‘Mini golf on steroids’: Japanese park golf expanding in New York
By Derek Heid
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ELLICOTTVILLE, New York (WKBW) — Japanese park golf is taking a foothold in Western New York. The very first American location opened in Akron, NY in 2013, now, a second course is coming to Ellicottville very soon.
After a soft opening with 9 holes, Bigfoot Park Golf in Ellicottville is gearing up for its grand opening in June, so what exactly is park golf?
7 News reporter Derek Heid got a chance to play the course Monday afternoon. “[It’s a] smaller version of traditional golf, larger version of putt putt,” course founder Chad Neal said. “[It’s] super mini golf.”
This Japanese form of golf is played with one club, that looks like a mallet; a plastic ball, the size of a billiards ball; and played on a course, much shorter than your typical golf course.
Park golf is most simply described as a croquet/golf hybrid game.
“It’s not as aggravating as traditional golf, but it’s still challenging,” Neal said.
The sport started in Japan in the 1980s but made the move here to America in 2013 thanks to a very famous wrestler and Destroyer Park Golf in Akron, NY.
“Park golf is mini golf on steroids,” Destroyer Park Golf owner Kris Beyer Jones said. “My dad was the Destroyer, and he was a very avid golfer, golfed all the time.”
If you’re a fan of professional wrestling, then you probably know Beyer Jones’ father.
Her dad, Dick Beyer, better known as his wresting persona the Destroyer, wrestled professionally in Japan for decades, and during his days off, he loved to golf with his boss.
After years living and working in Japan, Dick Beyer, the Destroyer, knew he had to bring his favorite game with him to the USA.
“Instead of playing golf, he said we are going to play this game today. [He] took him to play park golf, and my dad fell in love,” Beyer Jones said. “He thought Americans would love this game.”
After their family moved back to Western New York, their dream was to bring this sport to the United States and inspire other people to grow it alongside them.
“We have the vision that it will be all over America as well,” Beyer Jones said.
People like Chad Neal in Ellicottville are exactly what they had in mind.
Bigfoot Park Golf course founder Chad Neal played Destroyer Park Golf in Akron and knew he wanted to bring it to the Southern Tier.
Neal’s course is next door to the Ellicottville Distillery.
It is just 9 holes for now, but it can be played from 11 a.m. to sunset on Saturdays and Sundays. It will have a grand opening in June once all 18 holes are fully complete.
The Destroyer passed away in 2019, but that vision he had all those years ago of park golf expanding in the USA is coming true in Ellicottville.
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