Rutland Elementary students were the first visitors to play the new Scandia Golf & Games Jungle course Tuesday.
The business closed its popular basement course after flooding last May.
General manager Sebastian Ribbink said the renovated course is made of concrete, which will hopefully prevent another flooding situation if Mill Creek rises again.
“We saw the creek coming up fairly rapidly. It wasn’t a complete surprise, but it’s one of those things that at the beginning of the busy season, our tourist season, we basically lost one of our biggest money makers of the business so we had to deal with it,” he said.
The original mini golf course was made of wood and sand which was cleaned out at the beginning of the summer, with rebuilding taking place in October.
“We started with bare concrete on the floors and a hand full of murals were still intact,” said Ribbink.
He called the opening “bittersweet” as he enjoyed working on the project.
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“It’s similar (to the old course) in the way that there’s still a jungle feel to it, or theme, but that’s where it ends. Everything else is very different. We have a pirate theme blended in with it.”
The course features a new giant pirate skull and ship that sends a golf ball into the hole with a bang.
“It’ll be a lot of fun to watch, especially the younger kids, they tend to show their emotions a lot more than adults so we’ll find out quickly how the course will do based on their reactions alone,” said Ribbink.
He wasn’t disappointed.
Haylee van Steinburg and her classmates at Rutland Elementary were the first ones to try the course Tuesday.
She said the course looks different and was excited to play the hole with the giant skull.
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