Adventure Golf Services - miniature golf consulting design and construction!

Miniature Golf By Design

Designers and developers of miniature golf, that great leveler of all ages, have achieved a quantum leap in visitor interest and enthusiasm in the past 15 years. The new themed adventures, with babbling streams rushing from hidden coves below thundering waterfalls, offer a brief escape to their patrons. Mountains of hand-formed fill dirt provide the foundation for these neat little attractions that have even given rise to a new name for this popular past-time, “Adventure Golf.”

“Adventure Golf” is the latest generic term used, in a variety of Miniature Golf Parks to name a few, Fish Cove Adventure Golf, River Country Adventure Golf and Coral Cay Adventure Golf. Along with a new name, there is a short but growing list of designers and developers who can produce these adventure style miniature golf facilities.

On the practical side, there is more to miniature golf design than is visible to the casual observer. Thousands of feet of wiring, drainage, septic, sewer, water and irrigation lines thread their way underground and stand as obstacles to design and construction. It is the care and concern in this aspect of design that enables a desirable product above these infrastructures.

I have not yet met the prospective owner who fails to have an opinion on design and believes that he or she could easily duplicate the effort and skip the outside assistance. The designers and builders that I know have been able to achieve new ideas and designs on successful new courses, not because their ideas are better than their prospective clients, but they have learned through trial and error what works and what doesn’t. They have the advantage of not having to re-invent the wheel for each new start-up.

There are an infinite number of tricks to designing a course that is tough but which does not create waiting lines at problem holes. For those who have resolved these problems their courses offer more player enjoyment, greater return business, fewer operating problems and a greater return on investment.

Each month I receive visits and calls from would-be miniature golf owners. Some own one or two attractions and wish to make miniature golf their next venture. Others own a piece of land which they believe could generate cash flow while waiting for other more intensive development. Some are larger park owners seeking to build greater per capita spending by increasing the length-of-stay in a Pay-One-Prince environment.

Others seek to create a new paid attraction.

No matter who the caller, there is always either abrupt surprise or absolute silence on the other end of the telephone when I tell the caller that design can cost from $5,000 to $25,000 and development can run from $100,000 to $500,000 for two 18 hole courses. And everyone wants one with all of the waterfalls and other goodies.

“How can it cost so much?”, they retort, “ I bet I can build one for less than $200,000!” It doesn’t take a very sophisticated calculator to begin adding up the costs. Start with site planning, engineering, and design. Add thousands of yards of fill with an equal amount of labor hours. Don’t forget the heavy equipment to move and grade the fill and there are more than a couple hundred yards of carpeting. For each special feature such as a waterfall, grotto, stream or bridge there is a cost. The amount and type of rock work used can escalate a project budget by 50%.

Even without the course there is still a themed clubhouse, parking lot, sewer, water and electrical utilities along with local impact fees. There is an unending A’La Carte Menu of theme and construction goodies from which to choose.

Yes, you can build a course for $100,000. I built my first board and concrete course in 1975 for $15,000 by capitalizing my own labor. If that’s what fits the market and suits the owner’s parameters, it can be a very profitable way to go.

The best money spent will be front end to determine a design and attach a price to build it. If the prospective owner can build it for less, then go for it. But remember, it is less expensive to plan early than to rebuild later.

There is also another way to look at the project budget. When the course is complete, what are the desired revenues and return on investment expected to be?

To a great extent this will be determined by pricing and the type of market surrounding the project. Prices for miniature golf admission can range from $1.50 to $5.00. One thing I know for sure is you cannot charge $5.00 for a $200,000 course and yon would go brake in a hurry charging $2.00 for a $500,000 course.

From my view point I see miniature golf or "Adventure” style golf courses categorized into the following design styles.

OUTDOOR

-Traditional concrete and board

-Same course but adding artificial hazards such as windmills

-Same course but adding land contours with water and landscaping

-Portable wood or fiberglass courses sometimes using themed figures

-Themed courses with scale model replica buildings, fiberglass animals, or a garden atmosphere and with land contours and water

-Courses built on several land elevations with some rock work

-Courses that rely heavily on existing trees or land features

-Themed "Adventure'' style courses with more exotic landscape, rock work, and abundance of water features

INDOOR

-Indoor courses with topography and exotic landscape, rock work, and an abundance of water features

-Portable and modular indoor courses with the same features as above

There are many successful operating courses in all of the above categories so the prospective owner should visit these, take photographs and decide what ha wishes to achieve with his miniature golf course design and how much he can successfully budget.

Knowing the market parameters will help the decision-making process and make the job more productive. Most readers of FUNWORLD are knowledgeable about their markets and already have a mind set that win help them automatically select the type of design they wish to have.

For those persons new to the industry it is worth the space to mention here a few of the things that will have a bearing on the design and ultimate investment in a miniature golf course!

- Size of local tourist and residential dose-in markets

- Tear around versus seasonal market

- Traffic count

- Availability and cost of land

- Size and shape of land

- Competition

- Traffic Count

- Availability and cost of fill dirt

- -Cost and availability of skilled construction workers

Along with this bag of grist for the decision making mill the prospective owner will have a particular bent or motivation that win bear heavily on the concept and design. Consider these motivations and how they might impact the end product.

- To extend length-of-stay

- To build capacity

- To add a new attraction

- -To owner finance and develop versus a joint venture with developer

--To hold onto a piece of land waiting for a future sale or use

-To use equipment and construction skills to capitalize labor

- -To create a small Mom and Pop type business with jobs for family members

- -To serve as an anchor attraction for Shopping Center or similar retail venture.

Since admission prices range from $2 to $5 and costs range from $100,000 to $500,000 there is a design that can fit any pocketbook. The buyer needs to recognize, early in the project, what he wants, how much he is willing to pay for it, how he is willing to pay for it or how he is going to fund it. You cannot build a $400,000 course for $200,000.

Most callers seeking information believe they can personally build the top of the line "Adventure" style course with all of the whistles and bells for $150,000 to $250,000.

For those parks seeking a new attraction, miniature golf is certainly worth pursuing either as a joint venture or as a new capital investment. There are some pitfalls that design cannot resolve. If capacity is critical, miniature golf may not be for you because the capacity is not that great '80 to 110 per hour per 18 hole course). If space is a major consideration then miniature golf may not serve the purpose. Miniature golf, either indoors or outdoors, chews up a lot of space in a hurry. Some indoor Malls, Leisure Recreation Centers have introduced indoor "Adventure" style courses successfully.

Miniature golf design is in its infancy and is somewhat of an art form. Most designers will wish to design and build the course for their clients because of the potential difficulty that could be brought about by an inexperienced builder. At the very least the designer will ask for several site review trips including all expenses. This is necessary because there are often field changes from what looks good on paper to what may be more practical.

Most on-site changes will provide more interesting holes, more playability, reduce future maintenance costs, reduce construction costs or prevent some mistake that will be the catalyst for some undesirable end result.

There are only a handful of designers and frequently they are strictly in-house operators and only do projects in which they are partners. The trick is to find one that understands your goals and parameters and who is willing to tell you up front if what you want is not realistic, that the project should go back to the drawing board before it escalates beyond the budget or worse, ends up as the course that Jack built.

Arne Landmark has been in the amusement business since 1975 and owned a small park in Michigan. He has served on the board of the IAAPA and headed up the newly formed Water Park Committee. In 1975 he built his first miniature golf course and since then has been involved in the design, construction and operation of several styles of "Adventure miniature golf courses.

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