PUTT-PUTT PLUS
Mini Golf Centers Gaining Amenities

The News Observer
Published: May 21, 2005
Sue Stock

Putt-Putt miniature golf courses may have lost some of their luster over the years, but the company has a plan to bring its facilities up to par.

The Putt-Putt Fun Center is the new generation of Putt-Putt stores, not only with mini golf, but complete with go-karts, a rock climbing wall, batting cages, amusement park rides and a wet zone area with bumper boats.

"We felt that Putt-Putt ... was only identified with miniature golf," said David Callahan, president and CEO of Putt-Putt Golf Courses of America, which last fall moved its headquarters from Fayetteville to Chapel Hill. "We wanted to rebrand with a new concept."

The company is hoping to reinvigorate its image. At one time in its early history, the company flourished with more than 300 locations internationally, but it has shrunk to 105 today.

PUTT-PUTT TIMELINE 1954: Don Clayton creates the first Putt-Putt course in Fayetteville, charges 25 cents a game 1955: The company begins franchising 1959: The first professional Putt-Putt tournament is played 1960s: Putt-Putt goes international, with locations in South Africa, Australia and Japan 1994: Founder Don Clayton retires on his 69th birthday; his daughter, Donna, takes over as chairman 1996: Clayton dies 2000: David Callahan becomes CEO of Putt-Putt Golf Courses of America 2004: Putt-Putt begins piloting its new Putt-Putt Fun Center concept JOE ABOID, NEWS & OBSERVER RESEARCH

Of those 105 golf courses, as many as possible will be converted into Fun Centers. Callahan said he will know how many will make the conversion in a few months. Those that choose not to may be asked to give up the Putt-Putt name.

The company is also looking for sites to build new establishments and is discussing multi-unit franchise deals with investment groups, Callahan said. In a few months, he will announce the location of the first Fun Center to be built in North Carolina.

Locally, Putt-Putt's new initiative is becoming reality. The company is converting the former FunWerks at 4020 Tryon Road in South Raleigh into its first North Carolina Fun Center. The Putt-Putt sign isn't up yet, but the golf course and go-kart track have been painted, some new rides are being installed and the game room has been expanded and updated.

The FunWerks closed at the end of 2003 when the Apex company that owned it filed for bankruptcy. Werks Inc. operated eight amusement centers, including ones in Raleigh and Durham, all of which closed.

The recent changes on Tryon Road are less than impressive to other family entertainment businesses in the area.

"We've gotten all new go-karts within the last year and recarpeted the golf course, but that's all part of our normal maintenance schedule," said Woody Atkinson, director of operations for the Adventure Landing on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh. "I don't know if [the Putt-Putt] is too far away, but we don't consider them any competition for us."

Putt-Putt will officially open on Tryon Road in 30 to 45 days, said David Cassels, president of a Winston-Salem advertising agency hired by Putt-Putt. It is open during renovation and the beefed-up offerings are impressing patrons.

"There's so much to do," said Jenna Johnston, a Garner resident who was playing miniature golf there Thursday with her boyfriend, Scott Lewis, and his sons, Hayden, 8, and Ian, 3. "It's like everything in one."

That's the reaction Putt-Putt is hoping for, but the changes don't come cheaply. Depending on where it is, a new Fun Center requires 3.5 to 5 acres of land and will cost its franchisee between $3.5 million and $5.5 million to build, Callahan said.

Conversions of existing centers could cost as little as $100,000 up to several million dollars, depending on how many new attractions are added, said Joe Aboid, who owns a Lynchburg, Va., Putt-Putt franchise and whose family has owned a Putt-Putt since 1959. Aboid is also commissioner of the Professional Putters Association, which puts on professional Putt-Putt tournaments.

"What remains to me the greatest thing about Putt-Putt is that it takes no special equipment, it takes no special skill," he said. "Grandmas can play it with their grandbabies and parents can play with their children."

Family entertainment centers are the newest evolution in the miniature golf industry, said Dave White, director of planning and development for the Professional Miniature Golf Association (PMGA).

"[Putt-Putt] would actually be following behind if they weren't trying to make these improvements," he said.

The one-stop shopping aspect of such centers appeals to customers and boosts profits, White said, though the big money maker is still mini golf.

"Generally mini golf is still 80 percent for the course, even in the big centers," he said. "But the bigger you are, the more revenue you're going to make."

Still the changes are a big departure for Putt-Putt, which began in 1954 when founder Don Clayton set out to build a better mini golf course during a 30-day break from his job as an insurance salesman. He built the first one in Fayetteville where he lived. The following year he started franchising and rapidly expanded.

The chain's locations have always been known for their mini golf; Callahan said the tradition will be preserved. Each new Fun Center will have 18 holes of "vintage Putt-Putt" and another 18-hole course aimed at kids.

The transition to the Fun Center has been in the works for a few years and was jump started last year as the company celebrated its 50th anniversary. Three test locations were opened in Texas and are doing well enough that the company is comfortable with a nationwide launch.

Whether the change will bring the repeat visits and spark the new interest the company desires remains to be seen. But Aboid said he thinks Putt-Putt afficionados won't be put off by the new busier centers.

"The playing surface hasn't changed a bit," he said. "The only thing that's changing is the aesthetics around it."