BILLINGS — A new indoor mini golf course, Let's Glow Putt, opened at West Park Promenade earlier this month and saw a busy crowd Friday night. While Billings faced below-freezing temperatures last week, the new space gave people a "bright" way to escape the cold.
And this is no ordinary course — it glows in the dark.
Owner Alex Blair and her husband, Bo, got the idea for the course, which is behind Red Robin, after visiting a similar glow putt in Arizona last year.
“Our family loves to go try new things all the time," said Alex Blair. "It wasn’t quite as cool as this, but it had some colored curbing, and the idea kind of just took off from there.”
Within six months, they found a golf designer out of Florida to complete their props and decided to open Billings' first-of-its-kind, interactive, 3D blacklight mini golf course. Now one week after the opening at 1595 Grand Ave. suite 253A, they are pleased with the reaction from the community.
“It’s been a lot of hard work. The last few months have been kind of a grind, but to see it all come to fruition and how many smiles there are on the kids' faces and parents, it’s been pretty cool,” said Bo Blair.
The space features 18 holes to golf, fully decorated in pirate-themed decor. As you putt your way through, you'll see pirates searching for gold on land, then venturing into an underwater world where finally they end up back on land in a jungle filled with animals. There is also an option to golf with 3D glasses, which enhances the experience, like seeing fish swim toward you in the underwater section. At the end, people can play in the arcade to win prizes.
Armando Jimenez visited the course with his aunt on Friday and was excited to not only mini golf for the first time, but see all of the glowing decorations.
"My mind’s blown. Because in 3D, it was so cool because it looked realistic,” said Jimenez.
The course will not only provide entertainment for adults and children, but especially for the Blairs' two kids, Rylie and Webb.
“They’re going to be professionals by the end of this year,” joked Alex Blair.
The kids were most excited about the hidden names spread throughout the walls of the course.
"It feels really special to have, like, all of our family’s names in it and I feel like it’s a really fun scavenger hunt," said Rylie Blair.
With the recent closure of Geyser Park, the Blairs felt a void was missing in Billings for mini golf. Now, the space is a 'whole-in-one' — a perfect way to stay indoors while still having fun.
