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LAKEVIEW — Big Mini Putt Club is bringing mini golf, slushies and skee-ball to Lakeview this spring.
The new location at 3655 N. Halsted St. will expand upon what co-founders Nick Jenkins and Austin DeLonge developed at their first location, 1302 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park.
There, Jenkins and DeLonge transformed a former garment-manufacturing building into a nostalgic hang-out with a bar and hand-crafted mini-golf course designed in a makeshift basement workshop.
The second Big Mini Putt Club will feature an entirely new mini-golf course complete with nine unique holes built by hand. The space has an open concept with no barrier between the bar and mini-golf course, so “it always feels like you’re part of the action,” Jenkins said.
Over time, the Lakeview location will offer community leagues and charity events, similar to the programs offered at Wicker Park.
An opening date has not been finalized. People can visit Big Mini Putt Club’s website and Instagram for updates over the next few weeks.
Credit: Provided//Big Mini Putt ClubJenkins, who took the lead on building the course, said he spoke with regulars at the first location. They provided helpful suggestions about how he could make the new holes bigger and more complex.
“We wanted to make sure we weren’t giving customers a copy-and-paste, rinse-and-repeat type of operation,” Jenkins said. “It’s going to feel new and exciting and challenging for them.”
While challenging friends to mini-golf, visitors can enjoy alcoholic slushies and seasonal cocktails or choose from locally brewed beers. There’s no food in-house, but mini-golfers can bring their own or order in from nearby restaurants.
After playing through the course, customers can try their hand at skee-ball and other carnival games. Jenkins said they’re also developing tabletop golf games so people can continue enjoying the sport in the space even after finishing the course.
“It’s going to be reminiscent of those summer nights you spent outside growing up,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to bring in games you might see at a carnival or festival into our space to complete the experience.”
The place is designed to make visitors “feel like they’re kids again,” Jenkins said.
“What makes the experience fun and exciting is that it’s an equal-opportunity place where everyone can make a fool of themselves in the mini-golf course, and yet walk out of there having a good time,” Jenkins said. “Nobody is inherently good at mini golf.
“At the end of the day, people might wager a beer or cocktail or two on the outcome of their mini golf game, but certainly nobody is walking in professing to be the next Tiger Woods of mini golf.”
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