Miniature golf is having a big moment in Bellingham. Mammoth Mini Golf, an 18-hole course that glows in the dark, plans to have its grand opening at Bellis Fair mall on Saturday, Feb. 24.
The course fills a large corner space inside the mall near Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Bellingham Public Library branch, in suite 354.
Mammoth co-owner David Prince is also the general manager of Bellis Fair. Part of the reason to open the miniature golf business, he said, was to drive more traffic to the mall.
“But second, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of indoor activities in the winter time for kids and teens to do around here, and especially things for kids and parents to do together,” Prince said. He said his kids love playing miniature golf, and that’s part of what he was thinking when he was developing Mammoth.
Prince not only planned the course, he said he built and painted every hole using “graph paper and masking tape on the floor to lay it all out.”
Above the indoor attraction with its classic mid-century, putt-putt vibe is what Prince said are 70 black-light LEDs to illuminate black-light responsive paint. He said normal lighting will be used at least a few hours every day with the black lights on midafternoon through evening hours.
Mini golf seems to be increasing in popularity locally. The seasonal nine-hole Portal Putt course opened outdoors at the Portal Container Village in 2023 and plans to expand to 18 holes for 2024. In Birch Bay, Station 49 has a well-established 18 holes, also outdoors.
Existing indoor options include short courses at Bellingham’s Flatstick Pub and Volli, but Prince said he “wanted to build it a little bigger than you usually see inside mini-golf courses.”
Prince said Mammoth Mini Golf’s hours will match mall hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The course has had a soft opening since Friday, Feb. 16.
Prices for an 18-hole round vary by age: Adults (ages 20 and up) are $16, teens (ages 13-19) are $13, kids (ages 4-12) are $10 and children under age 4 are free with a paying player.
And how difficult are the holes?
“When designing it, I wanted there to be a slim-to-decent chance of getting a hole in one on every hole, but if you don’t hit it just right, you can get a five or six, too,” Prince said. “There’s still that kind of challenge, but even a little kid can whack it and get it in.”
Frank Catalano writes about business and related topics for CDN; reach him at frankcatalano@cascadiadaily.com.
