Mini Golf Course Opening Checklist

A mini golf operation is one of the more deceptive small businesses. From a distance it looks like a parking lot with windmills. Up close it is a multi-revenue-stream operation: rentals, food, party bookings, and sometimes batting cages or an arcade attached. The opening routine has to cover all of it before the first family lines up at the counter.

Walk the Course First

Before anything else, walk all 18 holes. The course took weather all night. Things shifted, broke, leaked, or got vandalized.

What you are looking for:

Standing water on the felt; greens need to dry before play
Loose carpet edges or torn felt
Broken or missing flags
Obstacles (the windmill, the loop, the alligator) functioning correctly
Trash in the hazards; pull whatever is in there
Broken tee markers or hole numbers
Sprinkler heads that did not retract

Some of these can be fixed in 30 seconds. Some require a real repair and the hole has to be marked closed until it is done. A course that opens with a broken windmill is a course where the customer remembers the broken windmill, not the rest of the round.

The Pro Shop and Equipment

The rental counter is the heart of the operation. Customers wait there, pay there, get their gear there. It has to be ready.

Count the putters by size; pull any with cracked grips or bent shafts
Inspect every ball; replace cuts and gouges
Stock the score cards and pencils
Test the wristbands or token system if you use one
Top off the snack and drink coolers
Wipe down the counter and the menu board
Restock the merch on display (golf balls, sun hats, sunscreen)

The most underestimated detail: count the pencils. A course that runs out of pencils at 11am is a course where the staff is stopping to find pencils all afternoon.

Snack Bar and Concessions

If you run food, the snack bar opens with the course. Hot dogs need to be loaded into the roller, the slushie machine needs to be running and at temperature, the ice cream freezer needs to be at the right temperature, the popcorn machine needs to be cleaned and warmed up.

Food safety in a snack bar is more important than it looks. The hot dog roller temp gets checked and logged. The freezer temp gets checked and logged. The drink syrups get rotated FIFO. Cross-contamination on tongs gets prevented with color coding.

Restrooms

Mini golf courses have families with kids. Kids need bathrooms. A clean bathroom is a 90 percent driver of repeat business in family entertainment. Scrub the toilet, stock paper, mop, empty trash, check that soap and paper towels are full. Then check it again at noon, and again at 3pm.

Party Rooms and Reservations

If you book parties (and most courses do), the party room needs to be set for the day's bookings before opening. Tables wiped, chairs arranged, decorations from the customer either set up by staff or staged for the host. Confirm the order: which time, how many kids, food order if there is one, allergy notes.

A party that arrives at 1pm to a room that is still being set up is a party that posts a one-star review.

Outside Areas and Safety

Walk the perimeter:

Trash cans emptied, fresh liners
Picnic tables wiped down
Pathways swept
Any tripping hazards (loose pavers, exposed roots) flagged
Sun shades and umbrellas open if you use them
Gates and fences intact

Safety items also get a quick check:

First aid kit stocked
Fire extinguishers in date
Emergency exits clear
Staff radios charged if you use them

Staff Briefing

Five minutes before opening, gather the shift. Tell them what is booked today (parties, group reservations, any special events), what is broken or out of service, what the weather forecast looks like, and what the goal of the day is. Send them out. They feel like a team instead of a list of names on a schedule.

Opening the Gates

Doors open at the posted time, not three minutes after. If the line is forming early, do not let people in early; you have not finished setup. A two-minute late opening costs a percentage of the day's revenue, but a sloppy early opening costs more in eventual complaints.

How MyTeamTasks Helps

A mini golf course in summer runs on a mostly teenage staff with high turnover. A digital opening checklist on a tablet at the pro shop walks every shift lead through the same routine. Hole-by-hole checks get logged with timestamps. The owner can see at 9:45 whether the course was actually walked or whether someone just hit the front nine and called it good.