People love mini golf. It’s fun, affordable and creates amazing memories. But there’s a problem if you’re running that kind of business: Weather. When it’s 75° and sunny, you’re packed and have a waiting list. When it’s 35° and raining, you’re empty or closed. Today, the courses that stay profitable year-round don’t just pray for good weather. They build marketing strategies that maximize every beautiful day and create revenue streams that work when the weather doesn’t.

The result? They experience less of the income rollercoaster while turning slower months into quality revenue and dominating when conditions are perfect. In this actionable blog post, you’ll learn the exact steps to do the same.

Spring: Capture Pent-Up Demand Early

After months of cold weather, families are desperate to get outside. The first nice weekend in March or April? That’s your Super Bowl. Miss it and they’ll discover your competitor instead.

Instead, be top-of-mind before the first warm day hits. Start promoting your season opening 4-6 weeks early. Email everyone who played last year:

“We open March 15—book your tee time now.”

Run Facebook ads targeting local families:

“Tired of being stuck inside? We open in 3 weeks.”

Create an opening weekend event that gives people a reason to come immediately: first 100 families get a free round, opening day tournament with prizes, season pass early-bird pricing that expires after week one. Don’t wait for warm weather to start marketing. By the time it’s nice out, people have already made plans. Tactics that work:

• Run countdown posts on social media building anticipation

• Email your database 6 weeks, 3 weeks and 1 week before opening

• Update your Google Business Profile with opening date and new hours

• Sell season passes with “early bird” pricing that jumps after opening weekend

• Partner with local shops or restaurants for “first day of spring” cross-promotions

Revenue opportunity: Pre-sold season passes create immediate cash flow and lock in customers before they consider alternatives.

Summer: Turn Peak Season Into Year-Round Revenue

Summer is when you make your money. But most mini golf courses focus on maximizing daily revenue while ignoring the bigger opportunity: converting summer visitors into year-round customers.

How? Simple: capture contact information from everyone who walks through your gate. Every single person who plays is a potential email subscriber, season pass holder or party booking. Yet most courses collect payment and send people on their way. That’s leaving money on the table.

Require email for online bookings (obviously). But also capture walk-ins: “Drop your email for a discount on your next visit.” Offer a free game on their birthday in exchange for joining your birthday club. Text opt-ins for same-day weather updates and flash deals. The goal is to build a database during peak season that you can market to year-round. Tactics that work:

• Digital waivers that capture emails automatically

• Birthday club with automated email reminders to book parties

• “Summer Passport” loyalty program (play 10 times, get 1 free—requires sign-up)

• Social media contests (“Tag a friend you’d crush at mini golf. Winner gets free rounds”)

• Photo opportunities with branded hashtags (parents post, you repost, their network sees you)

Revenue opportunity: An email list of 5,000 summer players becomes your party booking and season pass audience for the entire year.

Fall: Extend the Season With Events

Fall weather can be gorgeous or unpredictable. Your goal is maximizing every good-weather day while creating reasons for people to brave cooler temperatures. How? You’ll turn mini golf into a seasonal destination with themed events.

Halloween mini golf is a no-brainer. Decorate your course. Add spooky elements to holes. Host “Glow Golf” nights with black lights and glow-in-the-dark balls. Offer costume discounts. Run a pumpkin-themed putting contest.

But don’t stop there. Fall festivals, harvest themes and Oktoberfest partnerships with local breweries. All of these strategies position mini golf as part of the fall experience, not just something to do when it’s randomly nice out. These events create urgency (“only 3 Halloween golf weekends!”) and give families a reason to visit even when it’s a bit chilly. Tactics that work:

• Glow golf nights (extend season into cooler evenings)

• Halloween-themed course transformation with photo ops

• “Fall Ball” tournament with prizes and seasonal treats

• Partnerships with apple orchards, pumpkin patches or breweries

• Corporate team-building packages (companies planning end-of-year events)

Revenue opportunity: Themed events justify premium pricing and extend your season 4-6 weeks beyond when courses normally slow down.

Winter: Build Revenue When You Can’t Open

This is where most mini golf courses fail. They close for winter and go radio silent. There’s no marketing, no revenue and no traction. Just hoping to have enough saved to cover expenses until spring.

Instead, the courses that thrive year-round get creative about winter revenue and stay engaged with their audience even when the course is closed. How? They get creative and identify alternative revenue streams.

Can you add an indoor component? Arcade games, laser tag, or an indoor putting area keeps you operational. Can’t afford infrastructure? Go mobile. Offer portable mini golf for corporate holiday parties, school events, or indoor venues.

Even if you’re fully closed, your brand doesn’t have to be dormant. Sell gift certificates heavily from November through December: they’re perfect last-minute gifts and create guaranteed spring revenue. Run a “12 Days of Christmas” social media giveaway to keep followers engaged. Email your list with “Top 10 Indoor Activities for Families” (including other businesses to stay top-of-mind without being salesy). Tactics that work:

• Gift certificate promotions on Black Friday

• Season pass sales with deep early-bird pricing

• Portable mini golf rentals for corporate holiday parties

• Partnership with indoor entertainment venues for cross-promotion

• Social media engagement campaigns (trivia, polls, throwback photos)

Revenue opportunity: Gift certificates and season pass pre-sales during November-December can generate 20-30% of what you’d make in an average summer month with zero operational overhead.

Weather-Triggered Marketing That Works Year-Round

Nice weather is unpredictable. But your marketing for it doesn’t have to be. To maintain consistent income, build automated “good weather” campaigns that activate when conditions are perfect.

Set up weather-triggered email and text campaigns. When the forecast shows 70°+ and sunny this weekend, automatically send:

“Perfect mini golf weather Saturday. Book your tee time before we fill up!”

Run weather-targeted Facebook and Instagram ads. Facebook lets you show ads only to people in your area when the weather meets specific conditions. A “gorgeous day” ad with booking link performs incredibly well because you’re reaching people exactly when they’re thinking “what should we do today?”

Monitor your local weather forecast every Monday. If the coming weekend looks great, blast your list by Wednesday. Impulse decisions happen Thursday through Friday for weekend activities. Tactics that work:

• Weather-triggered email automation

• Facebook ads with weather targeting rules

• Text club for “same day deals” (send early when it’s beautiful out)

• Google Ads during perfect weather weekends (people search “things to do”)

• Instagram stories Friday afternoons: “Tomorrow’s forecast = mini golf weather”

Revenue opportunity: Weather-triggered campaigns can increase weekend revenue 15-25% by capturing impulse traffic that would’ve stayed home or chosen something else.

Get Off The Revenue Rollercoaster. Generate Predictable Mini Golf Income.

Mini golf’s seasonality isn’t going away. But your revenue doesn’t have to disappear with cold weather. Build an email database in summer. Create themed events in fall. Generate winter revenue through gift certificates and pre-sales. Use weather-triggered marketing to maximize every good day. The courses struggling are the ones that open in spring, hope for the best, and shut down until next year. The courses thriving treat marketing as a year-round system—not a summer afterthought.

So, how do you bring this to life when you’re running full-time operations? It’s not easy. It’s why Slamdot specializes in helping entertainment businesses like yours crack the code on year-round digital marketing. From done-for-you campaigns to upgrading your website to convert, we exist to help you do one thing: generate more revenue.

Want to see how we can help? Contact us today for a free quote!

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