One of the few places to play miniature golf in San Francisco has closed.
Urban Putt, the indoor putt-putt course in the Mission District, shut its doors over the weekend. A sign posted on the exterior gave little additional information. Mission Local first reported the news of the closure.
In 2023, details emerged that Funlab, an Australian entertainment company, would revamp the course into another mini golf club called Holey Moley later this year.
A popular place for dates and birthday parties, Urban Putt won fans with its bar, full kitchen, convivial atmosphere and 14 themed holes. Befitting the Mission’s Latinx cultural heritage, one paid homage to Dia de los Muertos, while other holes made use of city icons like the Transamerica Pyramid along with mechanical contraptions that sent golf balls on dizzying journeys toward the cup.
One Yelper compared Urban Putt’s vibe to a partnership between novelist Jules Verne and inventor Rube Goldberg.
Similar to the nearby music venue The Chapel, which is housed in a former funeral home on Valencia Street, Urban Putt opened in a somewhat formidable-looking Victorian-era structure that had once been a mortuary. Prior to the putters and brightly painted golf balls, the building had been vacant for 15 years.
The other Urban Putt location, in Denver, is also slated to become a Holey Moley.
At present, the only two places in San Francisco to play miniature golf are Stagecoach Greens in Mission Bay near the food truck complex Spark Social and the Ghirardelli Square arcade Subpar.