Summertime Bar Golfing in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Tired of the same local dive with your friends? This summer is the perfect time to try out a round of bar golf in Virginia Beach! Bar golf is a stylized version of the revered pub-crawl. Gather a bunch of drinking buddies and dress in your best golfing attire (think madras, argyle and Polo shirts). Prepare a list of nine bars (eighteen if you want to do a full course/get alcohol poisoning). For every bar a player walks into, the bar golfer is allotted about thirty minutes and is automatically given a stroke. For every drink consumed at that bar, a stroke is taken off the scorecard. Thus, every one drink gets a player to par, two drinks is a birdie, and so forth. With its oceanfront location and easygoing setting, Virginia Beach is one of the best bar golf settings.

Hole Number One: Hot Tuna Bar and Grill
Located on 2817 Shore Drive

Located in an unassuming strip mall, Hot Tuna Bar and Grill has been a local Virginia Beach favorite for years. Noted as an after-work favorite and a Citysearch Audience Winner for their singles scene, this bar is the perfect place to get a round of bar golf started. By hitting Hot Tuna around 5:00 P.M., you are just in time for their drink specials, which are available from 4:00 P.M. to 6:30 P.M. Once you arrive, you will be welcomed by a parade of paper-mache animals from the giant starfish above the door to the multi-colored fish coming out of the walls. Don't be intimidated by the noise and large crowds because the welcoming Hot Tuna staff will be sure to take care of you. After entering the restaurant, head straight to the award winning outdoor bar. Be sure to order their famous Mojitos. If you are feeling especially fancy, order a glass of their delicious Sangria. Just remember not to carried away with their Happy Hour specials. The key to bar golf is endurance and you still have eight more holes to finish!

Hole Number Two: Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant
Located on Shore Drive and Great Neck Road

Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant is part of a chain of authentic Mexican restaurants around the Peninsula. By hitting Guadalajara around 6:00 P.M., you are able to miss the noisy night crowd of smokers. It doesn't offer the trendy and hip ambience of Hot Tuna, but Guadalajara's chips and salsa will taste like a Godsend on this second hole of bar golf. Once all of you devour their chips, dare to order their jumbo Fat Tuesday Margaritas. Don't be shocked when their prompt staff brings out a Margarita almost the size of your stomach (28 ounces to be exact). If finished, it will give you a head over your competition with four under par. If you're not up for their Margarita's, their Daiquiri's and Colada's will also make you feel like you are in Mexico.

Hole Number Three: Reef Lounge
Located on 2913 Shore Drive

Reef Lounge and Sports Bar is the perfect place to go after the hectic first two holes. Relax in the casual bar. After settling into a booth, don't be by the small list of drinking options. Honestly, you can't go wrong with a Budweiser or Amstel Light to help you settle your stomach after all the tequila you downed in Guadalajara's. If you can, be sure to plan your round of bar golf with karaoke night. Anyone who gets on stage and belts out an 80's song should get a few additional strokes off of their score.

Hole Number Four: Half Shell
Located on 2917 Shore Drive

The Half Shell boasts a motto of "Rock Out With Your Clam Out." And rock out, you will. The Shell is one of the few select small original music venues in the area. With a local crowd and live music every night of the week, this dive will liven up any round of bar golf. While it's bare bones setting, the Half Shell will leave a lot to be desired, their live music, which ranges from ska to punk, and drink specials will make you look over it.
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Hole Number Five: Shorebreak Pizza, Sports and Billiards
Located on 2941 Shore Drive

The chips and salsa have most likely worn off and now you are feeling hungrier than ever. Your hole number five, Shorebreak Pizza, has the solution. Voted Best in Virginia Beach, their pizzas are gigantic. And pizza is not the only thing this sports bar does big. Shorebreak is scattered with over fifty flat-screen TV's and their pub offers a huge beer selection. While you're downing one their many microbrews, feel free to get some exercise with one of their fifteen pool tables or enter their game room and play some arcade games. Just remember that this is a family restaurant first and foremost!

Hole Number Six: Hometown Heroes Sports Pub
Located on 2947 Shore Driver

Hometown Heroes is a lot like Shorebreak with its large-screen televisions and pool tables. It also offers typical sports pub fare like NTN Trivia and darts. Once you enter Hometown Heroes, you will be greeted by memorabilia of "hometown heroes," which are mainly local sports stars. And once you open their menu, you will be greeted by several welcoming drink specials and brews to take some strokes off your score. Be careful though, you only have three more holes to go so don't pass out now!

Hole Number Seven: Smokehouse and Cooler
Located on 2957 Shore Drive

Much like its predecessors on this bar golf course, Smokehouse and Cooler is a bit noisy, but is a cheerful bar to go to. With a crowd that ranges from the young to the old, the bar was bustling. It's perfect for groups and when you walk in you may recognize the restaurant. Smokehouse was featured on a special on the Food Network about the Best Barbeque Bites in America. Try a traditional Red Bull and vodka to energize you for the final holes on the course.

Hole Number Eight: Off Shore Bar and Grill
Located on 2973 Shore Drive

Since Off Shore Bar and Grill changed owners in 2007, many locals complain that the bar has lost touch with its customers. Yet, this second to last hole on our course hasn't lost its generous drink. While the service is different, once they bring out the drinks, it is a fact that will be long forgotten. Now if you are even coherent at this point, try ordering a pomegranate martini. Its tanginess will hopefully wake you up enough for the final hole. Not to mention their dance floor, pool table and live music on weekdays!

Hole Number Nine: Famous Uncle Al's
Located on 3045 Shore Drive

If you have made it this far, congratulations! This is our final hole. Famous Uncle Al's brings the course to an end. The owner is not actually Al, but Roger, and he will make you feel at home at his restaurant. Chow down on one of their famous hotdogs as you wash it down with none other than a nice cold beer.

I wish you and your friends luck with this bar golf course. The pubs, restaurants and bars along Shore Drive provide quite a challenge for even a seasoned drinker. I hope you managed to finish this bar golf course without going to the hospital, making a regrettable hook-up, and/or throwing up everywhere. Remember your limit and never drink and drive!