Minigolf industry is evolving beyond clown heads

Wednesday, July 09, 2003
By Laura Pace, Post-Gazette Staff Writer, Pittsburgh, PA

Look out for the windmill. It's a killer. While professional golf tips might include keeping your head still and your left arm straight, the popular obstacles are targets of advice in miniature golf.

But the windmill may be on the backswing as minigolf trends move away from gimmicks and focus instead on lush landscaping and creating difficult shots.

Paul Hemingway, managing partner of the Professional Miniature Golf Association, said natural courses don't lose their novelty as quickly.

"How many times can somebody send a putt into a clown's mouth?" Hemingway said. "So out with the themed props, in with the vertical landscapes featuring ponds, streams, waterfalls, flowers and other natural elements."

Some South suburban courses are following that trend, while others prefer to intensify the traditional elements.

"I look for hardness. Bendy turns. Things you have to get through," said Chaz Palumbi, 11, from the first tee at Cool Springs' miniature golf course in Bethel Park.

For Palumbi, of Brentwood, miniature golf is a monthly opportunity to polish his short game and build skills for playing with his grandfather. It's working. Palumbi says he can now break 100 on a regular golf course. "I play with my Pap a lot."

Hemingway said his group knows of about 3,000 miniature golf courses across the country, although other estimates put the number closer to 5,000.

He said some courses make as much as a 38 percent return on their investments each year. Although startup is expensive, variable costs are low, and if the courses manage operations well, with proper maintenance and promotions, they can make a profit.

Springing for more

Head Pro Bob Salera said miniature golf is one of the best amenities at Cool Springs. A recent $180,000 renovation updated the course and made it more attractive to families.

Cool Springs itself has had several locations in its 35-year history, including Brightwood Road, before it moved to its present location on Hamilton Road in the 1970s. But the owners sold it to Golden Bear in 1996, and Golden Bear sold it to Family Golf after a few years.

About 2 1/2 years ago Family Golf filed for bankruptcy, and the property was liquidated at a New York auction. Two local businessmen, who are former college roommates, bought it.

Louis Hauber and Dan Remely of H-Squared Properties took over the 45-acre campus and built a new pro shop, renovated the miniature golf course and built batting cages and parking lots.

Future expansion will include a 12,000-square-foot indoor minigolf facility with party rooms and a 1950s soda fountain. The project will cost about $600,000, Remely said.

He hopes to break ground by the end of July, provided they get sewer-tap permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Although the driving range and golf lessons are popular at Cool Springs, Salera said the miniature golf course gets the big crowds. On a balmy summer night, the course comes alive with anywhere from 500 to 700 people playing over the course of the evening.

Designed by Harris Miniature Golf of New Jersey, the course is a success because of its appeal to all ages, Salera said.

"It's the longest [miniature golf course] east of the Mississippi," Remely said, adding that it's a half-mile hike through the 18 holes, which include flower beds, large rocks, mature trees, sand traps and roughs. The view overlooks the driving range, and a gazebo and fountain provide a respite.

"We like the natural look," Remely said. Plus, it's not as enticing to vandals. "The windmills get beaten up. ... They can't hurt the rocks."

Indeed, one of two boys playing at the miniature golf course at the VIP area in South Park on a recent sunny day took to whacking a large bowling pin prop with his club.

But daily maintenance is par for the course for the Scandrol family, which owns Sunset Golf on Brownsville Road in South Park Township. Dave Scandrol says maintaining their lushly landscaped, animated course is a labor of love for the family, whose members have operated the course for 47 years.

"Every day we're always doing something," Scandrol said on a recent sunny weekday afternoon as he repaired some of the animation functions. On a busy night, 200 people will traipse through the course, trying to outwit the tricky holes.

Tricks of the tees

At Sunset Golf, each hole is stocked with surprises. "We take the traditional and sort of add to it," he said. One hole rejects the ball after it plunks into the cup. Action at other holes is triggered by putting the ball on the tee. At one hole, a rocket begins a countdown and its engines begin to smolder. At others, a bear growls, water spouts unexpectedly or a dog appears to piddle, giving new meaning to the golf term "dogleg." At other holes, the challenge is just getting in the cup as the holes disappear or foils block the way. The golfer who gets a hole-in-one on the last hole gets the traditional free game but also is greeted by sirens and a cascade of Lawrence Welk-style bubbles.

And yes, they have several windmills.

Scandrol acknowledged that some courses have forgone the tricks and animals, but said that for his family, that's half the fun. Every year members update a hole and believe that gives them enough edge to keep people coming back.

"I think this is more of the theme of miniature golf," he said. "I get people coming from far away because it's different. ... We try. We take pride in it."

Sunset's 34-acre campus also includes a driving range, a pro shop and golf lessons. Like other golf operators, Scandrol says bad weather sliced into the miniature golf season this year.

In fact, Hemingway said, weather and finding a good location are the biggest challenges to profitability.

Todd and Sherri Wargo of Jefferson Hills don't have to worry about the weather or a prominent location at their course. The couple's Mall Golf, an 18-hole minigolf course, is in a 3,000-square-foot storefront on the lower level of Century III Mall in West Mifflin.

"I'm the owner-innovator," Todd Wargo said. "My wife, she's the real boss. My silly mind came up with this."

Todd Wargo, a sports fan to the core, thought it was cool that stadiums have big corporate sponsors to help defray costs. He thought it would be interesting to set up an indoor golf course with each hole sponsored by a business. Players who complete the course get coupons from the sponsors.

His revenue comes from golfers. Sponsors need only provide coupons to participate.

The Wargos opened Mall Golf in February and since then have had about 3,000 golfers play through. The couple has a one-year lease on the space and have already been approached to expand the idea to other malls, though they're not ready for that yet.

Todd Wargo moves the holes just about every week, changing the configuration. Blue outdoor carpet represents "water" traps on the fairways, which include bumps, rolls and silk flowers. A group of 15- and 16-year-olds make up the bulk of Mall Golf's league, and the course is often host to birthday parties, with a 50-square-foot party room. Wargo intends to open a full-service snack bar soon.

It generally takes about 20 minutes to get through the course, and players tend to be shoppers looking for some extra entertainment in the evening, making the arcades the main competitor.

All the golf operators emphasized the family nature of the activity. Cool Springs' Salera was adamant. "It's a place for everybody. It's an institution."