In the park

Impossibly difficult: Discovery Green's new mini golf course is more art thanputt putt

Playing a round of nine holes? This is where you'll begin — at Emily Sloan's"Sloan Winding Landscape."
Photo by Fayza A. Elmostehi
Discovery Green president Barry Mandel leads the opening day with a few remarks.
Photo by Fayza A. Elmostehi
Get your golf on at Discovery Green's brand new Insperity Golf Experience.

The art of sport just got a little more . . . hole-y.

The Sarofim Picnic Lawn at Discovery Green has added another contender for the unofficial title of Best Urban Family Attraction to its lineup — a nine-hole miniature golf course.

But the new Insperity Golf Experience, adjacent to the drought-defunct Gateway Fountain, isn't your average putt-putt party. Local artists made creative contributions to each of the nine holes — curated by Galveston Arts Center founder Clint Willour — resulting in a masterful exhibition of living, breathing, athletic artwork.

We see you squirming. Talking about it just isn't good enough for you. You're wondering what it's like to actually play a round of mini golf smack dab in the middle of the fourth-largest city in the United States.

Well, we're about to become the subject of your envy. Because we tried it, and we lived to tell all about it for your reading pleasure.

So we feel plenty qualified in saying this: If you're expecting a plain ol' putting experience, get your head out of the bunker.

In fact, you ought to dash those competitive, hole-in-one hopes before you even grab your putter, and focus on the innovative, interactive local art on the green.

Don't let this tiny version of a Tiger Woods playground fool you. The Insperity Golf Experience, while themed around the concept of golf, isn't really about the sport after all.

Before you dub us naysayers, be advised that we tried it ourselves. And with holes like the aptly-titled "Infinity," designed by The Art Guys' Michael Galbreth and Jack Massing, you'll never, ever make that shot. Scout's honor. Unless vertical surfaces are your specialty, you'll have to settle for appreciating the hole for what it is — an incredibly fun concept.

Let's take Anthony Thompson Shumate's caricature of a pinball machine, "The Galactic Forfeit Cowboy Lounge," for example. Sure, there's a hole at the end of that spring-launched experience, but how many times in your life have you played pinball with a golf ball? The artsy idea itself is too glee-inspiring not to hope that you never, ever win this pinball game.

The fun isn't in the end goal at this hole — or at any of the nine, for that matter — but rather, in the journey of simply getting there.

Embarking on a round of nine at Discovery Green, you may find yourself repeatedly scratching your head, wondering, "How will I sink this putt?"

But logic and art don't always align, and there's plenty of joyful wonder to putt around downtown this fall.

The mini golf course/art exhibition is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays, until Nov. 27. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for kids 12 and under.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”