Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA -- The owner of a former miniature golf course in Walla Walla is taking another swing at it with plans to open a one-of-a-kind, indoor/outdoor family-friendly course on Wellington Avenue.

Plans for The Sweet Putt were announced by business partners Brent and Juli Dunn and Tyler and Julie Morris. The business is expected to open in two phases starting in early 2012 at 417 Wellington Ave., which formerly housed Rhoades Music Co.

The group is leasing the building from owner Zedell Jackson.

The plan is to take occupancy Nov. 1. The families will spend two months renovating the building for the indoor course, which will be constructed by Tyler Morris with assistance from the Dunn and Morris clans.

The indoor course will open shortly after the first of the year. Attention will then turn to the outside course, slated to open in spring 2012. When that happens, the indoor part will likely be packed up and stored to make way for pool tables and arcade games, Dunn said.

The plan is to rotate activities inside to continue to build interest at the shop. Snacks will also be sold.

"It's an adventure in the works, and we're super excited about it," Dunn said.

The owners are shooting for an ace with a concept that not only builds the community's array of family activities but does it with a Walla Walla flair, Juli Dunn explained.

The course will be designed to represent buildings, people, industries and other features inherent to the Valley, Dunn said. At one hole, for instance, guests will putt through wine barrels. Another is expected to be a tribute to Walla Walla High School Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

The couples plan to open the nine-hole indoor portion first so they can get input from participants as they build the 18-hole outdoor course.

"We really want it to be a course where every hole is fun -- no gimme holes," Dunn said. "A course you want to come back and play again."

For Brent Dunn the venture marks a return to miniature golf. He owned Eastgate Mini-Golf on Melrose Avenue in 1992, then later moved it indoors to the Eastgate Marketplace.

But the move was so different from the outdoor course experience that it posed new challenges, Juli Dunn said, and the timing to address those was difficult. The operation instead shut down, but the idea for a full-blown miniature golf course never went away.

With both of them juggling other careers -- he as business manager at Valley Vision Clinic and she as director of Academic Resources at Whitman College -- they knew they wanted to partner with another family in the business. It seemed especially important as their two sons grew and the family looked for more entertainment and opportunities for work training.

They approached other friends and acquaintances about it over the years to no avail. That is, until they floated the idea to the Morrises. Tyler Morris followed up with a phone call the next day to see what they could do to get started.

As with the Dunns, the Morrises both juggle other careers. He is a general contractor, and his wife works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Also like the Dunns, the couple has two sons.

"Really for us it was realizing we both had very similar kinds of dreams for a safe, family-fun place where kids and adults could play together," Dunn said.

Through the new business -- a separate venture from the regular jobs with which they all intend to continue -- they can help provide an employment base for young people

"It's an adventure in the works, and we're super excited about it," Dunn said.