Miniature Golf Course Design
Bringing You Repeat Customers Since 1960
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Why Amusement Construction should design and build your course – Happy Repeat Customers!!
Miniature golf course design and construction has been a stable of our company since 1960. Our experience has taught us a lot over the years and we use that knowledge to design and build challenging, fun and exciting courses to play.
Mini golf course designs are not done overnight. Consultation with the customer is the first step and then providing an accurate site plan or building footprint enables us to start the design process.
First, we need to allocate the space on your parcel or in the building where the mini golf course will be built. Here are some general guidelines for the area needed for a course.
3D Hole Design
hover over the arrows for element descriptions
General Space Requirements
(These are based on an 18-hole course.)
Indoor Course:
2,500 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft.
6,500 sq. ft. average size for 18 holes
Outdoor Course:
13,000 sq. ft. to 30,000 sq. ft.
22,000 sq. ft. average size for 18 holes
Here are some space considerations for other parts of your project.
Parking & Ticket Building:
Average 12,000 to 15,000 sq. ft.
(square footage of building will vary due to facility size)
Average Parking Space:
10 x 20′ = 200 sq. ft.
One acre is equal to 43,560 sq. ft.
Miniature Golf Course Design Process
We will make a recommendation for the best location for your course and then show the area on your drawings. This is mostly accomplished through emails and telephone conversations. Once we determine the exact area on your land or in your building for your miniature golf course, then the fun begins.
With your help, we will establish a budget for the course and discuss the style of course that you want to build. Do you want a natural landscape design with water features or do you want to have a theme to the course and have some buildings/props or even add some interactive audio features to the course?
Before we turn the first shovelful of dirt, the course will be designed to the point that we know the par for each hole and the course. Using a topographical 1’ elevation drawing, we design the course to use the land’s best attributes to save you money and make the course more exciting. Making the course fit the land, proper placement of the water features, and making sure the difficulty of the holes will allow for a proper flow of customers all go into the design before we start construction. The same is done for an indoor course and elevation changes can be created with fill dirt and retaining walls. One thing our experience has taught us is that the miniature golf business thrives or dies based on repeat business. If it is fun to play, the course will grow over the years.
New and exciting miniature golf course design is always a part of each new course. Nearly every hole has multiple elevations that give the players a variety of ways to play every hole. Every hole is unique and is custom designed to work with the course. No cookie cutter designs here!
Over the years and through our experience, we have made the holes more challenging and have come up with a way to make the course more playable for beginner putters and young children. There is nothing more frustrating to a child or a mom than constantly not being able to putt out the ball before hitting the course stroke limit per hole (usually 6).
To avoid this, we’ve developed the Championship Style Miniature Golf Course. It uses three cups instead of just the standard 4″ white cup. While each hole has a white cup, around half of the holes have a 5″ red PENALTY CUP on the harder holes. These cups are strategically placed where the young and beginner putters will end up next to them. As printed on the score cards and at the start of the course, the cup is a one stroke penalty for everyone over 12 years old but not for children. This allows beginner putters to make the ball in an easier cup rather than always picking up the ball in frustration.
Our design team will meet to discuss the project and determine the best routing, features, theme elements for your course and discuss how we can get the “WOW” factor in your course design.
What is the “WOW” factor?
The “WOW” factor is that something extra that provides your guest with an instant that forces them to go “Wow- that’s cool!” So now you know the basics of what makes a better course, but you want your course to be the best. This is where Amusement Construction really sets themselves apart. Below are examples of some of the miniature golf course design levels that we can achieve for your course.
Level 1
- SIGHT: More water, cascade jets instead of straight pipes make the fountains rise and fall as if to their own heartbeat. Lower and upper fountains make the course seem like the are visiting Yellowstone park.
- SOUND: Working within a budget to fit your market, we can show you how music on your course using low level speakers in hidden rocks are both affordable and add dollars to your bottom line.
Level 2
- SIGHT: Add a unique look to the course to theme it. Our themes include Wild West, 1800’s, Nautical, Jungle, Tropical Island, Desert, and more! The important part is that now you have more than just a miniature golf course, you have a PLACE. In 2005, Amusement Construction helped develop not just a themed course, but a completely themed park. Adventure Park USA has a western theme from the main building to the bumper boat pond. Dry Gulch and Thunder Falls are their two courses. Featuring dramatic waterfalls, a general store, a dynamite shack and more, each course keeps the western motif running throughout the park. When you play at Adventure Park USA, you don’t just play golf, you have an Old West miniature golf experience.
- SOUND: The fabulous world of digital audio is slowly transforming the amusement industry. Now universally used for safety messages at attractions, it can be used to add atmosphere on a miniature golf course. Now you not only see the 1800s general store, but you can hear the horses bay and the wagons pass as you approach. On a nautical themed course, the ocean is heard while you stand near the wharf scene.
Level 3
- INTERACTION: Rather than just let the sounds play on a continuous loop, what if the jailer yells to you just after you made a great putt! Maybe the jungle warrior praises your bravery for attempting such a difficult putt. These are accomplished using digital sound and sensors placed around the holes, and good example of how to achieve the “WOW” Factor!
- REACTION: For the highest end courses in the most competitive markets, the final step is to make the sound match a motion triggered by your customer’s play. Instead of just shouting from inside the building, the prospector’s head pops out of a barrel in front of the general store when he speaks. This type of simple animatronics can be done in a nearly maintenance free way, but will make your customer’s kids rave about your course at school! Mom will brag at church about the way her daughter made the fisherman fall in the water or the giraffe flip its tail!
