My wife and I recently opened a family-friendly restaurant in Harare. Built around creating ‘feel-good fun for everyone’, the Puttery Barn features an 18-hole putting course, signature cocktails by mixologists, an activities centre and a kiddies’ zone. The restaurant offers patrons a variety of wood-fired pizzas, craft burgers, mac ’n cheese ball starters, char-grilled steaks, half-chooks and, of course, sides of fries paired with a homemade aioli sauce, which has resulted in my belt-button starting to feel the pressure.
Putting courses are, quite simply, at the heart of our game’s future. You don’t have to scroll too long on the internet before you spot Tiger Woods, who has invested more than $200-million into his own American putting-course empire, Popstroke.
Designing and building our 18-hole putting course for Puttery Barn was a lot more labour-intensive than I had anticipated. It took twice as long and cost more than double my original budget. Having worked for Matkovich Design over the past five years, I should have known better.
Peter Matkovich called me the day we broke ground at Puttery Barn, simply to check in and manage my expectations. However, my eternal optimism and rookie mentality got the better of me. I have since (sheepishly) admitted that he was 100% correct – which of course he found very amusing!
Wikipedia describes putting courses as a ‘golfier’ version of putt-putt or mini-golf, which captures the experience perfectly. Fairways up to 60 feet long, which funnel into entry points of the greens, are often surrounded by either bunkers or water hazards. An aerial image of a well-designed putting course would make any golfing enthusiast look twice, as it replicates the look and feel of an 18-hole golf course.
The global appeal of putt-putt and mini-golf has been around for decades and is certainly at the heart of a player’s experience when it comes to putting courses. What we have found at Puttery Barn is that a putting course appeals to all levels of golfers, as well as total newbies to the game of golf. No matter a person’s age, golfing experience or athletic ability, it’s easy to take a putter-head ‘back a little, and through a little’ as we say to our putting course rookies (especially the ex-hockey players).
Tiger Woods and Popstroke have taken things to another level in the States by hosting an annual putting tournament in Sarasota, Florida, sponsored by TaylorMade, with a winner’s cheque of $25,000. This year’s event will also feature special guests Paula Creamer and Rickie Fowler.
With the putting course movement now in full swing, it might be time to look around for a piece of ground (anything upwards of 1,000 square metres) and start prepping the land for the people in your area to come down and enjoy a big day out with family on your little course.
– This column first appeared in the March 2023 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
