Putt-putt in Aspen

ASPEN – Golf in Aspen for eight bucks a round?

Well, the greens are made of plastic grass (so are the water features and sand traps, actually) and there are buildings obscuring some of the holes. Aspen’s first miniature golf course debuted this week at the Silver Circle Ice Rink.

“How cool is this?” gushed restaurateur Craig Cordts-Pearce, who opened CP Burger in the small building next to the rink last fall. He was talking about putting mini golf in the concrete oval outside during the summer months even before the burger joint opened for business, figuring the inexpensive entertainment is something everyone from kids to nannies and grandparents can enjoy.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for so long. It’s finally happening,” he said. “We’ve added an activity that everybody can relate to.”

A pre-made, 18-hole course, ordered from a manufacturer out East, arrived on a truck Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. “By 6 o’clock, people were playing golf on the rink,” Cordts-Pearce said.

“All day while we were working on it, people were walking up – ‘great idea, unbelievable nobody has done this before,'” he said.

On Thursday morning, he was fielding an inquiry about holding a child’s putt-putt birthday party and contemplating the need for more golf clubs.

“People are already asking for season passes,” Cordts-Pearce said. “Next year.”

The course layout allows for tables and chairs placed among the holes, and some potted landscaping is yet to come, he said. The buildings – yes, there’s a windmill – are of a stock design, but were custom-painted and named, so there is a Pitkin County Jail, for example, and a Highland Bowl (revolving bowling pins dangle below it as an obstacle to golfers).

“You know, it’s probably not the most challenging course, but if you get bored, you can play it left-handed,” Cordts-Pearce reasoned.

There’ll be a prize (exactly what is still undetermined) for a hole in one on the 18th hole.

The course is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weather permitting, and those who play a round can play a second one for half price, Cordts-Pearce said.

janet@aspentimes.com