Ashburton Mayor Liz McMillan can’t wait to play a round on the new mini golf course at EA Networks Centre.
The 18 holes have themes inspired by Mid Canterbury features, including the Ashburton town clock, a combine harvester, braided rivers, and Mt Hutt at the top of the course.
McMillan joined some students from Longbeach School to plant natives around the course on Monday, and took the opportunity to give it a test run.
“I only had a wee practice on one hole – but I did alright.
“I’m pretty excited for opening day and having a full game.”
That game could be a final showdown between McMillan and former Mayor Neil Brown, who have previously squared off in the Tinwald disc golf opening and raced on the new flying foxes in the Ashburton Domain.
The mini-golf course was initially proposed by Brown as part of the long-term plan and as well as helping with the planting this week, he has been invited to the opening on November 21.
“I know he will be attending but I haven’t officially talked to him about it,” McMillan said.
The course still needs a few finishing touches before being ready to open.
“You see it on paper, and it looked pretty cool, but it’s a hundred times better than I imagined it would be.
“It’s bright, colourful, and all the holes are really unique to Mid Canterbury.
“This is something that people of all ages will be able to enjoy together.”
Holes 1-11 are on a flat area and designed to be mobility-friendly, with the other holes on higher terraces.
Bookings and equipment rental can be completed online at the EANC website, with bookings opening from next week.
Another unique feature of the course is that there will no paper scorecards, with golfers able to access a digital scorecard on their smartphone capable of recording individual and group scores.
The council had earmarked $400,000 for the project during its long-term plan but increased the budget to $500,000 – funded from the reserves contributions so it has no impact on rates, but there will be future maintenance costs.
