WALNUT CREEK, CA — Putter’s Mini Golf has no windmill, no waterfall, and no fiberglass pirate. It has 24 handmade holes on an asphalt parking lot, and as of Nov. 29 it will not have those either.
The course at 1275 S. California Blvd. is closing so the corner can be redeveloped. Most of it goes to the highest bidder.
Sean and Carolyn, who run the place, announced the goodbye on the course website. They knew this was coming. They said so when they moved in.
The course nobody planned
Putter’s started as a pandemic accident. The two of them opened on Locust Street in 2020, back when nobody knew what to do with an empty sidewalk.
We were so lucky to get an unexpected start during covid by opening up on Locust Street and just might hold the world record for being the longest running pop-up ever.
Sean and Carolyn, Putter’s Mini Golf
Then they moved to the parking lot beside the old music store and the KFC building on South California. Portable holes, hand-built, set down on asphalt and broken down without a trace when the day ends.
Twenty-four holes for twelve bucks. Dogs play free.
That is the whole business model, and it held for six years.
The website puts it plainly: first come, first served, no reservations, and a hole-in-one is possible on every single hole. Beginners cannot get enough of it. People who take mini golf seriously call it deceptively hard, which is the nicest thing you can say about a course built from plywood and paint.
There is a second business tucked in there too. Travel sets, established 2024 — they will deliver a portable course to your event. Six years of hauling holes around taught them something worth selling.
We are so appreciative of everyone who has come out to play and to all the young golfers who have made us a part of their birthday celebrations.
Sean and Carolyn, Putter’s Mini Golf
They watched the masked four-year-olds from 2020 turn into middle schoolers. They watched first dates come back with toddlers in tow.
Six years is a long run for a pop-up. In a parking lot, it is basically geologic.
What goes up on the corner
The property was always headed for housing. City design review documents from June 17 lay out the replacement: a seven-story building called Fairfield Centre Place South, 172 rental apartments, and a three-level parking garage.
Twenty-six of those homes are set aside for low- and moderate-income households. The existing commercial building comes down.
| Project | Fairfield Centre Place South |
| Corner | S. California Blvd. and Botelho Dr. |
| Height | Seven stories |
| Homes | 172 rental units |
| Below market | 26 units, low and moderate income |
| Parking | Three-level garage |
| Reviewed | Design Review Commission, June 17 |
Draw the corner in your head. The course sits on the quiet end of South California, where downtown thins out, the parking gets easier, and the buildings stop trying so hard.
That is the trade this town keeps making. A low-rise, low-cost thing sits on a lot for a while, and then the lot becomes the thing that pays.
Worth saying plainly: 172 homes within walking distance of a BART station is the kind of thing this city says it wants. Twenty-six of them priced for people who cannot pay market rent is more than most projects offer.
Same math, different corner: the parking lot off Mt. Diablo Boulevard is now an approved eight-story, 104-home building. Nobody fought that one either, once the numbers were on the table.
I am not going to pretend a mini golf course is a landmark. It is not. But there is a difference between a business closing because it failed and a business closing because the ground under it got too valuable to hold a putter.
We know which one this is. The pool supply store on Ygnacio was the other kind.
Everything must go, literally
The equipment sale is real and open to anyone. Almost everything on the course goes to the highest bidder, and offers go to PuttersCountryClub@gmail.com.
Winning bidders hear back at the end of November. Pickup or delivery happens the first week of December.
So if you have ever wanted 24 hand-built putting holes for a backyard, a school carnival, or a wedding you would like people to remember, this is the window. Bring a truck and a plan.
They are still hunting for a new site. That is the part that stings.
“While we have been searching for a new site, and will continue to do so, we have thus far been unable to find a location that suits our business and our budget,” they wrote.
The blocker is rent, in a town where the dirt is worth more than the game played on it.
They are not asking for sympathy. They are asking for a lease that math allows.
The hours you have left
You have five weeks and the schedule is not generous. Monday and Tuesday the gate is shut.
Wednesday through Friday it opens at 2 p.m. and closes at 7:30. Saturday and Sunday run 12:30 to 7:30.
Weather permitting, which in late October means call before you drive. Golfers can start a round up to 30 minutes before close.
One more thing, straight from the site: use your gift cards. There is a line on the homepage that just says “not much time left.” They mean it.
| Last day | Sunday, Nov. 29 |
| Address | 1275 S. California Blvd., Walnut Creek |
| Price | $12 per person, 24 holes |
| Pets | Free |
| Reservations | None. First come, first served |
| Hours | Wed–Fri 2–7:30 p.m., Sat–Sun 12:30–7:30 p.m., closed Mon–Tue |
| Weather | Call ahead if you are not sure |
One more lap
Here is the thing about a course like this. Nobody photographs it.
It is not the Bedford Gallery. It is not Broadway Plaza turning 75 with a parade down the street.
It is a bunch of holes on blacktop that two people built by hand because they thought Walnut Creek might want to putt.
Walnut Creek did. For six years, which is longer than most restaurants on Locust Street last.
So go play it once more before the concrete comes out. Bring the kid, bring the dog, bring a putter you trust, and do not expect the windmill.
There is not one. That was the whole charm.
And if you know a landlord with a spare half acre and a soft spot for miniature golf, the email address works in both directions.
