Source:
Sunday Republican (Springfield)
Sunday, 08/26/2001
Edition: ALL, Section: Business, Page E01

ART: PHOTO

The terrain can be hilly, occasionally flat, sometimes rocky. You may have to navigate through the blades of windmills, travel through magnificent castles, even enter a clown's gaping mouth.

Welcome to the world of miniature golf - where you are armed with only a putter, a brightly colored ball and a score pad.

As plentiful as fast food restaurants and car lots, miniature golf courses have become an indelible part of America.

"It's an icon of the American landscape. It gives people a sense of otherworldliness, and it's non-gender and non-age biased," said Steven W. Rix, executive director of the 4-year-old San Antonio, Texas-based Miniature Golf Association of the United States.

Miniature Golf has come a long way since the 1920s, when putters practiced it on Manhattan's rooftops.

Today, mini- golf aficionados are forming clubs. Tournaments are held. In June, the mini- golf Hartford Open was held at Blue Fox Walk in Simsbury, Conn. The top prize was $1,000. For the past four years, ESPN has aired a miniature golf national championship.

"Miniature golf's relatively low start-up costs - compared with theme parks, for example - have made it one of the most lucrative entertainment businesses around. Our latest figures show courses can return as much as 38 percent on an investment each year," Paul S. Hemingway, of the Professional Mini Golf Association, wrote via e-mail.

Mini-golf started gaining in popularity about 15 years ago, Rix said. For an average of $5 a game, Rix says it's a pretty good value for cash-strapped parents - and significantly cheaper than going to the movies or a theme park.

According to Rix, the amusement industry suffered a slowdown last year. The only segment that experienced a gain was miniature golf. This year alone, Rix estimates that 90 new golf courses have been built across the country.

More than 5,000 mini-golf courses are in the United States, he said. Locally, there are about a dozen.

For Thomas W. Baker, mini-golf is something he can enjoy with his daughter, 12-year-old Ashley L. The two took a break from mini-golfing at Fenway Golf Range & Pitch & Putt in East Longmeadow last week to talk about the sport.

"We like to do it because it's fun," said Baker, of Springfield. "And it's not expensive."

While Ashley said she prefers the course at the Sand Trap in Agawam, filled with plenty of water features, Fenway gets a thumb's up for its ice cream. One of her favorite places to golf small is in Yarmouth, on Cape Cod, where the course has a pirate theme. She likes mini-golfing, even though her father always wins.

Often, mini-golf courses are partnered with driving ranges, batting cages and pitch & putt areas, giving visitors a variety of activities to enjoy.

"Most courses pay for themselves within 11/2 to 3 years - if they're in the right location," Rix said. "It's a pleasurable way to make a living."

Many courses have the trademark windmills and castles, but there's a trend toward making them look like replicas of actual courses. Harris Miniature Golf Courses of Wildwood, N.J., is one company that uses a more realistic approach when building mini-golf courses.

Harris constructed Agawam's Sand Trap about eight years ago and has also built courses in the eastern part of the state. Established in 1958, the company has been enjoying a mini-golf course building boom for the past decade

"It's not a goofy kid's game anymore. It's a game accepted by adults," said Glenn F. Lynn, Harris' vice president.

Shorter family vacations and an increased interest in the sport have helped drive sales, said Lynn. Some people play mini-golf only once or twice a year, but there are many more who hit the mini-links every weekend, he said.

"We're in the middle of our best year ever," Lynn said. "It's the Tiger Woods effect. Kids think golf is cool now."

Statistics from the Jupiter, Fla.-based National Golf Foundation say there are 26.7 million golfers ages 12 and over in the United States, so it's no wonder that the enthusiasm is spreading to its miniaturized sister.

Most mini-golf courses cost between $200,000 and $250,000 to create. Some of the more elaborate designs can cost as much as $1 million. Water features are a popular request. Making a course that challenges a player - but is fun - can be a formidable task.

"If it's too easy, players get bored. If it's too hard, they get frustrated," Lynn said.

The company has probably constructed more than 400 mini-golf courses. They have done an average of 50 a year for the last six years.

Rix said mini-golf course owners can make as much as $100,000 a year. Depending on size and location, there's always a chance to make more - or less. He noted a course in Myrtle Beach that takes in more than $1 million annually.

"If a typical game takes about 45 minutes and an 18-hole course can accommodate about 100 players per hour, with a playing fee of $5 per round, projected income during peak periods is $500 per hour. Peak periods come and go, but even at a level of 35 percent capacity, 8 hours a day, using these figures, annual gross would be about $72,000," Hemingway said.

At the Western Massachusetts Family Golf Center in Hadley, owner Rick Hollrock uses the 22-acre property as a test market for the golf equipment he makes. Also on site is his business, Hollrock Engineering, where he and 12 employees develop and manufacture driving range equipment.

A former farm, the Family Golf Center has a driving range and a meticulously landscaped mini-golf course, complete with a pond (where actual bullfrogs live), gazebos for mini-golfers to rest their weary legs, a pristine green and a variety of obstacles to putt through.

Hollrock opened the driving range in 1988. Mini-golf followed two years later. They also sell ice cream.

"Every year seems to get better and better," said Family Golf Center manager Rodney M. Weber, who sported a feather tucked inside his baseball cap on a recent weekday.

Thomas P. Koski, 76, of Leeds, teaches golf at the Family Golf Center - a job the semi-retired golfer has had for eight years.

Koski has played golf since he was 7 years old. Most of the people who seek his services want to be more consistent. He's seen a lot more younger folk take an interest in the sport. Just the other day, he taught a 6-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl. Koski also credits Tiger Woods for the heightened interest in the game.

A prototype of a batting cage is a new addition to the center. Customers can use it for free, the only thing Hollrock wants from them is their feedback. Unlike other cages, this one lets the hitter hit into an open field. A softer ball is also used. His plan is to have three batting cages ready for next spring.

Hollrock has been in golf business since the 1970s. He sells golf ball picking machines, golf ball washing machines and golf ball dispensing machines as well as mats, clubs and balls.

Mini-golf isn't fancy at Fenway Golf in East Longmeadow.

One of the more unusual features is a large hippopotamus standing on the green with its mouth open.

The Fisk family bought the 70 acres of land at Fenway in 1931, running a dairy farm there until about 1940. It was then that the Fisks switched to golf.

Olin and wife Mary Fisk operated the golf business and snack bar through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, until the enterprise was taken over by son Robert and his wife, Elaine, in 1972. Mini-golf was added in the early 1980s.

Robert and Elaine's son, Andrew A. Fisk, is the general manager, and plans to take over the business when his parents retire.

"We have a lot of great customers who are regulars," said Andrew Fisk.

The business may appear to be a seasonal one, but it requires year-round care. In the off-season, the Fisks spend their time prepping for the next season and repairing equipment. As soon as the weather warms up, the season starts at Fenway.

Besides ice cream, they also sell hamburgers and hot dogs at Fenway. Most people come for the driving range, and there are three golf pros on site. The two pitch and putt areas and batting cages are also popular.

"It's nice in the winter. It makes up for the long hours in the summer," said Andrew Fisk. "You can make a living, that's for sure."