By Mark Seavy

As technology-driven mini golf courses replace the traditional pirate and windmill motifs, brand licensing could be a hole in one moving forward.

As it stands, there are limited opportunities for full-fledged licensed mini-golf courses. The $50,000-$150,000 installation costs (plus royalties and minimum guarantees) outweigh investment returns. Yet, in small steps, licensing is taking hold across the mini golf landscape.

Topgolf Callaway Brands, for example, operates 95 driving ranges as well as several mini golf courses. In 2019, Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds was added to its Toptracer technology that follows the flight of the ball. The five-year initial licensing agreement has since been renewed and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog character was added to the system last year. Topgolf also launched a Captain America experience tied to the release of Captain America: Brave New World in February, which will run through April 13th.

And Puttshack, which has 26 venues, also has installed brands including Tetris and Hasbro’s Connect 4 to its nine-hole courses.

Yet aside from the most well-funded courses—Blackstone Group invested $150 million in Puttshack while Puttery, which has 11 locations, has the backing of pro golfer Rory McIlroy’s Symphony Ventures investment fund—courses featuring licensed IP remain outside the reach of many companies that operate mini golf courses globally.

“A course with a licensed brand might give you a little bit of a leg up with brand recognition and nostalgia,” said Russ Van Natta, VP of Sales at the consulting firm Creative Works. “The issue, however, is that it is more expensive [than non-licensed offerings] and the brand may or may not have the specific draw that a core audience is looking for. It makes total sense to look at a licensed opportunity if you have the pocketbook to be able to license that IP in the first place. It [IP] can be a powerful piece.”

The key to bringing licensed IP to these courses may well lie with multi-course operators that can defray cost like royalties and minimum guarantees over many locations, licensing industry executives said.

“If I am a single [course] operator and I have to pay for the license, I may never get a return on that investment [in the licensed IP], whereas if I am someone like Topgolf that can pay a bigger license fee and amortize that against many locations, that becomes a different story,” said George Wade, President of the consulting firm Bay Laurel Advisors.  “If there was consolidation in mini golf where there is a company that acquires a bunch of locations and the build-out costs get to a point where you get a return on the investment, then that begins to make sense.”

Another factor that could support further licensing efforts in the category is the addition of new technologies.

Puttshack, for example, installed RFID chips in golf balls that count stokes and keep score, dispensing with the traditional pencil and scorecard. And PopStroke, which has 11 locations and the backing of pro golfer Tiger Woods, uses a “Trackaball” technology to count strokes as well as a mobile app that enables golfers to order food and drinks on the course using a QR code. In fact, PopStroke’s new 18-hole, 25,000-square-foot course that opens in Nashville, TN in early 2026 will also feature 9,000 square feet dedicated to restaurants and bars.

As the mini golf business continues to evolve, it will become increasingly important for course operators to create immersive experiences that can include storytelling as a means for attracting customers, licensing executives said. Content also plays an important role in contributing to that storytelling can and drawing attention to the game. The Holey Moley miniature golf series, starring actor Rob Riggle, ran for four seasons on Netflix while YouTuber Brooks Holt has 381,000 subscribers on his channel, where he posts videos of himself as he plays mini golf courses across the U.S.

“These [changes] have given new exposure to mini golf, but part of the attraction can also be story-driven, which is more than just an immersive experience,” said Danny Gruening, VP of Business Development at Creative Works.