Urban Putt

Putt Putt Pass

Urban Putt, the Mission's Forthcoming Mini Golf Cocktail Lounge, Seeks Donations to Finish Development

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Edit: Original photo removed due to a copyright issue from Curbed SF, but you can see it here

I’m pretty conflicted on this one.

Urban Putt, which promises a “steampunk-style” mini-golf course and cocktail bar stuffed into an old funeral home, is now seeking $50,000 in donations on Kickstarter.  What for? They’ve always spent $750,000 on construction and they need the cash to finish it all up.

Of course, handing over free money to for-profit businesses over Kickstarter already grates me—especially given how many local non-profits really need the money right now.  And considering Urban Putt is being designed by the folks responsible for Mission Bowling Club and the bar is managed by the mixology thought leaders from Trick Dog, it seems particularly undeserving (seriously, any person who donates to Trick Dog needs to be sent back to their manufacturer under warranty).

But if you look past all that and their assuredly ridiculous clientele, it probably won’t be that bad.  Take the above photo: it’s skeeball and mini golf. Skeeball and mini golf!

The whole place looks like a competent burner’s putt-putt paradise:

It certainly doesn’t look like another twee speakeasy with dreamy assholes in suspenders serving up cocktails in mason jars.

So if this is your sort of thing, you can donate over on Kickstarter.  Or don’t.  Whatever.

UPDATE: Urban Putt’s “Chief Greenskeeper” Steve Fox responds to some our (and commenter’s) criticisms in the comments.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Plans Unveiled for Urban Putt, The Mission's Forthcoming Mini Golf Course

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

After preemptively apologizing for looking to bring an indoor mini golf course to the Mission, Urban Putt owner Steve Fox is moving forward with his project to do just that.  And ahead of tomorrow's Planning Commission hearing, which will decide the future of the project, Fox submitted his plans for the conversion of an abandoned mortuary on 22nd and South Van Ness into the neighborhood's latest alcoholic playland:

[Steve Fox] proposes to establish a restaurant and miniature golf course (d.b.a. Urban Putt) with extended hours of operation of 6:00a.m. to 12:00a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 6:00a.m. to 2:00a.m. Friday and Saturday. The approximately 2,100 square foot miniature golf course would be located only on the ground floor. The restaurant would occupy a portion of the ground floor and the entire smaller second floor, and would use the basement for storage, totaling approximately 7,400 square feet. However, that 7,400 square feet includes bathrooms for both the restaurant and miniature golf patrons, a large amount of circulation space, and approximately 2,200 square feet of storage in the basement.

The proposed use is an independent business that is not a Formula Retail use. The proposed operation is anticipated to employ 55 people; 7 of those employees will be salaried and 48 will be hourly.

With a 6am opening time, it seems Urban Putt is aiming to unseat Clooney's as home to the most strung-out afterparty in the area—a lofty goal, if we do say so.

Of course, with industry backing from the likes of Trick Dog, Mission Bowling Club, and a “well-known restaurant group” prepping kitschy classic California comfort food, it seems doubtful many will be able to swing the cost of teeing off (including this blogger, who lives just a few doors down the once hooker-lined street).  But as we said before, we remain nevertheless stoked to see a local bar doing something rad and unique in the neighborhood.

Below, some additional designs:

Argh, the incorporated a drum circle into this.

The main hall/

Capacity for 375 people!

[h/t Socket Site]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Venue For Getting Drunk and Playing Mini Golf Coming to 22nd and South Van Ness

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Born out of pop-up Park(ing) Day parklet, Urban Putt, a combination 18 hole mini golf course and restaurant, is coming to the big empty beige building at the corner of 22nd and South Van Ness. Inside Scoop reports:

Unlike mini golf courses in suburbia, Urban Putt won’t have a half-acre to work with. The space — 1096 South Van Ness — is a former mortuary, vacant since 1999, clocking in at about 9,000 square feet total, including the basement and the kitchen-to-be. The course itself will feature 18 holes, naturally, though Fox describes it more of a “jewel box of a course,” making creative use of the space with elaborate electronic and mechanical components.

It's being designed by the architect behind Mission Bowling, and the bar will be run by the Trick Dog guys, so this place is obviously no Bushwick Country Club (read: cheap).  Even so, it's great to see another bar doing something rad and unique in the neighborhood.

Anyway, they're angling to open later this year, but expect “red tape” might delay that until sometime in 2014.

[SFGate | Photo by Steve Rhodes]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: