Hillside Mini-Golf at Tops, Busay: A First Look at the 18 Holes
Eighteen holes modeled on Philippine landmarks, on the slope below The Circle at Tops in Busay. What is built, what is unfinished, and what is still unknown.
Flown in October 2026, before opening. Eighteen holes of fake turf on a Busay slope, each one built to look like somewhere else in the Philippines, with the city spread out below.
From the air it looks like somebody spilled a map of the Philippines down the side of a hill. Hillside Mini-Golf sits on the slope just below The Circle at Tops, on Tops Road in Barangay Busay, and every one of its 18 holes is a landmark in miniature: the Chocolate Hills, the Oslob whale sharks, the Banaue rice terraces, and Tops itself. It is not open yet. Here is what is up there, what is still unfinished, and what is still unknown.
[COORDINATES FROM DRONE LOG] · Busay, Cebu City
Where Hillside Mini-Golf is
The course is cut into the slope on Tops Road, below the round, five-story building that replaced the old Tops Lookout. Stand on the course and The Circle is uphill of you. Look the other way and you get the same view that made Tops famous in the first place: Cebu City, the port and Mactan, with the Busay ridges rolling off to the side.
Getting there is the same as getting to Tops. Drive or ride up through Busay, or take the Tops shuttle from the IT Park transport terminal on Geonzon Street in Lahug. Tops publishes the shuttle at ₱200, round trip with the Tops entrance included, and the Tops entrance alone at ₱100, ₱70 for seniors and PWD with ID, free under two. Checked 29 October 2026. Whether the mini golf sits inside that Tops ticket or charges separately has not been published.
What the 18 holes are
Tops has named a handful of the destinations on the course: the Oslob whale sharks, the Banaue rice terraces, the Chocolate Hills, Sta. Fe in Bantayan, Quezon Circle and Tops itself. The full hole list has not been published. From the drone, these are the ones that are easy to read.
The Chocolate Hills. A cluster of brown, cone-shaped mounds on a green, with a small tarsier figure parked beside the biggest one. It is the hole most people will photograph first.
The whale shark. A life-size-looking spotted whale shark breaching out of a pond of blue turf, with the fairway running past its open mouth. Oslob, without the 4 AM call time.
The rice terraces. Stepped rows of planting climbing one corner of the slope. Below them, a group of dark statues wades through a pond of blue turf, a historical scene Tops has not named yet.
The kalesa and the cannons. A yellow-wheeled kalesa parked beside a white obelisk on one green, and a pair of black cannons with a stack of cannonballs on another. Both are heritage holes. Which landmarks they stand for has not been confirmed, so they are not named here.
The building with the funnel roof
Halfway down the course is the structure everyone will ask about: a white, glass-fronted building under a wide roof held up by tapering, funnel-shaped columns, with a lawn of turf laid across the top. It looks like a clubhouse and a viewing deck in one. What will operate inside it has not been announced.
When Hillside Mini-Golf opens
No opening date has been published. Tops lists it as coming soon, and as of 29 October 2026 there are no published fees, hours or booking details. The frames back that up: bare dirt still shows behind some of the walls, and the area around the clubhouse was still a work site when it was flown.
This page gets the date, the fee and the hours the week they are real, rather than a guess now.
Worth knowing before you go
It is mini golf, so nobody needs to have held a club before, and Tops pitches it at families and barkadas alike. The course is terraced into a steep slope with stairs between levels, so plan on climbing, and on the lolo needing a breather. Busay is cooler than the city but the course has almost no shade outside the clubhouse, so a 2 PM round on a clear day will be hot work. Late afternoon is the obvious slot: softer light on the landmarks, and the city lights coming on as you finish.
Pair it with the rest of the ridge. Tops itself is a short walk uphill, the new Starbucks at Tops opens on 31 October 2026, and Temple of Leah is a few minutes back down the road. For dinner with the same view, La Parisienne Sky and The Cliff are both on the Busay side.
We posted the first look on Facebook on 26 October.
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Hillside Mini-Golf FAQ
Is Hillside Mini-Golf at Tops open?
Not yet. It is listed as coming soon, and no opening date had been published as of 29 October 2026.
How much is the mini golf at Tops?
The fee has not been published. Tops entrance is ₱100 for adults, checked 29 October 2026, but whether it covers the mini golf is unknown.
How many holes does it have?
Eighteen, each modeled on a Philippine destination, including the Chocolate Hills, the Oslob whale sharks and the Banaue rice terraces.
Where exactly is it?
On Tops Road in Barangay Busay, Cebu City, on the slope just below The Circle at Tops.
Do I need golf experience?
No. It is mini golf on flat turf greens, built for families and first-timers.
