PUTTING INTO PAST
Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf course offers trip through history
WILTON, N.Y. >> All are invited to take a trip through history while playing the 18 holes at new local business Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf.
Located at 556 Maple Ave. in Wilton, Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf opened earlier this summer.
The mini golf course is owned and operated by local businessman Brian Brumley, who started this new endeavor with the help of Kristen Beach Eglintine.
The course features pieces of Spa City area history at each hole, including chronological facts and photos of local historical sites such as Saratoga Race Course, Congress Park, Yaddo, Caffe Lena and the Saratoga Battlefield.
“We’re both Saratoga natives and we just kind of love the whole history of Saratoga, so we based each hole on a bit of history from Saratoga,” Brumley said, noting that they called their former Saratoga Springs High School history teacher Dave Patterson in for some assistance.
As the parent of an eight-year-old and nineyear-old, Brumley said he wanted to create Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf to bring more kids’ entertainment to the area. “It was kind of their idea,” he said.
“The way Wilton is growing, the amount of families in Wilton, it seemed like a good location and a good idea,” said Brumley, who has also owned and operated local eatery Spring Street Deli And Pizzeria for the past 23 years.
Between clearing the
land, then designing and building the course, that idea took about two years to come to fruition, but now that it has, “They love it,” Brumley said of his children.
In addition to mini golf, the business recently started serving ice cream. Soft and hard ice cream flavors are available, and soon some specialty milkshakes are expected to debut on the concession stand menu.
Looking ahead, Brumley would like to expand the food menu at the concession stand and make a space for outdoor dining.
Brumley’s primary goal for Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf is to provide a place where kids and their families can have fun. Brumley’s father Dave Brumley, who passed away two years ago, would always create giant Christmas displays at his home in Geyser Crest. “He just loved putting smiles on kids’ faces,” Brumley said. “That was his goal every winter, he went bigger and better every year.”
Now, Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf is Brumley’s way of carrying on that family tradition.
“There’s nothing better than hearing kids laughing and seeing them smiling,” he said. Though starting a mini golf course has been a lot of hard work, “It makes it all worth it.”
Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf plans to host a grand opening event in the near future.
A seasonal business, Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf and its concession stand are currently open from noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Fall hours, which will be posted on the business’ Facebook page, are expected to begin soon.
A round of mini golf costs $9 each for adults, $7 each for children age 15 and younger or seniors age 65 and older, and $5 for kids age five and younger. The business accepts cash only. An ATM is available on site.
Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf can also host birthday parties, corporate events and other events.