Here’s the story behind that zany new business at the Columbia Mall, Opry Glowgolf. It’s a glow-in-the-dark, 54-hole mini golf course at the former MC Sports location in the south wing. Employee Adam Baker says they’ve been really busy since school let out, with about 100 customers a day the norm.
How’d they get the name? Well, Kansas natives John Wright and Regnald Boothe started the first Opry Glowgolf course at the Opry Mills mall in Tennessee. With their home office in Kansas the business partners now have 45 stores nationwide, all in malls. “The appeal to malls is that people can drop their kids off and then go shop,” said Wright. “Your golf game is good all day so you can go to a movie, or eat and then come back to finish up your 54 holes.”
Bringing Glowgolf to Columbia was something Wright said was an easy decision, “We like college towns. They have stable economies. Even though the U.S. economy is bad right people still like to go out and have fun. We’re an affordable, family fun entertainment, so we feel we’ve found a niche.” The concept of Glowgolf is one that Wright and his partner Boothe discovered completely by accident. “Reg and I have been partners in golf course management for years and we were looking for a way to maximize the efficiency of the golf courses. Reg worked with a man who invented a golf ball that glowed in the dark so people could play at night and we could extend our revenue. We invented a game called glow range where people hit targets about 100 yards away to score points. On night we had a group of 200 people lined up to play the glow range and we needed another attraction for them so we set up a glow-in- the- dark mini golf course and they loved it. We’ve been doing this seven years now and I haven’t meet a person who doesn’t like it,” said Wright.
Categories: Business, New Business.
