Community-designed mini golf coming to Durham

Bull City Mini owners Julie Bryce and Ben Owens made the announcement Monday about the nine-hole pop up course to be located specifically on the green space at Diamond View Park across from the Aloft Hotel and next to the Durham Performing Arts Center.

The course will include community-designed mini golf holes and obstacles and a shipping container bar. The pop up is expected to open in April and stay open through the summer.

"The Triangle needs more recreation -- activities that encourage you to get offline and get outside, put down your device and play. Mini golf is affordable, doesn’t require any special skills or preparation to play and is fun for all ages," Owens said.

18 Holes and a Pirate Treasure Hunt

The Durham-based husband and wife team were inspired to create their own mini golf course after a month long cross-country road trip with their newborn baby and dog in 2017. They couple said, "When we weren’t changing diapers on the side of the road, one of our favorite memories from the trip was playing mini golf on a hot Texas night with cold drinks in hand."

They began researching community-designed courses and were impressed with the concept of art and recreation, especially in courses in San Francisco, Austin and Minneapolis.

“Our vision for this project is recreation as art and art as recreation. We want Bull City Mini to have a sense of place. You can play mini golf at the beach but pirate ships and windmills aren’t locally relevant so we’re excited to see how the community takes the theme Durham Landmarks in Miniature and interprets it. We’re hoping for humorous as well as thought-provoking submissions, given Durham’s rich history and passionate residents," Bryce said.