The Waterwheel Course at Swingers Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.
A new mini-golf-meets-street-food-meets-cocktails concept is coming to Washington, D.C. Swingers, the U.K.-based crazy golf company, is opening its first U.S. location in Dupont Circle on Friday, June 18, 2021, while a second outpost is expected to open in New York City later this year or in early 2022.
Created for the 21+ crowd, the 20,000-square-foot space will offer two nine-hole indoor courses full of obstacles meant to challenge and entertain—think windmills, funnels, loop-de-loops, an impressive waterwheel and a swinging pendulum—and four cocktail bars, the perfect place to kick back and recount your post-game successes or absorb the overall U.K.-style country club vibe.
You can also expect plenty of craft cocktails, tunes spun by local DJs and elevated street food: traditional Mexican eats like fresh guacamole, burritos, tacos, churros and nachos from Tu Taco; oven-fired Neapolitan-style pizza and Italian food from Kneadza Pizza; slow-cooked smoked chicken wings with Alabama White BBQ sauce, fried pickles and other Southern-style favorites from Lil’Succotash; and sweet treats from Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery.
Mini-golf tickets start at $19 or $24 during peak hours (after 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and all day on Saturday), and can be booked online or at the front desk. Packages are available for those planning to make a night of it, though you don’t need to be playing to enjoy the food and drink offerings if you prefer to pop in.
Below, Co-Founder and CEO Matt Grech-Smith shares some insights about what led to Swingers’ journey across the pond and what makes it such a fun addition to D.C.’s entertainment landscape. (The following interview below has been lightly edited for length, style and clarity).
Swingers opens its Washington, D.C. outpost June 18, 2021.
This is such a fun idea! How did you come up with it?
Co-founder Jeremy Simmonds and I previously ran a business that ran both music events and created experiences for brands. When we finished there in 2014, we knew both the nightlife world and the experiential market.
We could see that people were looking for more from their nights out. They didn’t just want to go out to eat and drink, they wanted to do something and if it looked good on social media, that was even better. We had an idea: what if we created a venue where you could play mini-golf (or crazy golf as we call it) but with amazing food, cocktails and atmosphere? That is how Swingers was born.
What do you mean by ‘crazy golf’ anyway?
It’s a British term (our first two locations are in London). We take the classic game of mini-golf but make it more fun for a grown-up audience by adding craft cocktails, gourmet street food and live DJs.
How did you go about choosing the food and beverage offerings?
When we created Swingers, we were aware that in the past when you visited an entertainment concept, the food was often a compromise. We’ve all been bowling and eaten some very average fried food, right? We wanted Swingers to be different. If you have a burger, pizza or taco, we want it to be best in class. We decided to bring in outside restaurant brands to handle our food offerings, to ensure that everything our guests eat is delicious.
In D.C., we are working with hospitality stalwart Knead Hospitality and Design. They’ve brought in variations on their well-known D.C. concepts, so we have Lil’ Succotash serving sandwiches, Kneadza Pizza doing delicious pies, tuTaco serving Mexican street food and Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery dishing up irresistible desserts.
Does each location follow a separate theme or are they all similar but with local twists?
Swingers Dupont Circle is our third location (we have two in London). All three follow the same broad concept, which is crazy golf, cocktails and gourmet street food in an immersive, theatrical venue. However, each one is in a very different space and so the design changes a lot to reflect that.
Dupont Circle is our first location to feature outdoor space—we have two stunning patios with a retractable roof, for all year round use. Reflecting local tastes is really important to us. We work with local food partners, we stock local drinks on our bars and our DJs are all from D.C.
The Clocktower Bar at Swingers in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.
Do you have any favorite holes at any of the courses? Which ones do you find the most challenging?
The Clocktower (hole 9 of the Clocktower Course) is pretty cool. It’s a 30-foot tall giant grandfather clock that runs between the basement and the ground floor of our space, so you see the face of the clock as soon as you walk into Swingers. The stairs down to the basement run around the clock and the bottom of it is the final hole of one of our courses. The challenge is to putt your ball past the swinging pendulum. If you get a hole-in-one, you win a prize.
The Washington, D.C. location is opening June 18 and there's another coming to New York City soon. Are there other cities you're eyeing for future Swingers openings?
We think there is a big opportunity for Swingers in the U.S. and are looking at quite a few different cities as potential places to open. We’re super excited to open in D.C., then NYC to get the ball rolling.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about Swingers?
Swingers is open daily from midday. Guests are welcome to stop by for food or drink even if they aren’t playing crazy golf. We have walk-up tickets available every day, and guests can book online via our website or larger groups through our sales team.
All details and policies mentioned were accurate as of press time.
