Top Ryde: Sydney’s first Birdies Mini Golf Bar to open
There’s a new player in Sydney’s mini golf scene with doors set to open on a massive 18 hole golf course where punters can have a putt with a pint. Find out when you can enjoy a round.
Northern District Times
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A new indoor mini golf trend is on the set to arrive in Sydney after a long-running planning process which has left the owner taking a swing against a local council.
Sydney’s first Birdies Mini Golf outlet will open its doors at Top Ryde City next month as part of a massive development involving turning three shops at the shopping complex into an 18-hole indoor golf course.
The venue will come complete with a restaurant and bar featuring 18 beers on tap, wines and spirits including 65 Australian gins.
Birdies Mini Golf director Stephanie Doyle said the venue was designed to stand out in the increasingly competitive indoor sport and recreation market currently dominated by players such as Timezone and Holey Moley.
“Birdies is about the full experience – there are 18 holes, there’s a lot to play and visually it’s more of a high spec environment and much more glamorous,” she said.
“There’s essentially three offerings in one – there’s adult mini golf, a bar which is supporting Australian independent brands, and the restaurant component.
“The holes are also challenging and we use the equivalent golf sticks you’d find on an outdoor course – there are no plastic putters here.
“It’ll be a great environment for people to socialise as well as events and corporate team building now we’re in the post-Covid recovery.”
Ms Doyle said Ryde was chosen for the company’s expansion into NSW as part of an effort to boost entertainment offerings in the suburbs.
“We consciously chose Ryde rather than the CBD because we wanted somewhere where people could go outside the inner city at weekends or nights without having to catch a train or an Uber,” she said.
Development works on the site come after a protracted planning process dating back to early last year.
The main development of the site has already been approved, however modifications including midnight trading hours and a plan to host live music is yet to be determined – less than one month before the doors are due to open.
Ms Doyle – who is based in Melbourne – said gaining the final tick of approval from Ryde Council had proved more challenging than having the venue’s liquor licence approved by Liquor and Gaming NSW.
“The biggest challenge has been the speed – everything has taken a really long time, I’m talking months and months at a time when hospitality business are trying to recover and rebound,” she said.
“We’re hoping to have live music on a Sunday afternoon or a Friday night with an acoustic guitarist to add to that live element of the venue – we’re not planning a music festival or having full on bands with drums.
“We only want to have the music playing until 11pm – nothing more than what a resident would be able to have in their home.
“It’s nonsensical to me that I can play music from a Spotify playlist as loud as I want, but if I have a guitarist playing music at the same level I can’t do it.”
A Ryde Council spokesman said the development application was being assessed within the usual time frame and is currently open for public exhibition.
The spokesman did not provide a time frame for when the application would be approved, but noted the extending operating hours and live music were factors requiring additional consideration and a longer determination process.
Plans show the venue will have a capacity for up to 250 people at a time and will have security patrols as part of a management plan.
Other features of the 780 sqm site include TVs screen airing NRL and other sports, bookable spaces than used for functions, and a backroom keg room.
Birdies Mini Golf currently has one outlet in Melbourne and is also planning to launch in Queensland this year.
The store will be located on the site of four clothing shops next to Timezone on the ground level of the shopping hub.
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