Monster Mini Golf is a franchised chain of entertainment centers. The locations feature an indoor, 18-hole glow-in-the-dark mini golf course, video and redemption arcade games, three-dimensional animatronic props, an in-house

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

, party rooms for hosting birthday parties and other special events, as well as laser-tag, laser-maze, and bowling in some of the newer, larger facilities. The

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, Monster Entertainment, LLC is headquartered in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and Las Vegas. As of January 2023 the chain has 31 locations, either open or under construction, across the United States and Canada.

History

Christina and Patrick Vitagliano opened the first Monster Mini Golf in an space in an old

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

in the small community of Danielson, Connecticut, on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend in 2004. By 2005, they had made the decision to franchise, and were legal to offer franchises by November of that year. In 2012, the company opened KISS by Monster Mini Golf in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, a facility themed around hard rock band

KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

. Currently located in the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, this location features the typical Monster Mini Golf fare (but heavily KISS-themed), a rock and roll themed wedding chapel called "The Love It Loud Wedding Chapel", the world's largest KISS gift shop, and a museum featuring memorabilia from the band's storied career on display. It also hosts regular appearances by KISS band members, both past and present. In 2021, Christina and Patrick Vitagliano retired and sold the Monster Mini Golf franchise to its top franchisees. Monster_Mini_Golf_Glow_in_the_Dark_Golfer

Monster_Mini_Golf_Glow_in_the_Dark_Golfer

Locations

All locations incorporate glow-in-the-dark settings with fluorescent

golf ball A golf ball is a ball designed to be used in golf. Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like golf clubs, golf bal ...

s and monsters. The only consistent features in each franchise are the "Enter at Your Own Risk" sign that hangs above the

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

gated entrance to the "cemetery," a hole featuring a mole hill with the cup inside the mole hill, a hole with a tricky path (hole in the middle of a hill followed by an animatronic organ player at the top of the hill), and the trademark clown statue that escorts customers out after the last hole (a reference to the movie ''

Happy Gilmore ''Happy Gilmore'' is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, produced by Robert Simonds, and starring Adam Sandler in the title role, with Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Carl Weathers. The film follows the namesak ...

''). Locations typically include two party rooms and an arcade with games such as glow-in-the-dark air hockey tables, custom-made glow-in-the-dark pool tables and

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s as well as ticket redemption games such as glow

Skee Ball Skee-Ball is an arcade game and one of the first redemption games. It is played by rolling a ball up an inclined lane and over a "ball-hop" hump (resembling a ski jump) that jumps the ball into bullseye rings. The object of the game is to col ...

. Each location is customized to reflect the local culture. Monster Mini Golf has grown organically since inception, and as of January 2023, has grown to 31 locations in the US and Canada.

Franchise

Monster Mini Golf had been nominated by franchisees for Top New Franchise on Bizzia.com in 2007. Customers have also shown their interest, based on the company’s uniqueness and creativity behind the indoor mini golf concept. Monster Mini Golf sites average 9,000 to and are typically located in strip malls, stand-alone buildings or other commercial spaces. 100% of all franchises are currently owner operated. As of 2017, there are currently 28 franchised locations in the US and Canada.

Monster Cable vs. Monster Mini Golf

Monster Cable brought suit against Monster Mini Golf in 2006. Noel Lee, The CEO of Monster Cable, claimed that the public would be confused by the similarity of the names Monster Cable and Monster Mini Golf. After mediation and royalty suggestions that the owners deemed to be unfair; Monster Mini Golf launched a grassroots campaign against Monster Cable on the Internet, which managed to garner nationwide attention and support. After receiving hundreds of complaints from the public, Monster Cable dropped the lawsuit and agreed to pay up to $200,000 of Monster Mini Golf's legal fees.

References

External links

* * {{Official website, www.monsterminigolf.com Franchises Entertainment companies established in 2004 Miniature golf Animatronic attractions