-Ben

The miniature golf event, totaling 54 holes spread over three courses and 3.2 miles of downtown walkways, drew competitors ranging from new Tiger Woods-wannabees to entire families who’ve made a habit of mid-winter togetherness.

“We get a lot of both,” said Amy Eaton of the Downtown Events Group. “There definitely are some people who have been golfing every one of the 23 years. But then we’ve also had some people who just heard about it this year and thought it sounded like fun.”

In latter category: Cheri Bauer and Barb Oder, friends of 43 years who chose to skywalk golf together this year instead of doing the BRR bicycle ride. The two said they plan to make the event more competitive next year and assemble a larger group of their friends.

“I think we’re going to try to recruit some people,” Oder said as she gestured to her friend’s putter, which was adorned with a compass, downward-pointed flashlight and a bicycle horn. “We’re obviously not going to tell them about that ahead of time, because it would scare the hell out of them.”

The Skywalk Open Golf Tournament, motto “Friends Don’t Let Friends Golf in the Snow,” continues through 4:30 p.m. Walk-in registrations will be accepted until 3.

BY JEFF ECKHOFF • REGISTER STAFF WRITER

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080209/NEWS/80209012/1001

We have golfing shifts from which you may choose. You are invited to arrive early or stay after your scheduled round of golf and enjoy socializing, participate in numerous games, and maybe even win a prize or two. In addition, a 19th Hole Cocktail Party will be held each evening for participants.

Each Putt-A-Round shift will include:
- Custom holes designed around Quad City area businesses
- Special hole challenges - Fun & Games for your whole family
- 19th Hole Challenge - $5 putt for a chance to win $100 in cash for a hole-in-one

Proceeds from this tournament will be used to support Big Brother Big Sister programs which help to match caring adults to at-risk children in the Quad City area.  Proceeds are also allocated to the screening/match process, ongoing support/supervision of the match, and to various group activities. 

The entry fee is $40 per golfer or $160 per team of four adults. Putters will be provided or, if you think it will help, you can bring your own.  If you don’t have a full team but want to play, we will be happy to pair you with other golfers. 

Available shifts:

                   Thursday, February 28                         Friday, February 29
                           4-5:30pm                                         11:30am-1pm
                           6-7:30pm                                            3:30-5pm
                                                                                      5:30-7pm

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And vice-versa.

The Roth brothers — both 1970s graduates of Thurston High School — have had their wagon hitched to Glenwood’s yoke since at least 1994, when they opened Camp Putt miniature golf course.

Five years later, when the corporate owner of an adjacent Pietro’s Pizza business decided to close the restaurant, the Roths expanded their investment in the area. They converted the Pietro’s property — a longtime family holding — to their own Roaring Rapids Pizza brand.

“We had the property available and we were looking for a place to put the (miniature golf) course,” Steve Roth says. “It came down to Glenwood, and sure it’s a little rough around the edges but it’s right in the middle of the metropolitan area. We thought the location would really work for that kind of business.”

At Roaring Rapids, the Roths’ family-friendly recipe includes a mix of limited arcade games and a 77-year-old carousel, along with close proximity to their 36-hole Camp Putt layout.

The prime riverfront setting has helped to make the Roths’ venture appealing to those with more relaxing pursuits in mind.

“Sitting out on the deck at a table overlooking the river, with a good pizza and a pitcher of beer, that’s a pretty nice combination,” says Dan Egan, executive director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and a frequent Roaring Rapids customer.

The Roths didn’t so much choose their location, as it chose them.

Their grandparents, Norman and Marjorie Kolln, founded Pietro’s Pizza with a Longview, Wash., restaurant in the late 1950s, and followed it in 1961 with the Glenwood Pietro’s.

Pietro’s had grown to seven locations by the time the Kollns sold their business in the 1970s to Campbell’s Soup Co., which parlayed it into a 50-store chain before selling it to an investment group 10 years later. That company declared bankruptcy in the early 1990s and sold 26 of the Pietro’s locations — including the Glenwood restaurant — to Chicago Pizza Northwest.

But when Chicago Pizza was unable to come to terms on a new lease agreement with the Roth family in 1999, the Glenwood Pietro’s was closed.

It was reopened by the Roths as Roaring Rapids a year later, following a top-to-bottom makeover featuring Western lodge decor.

“It took us a year,” Roth says. “We even had to dig out the concrete floor, and re-lay some of the pipes. But we were convinced it would be a good investment, and thought Glenwood would be a good place for it.”

When the Roths’ grandparents sold the Pietro’s chain 30 years ago, research by Campbell’s Soup Co., indicated that the Glenwood restaurant was one of the busiest pizza locations in the country, Steve Roth says.

And it continues to be both popular and profitable.

“We have just a wonderful spot along the river that you can’t really duplicate,” Roth says. “That’s a really big draw, especially during the summer.”

The Roths have turned over day-to-day management of Roaring Rapids to operating partner Garry Weber, but have continued to be active in business and civic circles. Steve Roth has served on the Glenwood Urban Renewal Advisory Committee, is involved in planning for an eventual reconstruction of Franklin Boulevard and is this year’s president of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

The brothers were jointly named businessmen of the year for 2007 by the business group.

“They’re not going to be the kind of guys who bring in $320 million (in investments) — an Apex kind of thing,” says Egan at the Chamber, referring to Portland’s Apex Investment Group, which cited unfavorable market conditions in dropping its plans last month for an extensive mixed-use development in Glenwood. “But (the Roths) have worked hard with the city of Springfield, and they want to be part of that area.

“You look at the Roth brothers, and certainly they want to do well in business,” Egan says. “But they have a bigger vision, or a longer vision, that is kind of community-based.”

Steve Roth says he and his brother intend to remain involved with Glenwood, both as business owners and participants in the planning process.

They own a total of eight acres at the site of their two businesses and plan on continuing to operate Roaring Rapids, at least. While they’d like to keep the miniature golf course in operation, they’re also open to the idea of devoting some or all of their property — other than the restaurant — to Glenwood’s redevelopment.

“Paul and I are both very excited about what the future is going to hold for Glenwood, and we’re hoping we can be a part of it,” Roth says.

By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=57810&sid=2&fid=1

Southern Restaurant Group, the company that leased the 35-acre site and ran the golf course and miniature putting course, revised its lease with Okaloosa County last year. The amended lease returned the par-3 golf course to the county, while the company continues to operate the miniature golf course. 

The par-3 course has been closed since Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Although the county’s parks advisory committee has not recommended what features the park will include, work has started to clean up the site.

“We need to take care of the basics before we get to the master plan,” County Commissioner Don Amunds said at a recent meeting.

At one time there was talk of redeveloping the property as a hotel or condominium. But the Okaloosa Island Leaseholders Association objected to that idea.

Paula Hudson, president of the association, envisions the proposed park as a larger version of Fort Walton Landing in downtown Fort Walton Beach.

“I think it will be important to the whole county,” Hudson said. “Residents will have more avenues to come to a green area.”

County crews have already torn down one dilapidated building on the golf course and three more will be demolished eventually, said Public Works Director Danielle Slaterpryce.

The immediate issue is safety, Slaterpryce said.

Hundreds of dead trees must be removed and the light poles have rusted so badly the heavy light fixtures are starting to fall.

The golf course has also become a campsite for vagrants. Slaterpryce said one priority is to repair fencing around the site to make it more difficult for people to trespass.

“We have a lot of people in the park out there that shouldn’t be,” she said.
The cost of the initial cleanup and repairs has been estimated at $125,000. The tree removal along is expected to cost $25,000.

The price tag to renovate the land won’t be determined until final plans are completed.

County officials will meet with the parks advisory committee to develop a plan after the initial cleanup and repairs are finished.

Daily News Staff Writer Dusty Ricketts can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1448.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/11712

The second Putt Putt Palooza, a fundraiser at and for The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, will include two nine-hole tournaments as well as a family day so everyone can try the theater-turned-temporary 18-hole miniature golf course.

New this year: The course - which spreads out from the stage to the green room to the lobby, from all three levels of the center’s main theater to the Black Box - will have standardized holes in three layouts, carpeted consistently.

“We’re trying to make it look more like a professional miniature golf course,” said Paul Oczkewicz, the chairman of the event committee. “We’ve supplied the base of every hole, and the sponsors are providing the obstacles.”

Another change this year: More sponsors are contributing to the event. Each hole has a sponsor, but there also are sponsors donating food, silent auction items and more.

“We were able to get a lot more community involvement,” Oczkewicz said. “With more popularity and people coming back, we’re set to double the amount of money (raised). We’ll be making right around $30,000.”

Last year, the event raised about $15,000, said Kevin Boyer, the center’s marketing director.

The event attracted big crowds. Family day was more successful than expected with 365 people coming in during the event’s five hours. This year, family day will be open for six hours.

All of the money raised goes to the center’s Next Generation initiative, including Junior Programs, which gives area schoolchildren a chance to see plays; the 21st Century Masters program, which brings young classical musicians to the center to perform; and Pet the Instruments, which allows kids and adults to check out instruments on stage during Arts Walk. putt putt palooza

What: A fundraiser for The Washington Center for the Performing Arts’ Next Generation educational programs, the second Putt Putt Palooza features 18 decorated holes of miniature golf, a chipping contest, raffles, a silent auction, dinner and a “19th hole.”

When: 5 p.m. Friday

Where: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E., Olympia

Tickets: $200 per four-person team, $50 for gallery tickets if you’d rather watch than play. The event is open only to those 21 and older.

More information: 360-753-8586 or www.washingtoncenter.org

Family Day

What: The miniature golf course remains open for family-friendly fun. Besides golf, there will be hot dogs, chips, face painting and more.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets: $7

More information: 360-753-8586

Molly Gilmore
For The Olympian

http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/344303.html

Tucsonans may soon find out, with the proposal of merging two funky entities - Valley of the Moon and Magic Carpet Golf - in one place to help preserve them both.

State Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, wants to help by applying for status as an Arizona Centennial 2012 Legacy Project for the two icons.

Projects approved by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission will receive help with fundraising and promotion, the Arizona Centennial Web site said.

Magic Carpet Golf, 6125 E. Speedway Blvd., was recently sold to a Phoenix-area car dealership that has no plans to sell its Mercedes-Benzes next to a giant monkey or tiki head.

“I would be delighted to have somebody come and take them,” said Ted Chapman, president of Chapman Automotive and new owner of the now-defunct miniature golf facility, still packed with dozens of giant statues dating to the early 1970s.

Valley of the Moon, 2544 E. Allen Road, needs about $500,000 to repair its crumbling 1920s-era fantasy world that includes huts, a troll bridge and rabbit hole. Its Jan. 19 “Save the Moon” event brought in $2,500, said spokesman Charles Spillar.

Legacy Project status may be available for the two, provided they collaborate. The plan is to move the behemoth golf course structures to the 2 1/2 acres that house Valley of the Moon.

Farley said creating public interest does not mean public funds. “The project would not use taxpayer money,” he said. Money would come from fundraisers aimed at private sector companies, he said.

Spillar said the idea of moving the statues to Valley of the Moon property is being considered by the board of directors.

He said half an acre is available in the back of the property and some in the front parking lot.

“We’d have to put the statues where they wouldn’t interfere with the magic of the Valley of the Moon,” he said.

RYN GARGULINSKI
Tucson Citizen

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/75471.php

The 18th Hole, a full 18-hole miniature golf course, opened in Southland Mall a few weeks ago. It’s a new take on golf, one that includes black lights, 3D glasses and pirates.

“We did what we wanted to do,” said Mitzi Dufrene, co-owner of the store. “We found ideas we thought we would like and thought other people would like.”

More than 160 black lights lend eerie illumination to pirate statues, a cannon and a treasure chest. A pirate captain, complete with a hook where his hand used to be and a peg instead of a leg, stands guard at hole 16. In the back corner, a wild-haired sneering pirate sits cross-legged and watches.

“We went with something we thought would be interesting, eye catching, appealing,” she said.

Dufrene said her partner, Sue Baugh, came up with the idea for the course.

Their husbands, Ronald Dufrene and Danny Baugh, have been instrumental in helping the women set up the course and plan its design. They also came up with the black-light concept.

Dufrene’s husband actually found the Missouri-based company that specializes in painting for black light, which resulted in neon touches that give the pirates’ eyes a creepy glare.

Dufrene wouldn’t say exactly how much it cost to set up the course, other than describing it as “good bit.”

The 18th Hole marks Baugh’s first business venture, but it is the second for Dufrene, who also owns a landscaping business with her husband. Their business philosophy is simple.

“You just have to have fun with it,” Dufrene said. “It’s really just having fun.”

The course opened Dec. 17, an opening that ended the mystery for some. Dufrene said there was some confusion about what was planned.

“A lot of people thought it was going to be a golf store,” she said.

Dufrene said business has been steady, but mornings tend to be slow. Most people come during the afternoon, evenings and weekends to play a round.

“There’s always somebody at the mall,” she said.

Once school ends for the summer, however, she’s expecting business to boom. The course is indoors, she added, so golfers will be able to play their favorite game while escaping the sweltering heat.

The 18th Hole is just down the mall from J.C. Penney, across from Chick-fil-A in the spot once occupied by B. Dalton Books.

The course is open to all ages. The cost is $6.50 per round per person. Discounts are available for birthday parties and groups. The 3D glasses cost an additional $1.

Anyone who scores a bull’s eye on the 18th hole wins a free round of golf.

And at the end of each round, players get to take an arcade basketball challenge. Score enough baskets before time runs out, and you can win a prize.

Some of the decorations aren’t finished yet, including 60-inch TV, which will be used to display a pirate video.

While Dufrene’s course in Southland Mall might still be in its early stages, she said she and her partner are considering expanding into other malls in the state.

BRIAN FONTENOT
Staff Writer

http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20080127/BUSINESS03/801270310/-1/rss&source=RSS