Holes all the way

Holes all the way

29 October 2021 Off By Facto Edizioni

/ Portable, modular, fun: miniature golf courses by AGS can be a great addition to a wide range of venues /

If there was an award for the most flexible attraction, it would no doubt go to miniature golf. Already played by our parents and grandparents (the first public miniature golf course was opened by Garnet Carter in Georgia the 1920s, and patented in 1931), it is still going strong and generating masses of revenue year in year out. It may not be the most exciting of attractions, but because of that it attracts people of all ages and walks of life, from families with very young children, to groups of friends, to couples on a romantic break, to team-building events for businesses. A miniature golf course can be as small or as big as one wants, as simple or as bizarrely overdecorated as one can imagine, and it fits well in any venue: you can traditionally find them for example in campsites (where a mini golf course is the second most-requested amenity, behind a swimming pool), but also on cruise ships, in hotels, at pop-up events, in restaurants, and even, in 2019, inside a cathedral – the Cathedral of Rochester, near London, that caused a fracas when it decided to offer miniature golf in its great nave for the summer to invite people to enter in what “might be a previously unvisited building.”

And if it is modular and portable, even better: an attraction that you can easily assemble, move, and store when you don’t need it. That’s the specialization of Adventure Golf & Sports (AGS), a Michigan-based company that has designed, built, and renovated miniature golf courses on land, sea, indoors, outdoors, and on rooftops for more than 35 years. They offer over 6 different modular courses, providing options for all spaces and budgets, all based on AGS’ patented interlocking panel system and designed for indoor and outdoor use, and most of them portable, i.e. that can easily be disassembled and moved to a new location.

That’s exactly the type of solution that the Orlando World Center Marriott hotel (the largest Marriott in the world) was looking for earlier this year, when they needed to close the main pool for an emergency right before a busy weekend. “We looked at an array of activities but felt miniature golf would truly capture all ages of our leisure guests,” said Kamiya Woodard, Director of Recreation at the hotel. “We were looking for something portable and durable… After looking through the specs, MiniLinks was the best option for our operation.” The 18-hole full-size MiniLinks is designed for portable indoor and outdoor use and is installed using patented, interlocking modular panels that are permeable for efficient water drainage. The model requires only a minimum of 280sqm, but the Orlando Marriott had abundant space on the main event lawn, directly below the main lobby, and was able to spread the course over 725sqm. The result? “People love it,” says Woodard. “All ages have enjoyed it and we normally have a line waiting to play on weekends.”

If portability is not an issue, AGS offers the prefabricated, modular Anywhere Links Jr. That’s the product co-owner John Gabriel chose to replace the concrete built course installed at Romps Water Port in Vermillion, Ohio. Romps Water Port is a family-friendly marina that started in 1957, and its previous miniature golf course was installed in 1965, so it needed revamping, also in order to make it more accessible. In choosing the best…

Continue reading Games & Parks Industry October 2021, page 68

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