Tiger Woods-Designed Miniature Golf Concept Expanding In Florida
A Tiger Woods-designed miniature golf course concept is catching on in Florida.
Two PopStroke courses opened last year, in Port St. Lucie and Fort Myers, and a third is proposed at 1314 North Federal Highway in Delray Beach, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
PopStroke, an experiential golf and casual dining concept, announced a strategic partnership with Woods’ Tiger Woods Ventures in 2019. Both companies are based in Jupiter.
More PopStroke sites are slated to open in Orlando and Salt River/Scottsdale, Arizona, this year, according to the PopStroke website. A company representative didn't respond to an email on Monday.
The Delray course is planned for a 3-acre site that is currently vacant. It would include a 4,500 SF restaurant and a children's play area with ping-pong tables, cornhole games and slides. Food could be brought out to players anywhere on the course. A computer-chipped “iPutt” golf ball can automatically track players’ scores and send them to an app.
PopStroke owner Greg Bartoli told the Palm Beach Post in 2018 that he aimed for "a true putting experience without the tacky windmills and goofy tricked-up surfaces.” He also hoped to lure young people to golf, which has been losing about 4.5% of players each year since 2016, according to Bleacher Report.
He since teamed up with Woods, who in recent years has been designing golf courses and in 2017 even won golf course Architect of the Year. With his firm, TGR Design, he is designing the PopStroke mini golf courses.
Following the success of Topgolf, which pioneered the micro-chipped ball and now hosts 20 million customers annually at 60-plus locations worldwide, multiple new mini golf concepts are poised to capitalize.
According to Front Office Sports, Swingers, a high-end mini golf experience started in the United Kingdom, is slated to open in Washington, D.C., and New York. Puttery, a company tied to Drive Shack and Rory McIlroy, plans to launch in Dallas. Puttshack, co-founded by the creators of Topgolf, will expand in Atlanta, Miami and Chicago this year.
According to an online biography, Bartoli worked in the investment banking divisions of Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan before founding JEM Capital, which also operates Dune Dog Restaurant Group, JEM Real Estate Holdings, The Burger Shack and Lighthouse Cove Adventure Golf.
