming in the future.
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At the 18-hole mini-golf course, which opens daily at 11 a.m., weather permitting, and now accepts credit cards, Weiner hopes families will pick up a club, pick out a ball and stroll back in time.
"You're a VIP up here," he said, admiring the view.
Patricia Talorico writes about food, restaurants and Delaware history. You can find her on Instagram, X and Facebook. Email [e-mail]. Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.
Want to look back at Rehoboth Beach's rich history?
Every Tuesday this summer at 11 a.m. at The Rehoboth Beach Museum, 511 Rehoboth Ave., local historian Paul Lovett, who created a diorama of the resort town in 1910, offers complimentary talks about the history of Rehoboth Beach.
The museum is next to Grove Park, which features a farmers market every Tuesday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Curious about the history of Rehoboth Beach's boardwalk and the iconic buildings that line it? Jean Brolund offers Walking Tours of Rehoboth that are a gentle 90-minute stroll around town highlighting the history and its important landmarks. Parking passes for the tour are provided when meters are operating. Bring water and comfortable walking shoes. Tour groups, open to 12 people, meet at 9 a.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand. Admission is $10. Upcoming tours are July 10, July 24, Aug. 7 and Aug. 28