After more than 40 years in the heart of the city, Tauranga Mini Golf may have to say goodbye to its greens in coming years.

Tauranga Mini Golf's owner Mike Head says the time has finally come for the land that his course resides on to be reclaimed by council.

Based at Memorial Park, the mini golf course was built by the local Rotary Club more than 40 years ago as a legacy to Tauranga. Now, the golf course may have to clear the decks to make way for new aquatics and recreation facilities for the city, says Mike, who has owned the business for five years.

He reckons this means it's up to the people of Tauranga to speak up on whether they'd like to see a mini golf course reinstated if the current one has to go.

'We want to know what the public and customers have to say,” says Mike. Tauranga Mini Golf has launched a platform for people to cast their votes on the matter.

'We've had more than 600 submissions and the numbers of votes are literally in their thousands with ‘Yes'…so there's a resounding ‘yes' that everybody wants a mini golf down here, like why wouldn't you? It's been here for 40 years so probably every single family in the place has been through here. You know five or six times since it's been open...there's probably a good half a million people that have been through here.”

Up in the air

Tauranga City Council haven't confirmed whether Tauranga Mini Golf will be impacted by a new aquatics and recreation facilities. 'The project is still in the early stages so it's too soon to say what impact the upgraded facilities may have on any existing users such as the mini golf,” says TCC general manager of city development and partnerships, Gareth Wallis. While unconfirmed, Mike says council have established that his lease will not be renewed at the year's end.

However he says: 'They won't kick me out of here…they have agreed I'll be here month-to-month and that could go on for a year or so”.

Positive outlook

It's not all doom and gloom, however – and Mike welcomes the prospect of creating a new golf course. 'If you'd have asked me three years ago I would've said: ‘Oh no I hope it never happens', but now I'm actually quite enjoying the process of budgeting…the process of design. I've got some pretty good plans that will be the first in New Zealand. It will be a state-of-the-art course and nothing like it in NZ.”

Gareth says council will work towards the completion of a concept design for the Memorial Park aquatic and recreation facilities during the next four months. 'We're also planning for the future of the wider area, so we can make the best use of space and ensure a range of activities are on offer for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy.”

The concept plan, alongside a business case, costs and timings, will be brought to the Commission for consideration later this year.

'Whether we even get a golf course is yet to be seen but this campaign is all about ‘Hey do you want one because the bulldozers are coming,” says Mike. 'I'm hoping to keep [the Rotary Club's] legacy going by building a brand new one for the city at my own expense – but we need support that everyone wants one.” Visit: https://minigolf.co.nz/ to have your say.