The old Putt Putt mini-golf course at San Mateo and McLeod has been out of business for a while now, passing into the nostalgic history of Albuquerque’s past event spaces.

This summer, it will open again, now as Putts N Pints. Earlier today (Thursday), new owner Scott Salvas of Brew Lab 101 gathered the local media and others to talk about this project.

“I think we’ve all dreamed of this place, we’ve driven by this place (and) we’ve remembered what it was,” Salvas said. “We think about what it could be and I know I drove by here many times like all of you, and the other thought was well, who’s going to eventually do something with this place? And so, I’m really excited to say that we’re the team that’s going to do that.”

Salvas and his partners, some of whom are also involved with Brew Lab 101 and some who are new, will operate Putts N Pints.

“So we’re pretty excited to have this team here, but in addition to that, we really want to thank the Garcias who owned this place,” Salvas said. “(They) were willing to see our vision and think about it, and talk to us about it, and allow us to utilize the space and bring it back to the community.”

Salvas called the new concept “a re-imagined version of Putt Putt Golf and Games,” and the name change is due to the prior business actually being part of a chain.

“It is a classic, iconic Albuquerque spot again that we all grew up with,” Salvas said. “It was date nights, it was kids parties, it was hanging out with friends. Man, we’ve just had so many people tell us about how they would come here. This was like the cool place to hang out every weekend, so we’re really excited to do that and man.”

The main building on the mini-golf course were around for almost 50 years before closing eight years ago. There is work to be done, but Salvas promised that the iconic animal and dinosaur statues will remain, perhaps with a fresh coat of paint as needed.

Most of the heavy lifting will come inside the building, which will include a taproom, new kitchen, a virtual golf bay, a retro arcade, and a private party room for everyone from children and families to business gatherings.

“We really want people of all ages to enjoy the space,” Salvas added. “That’s really important to us. And, we’re very overwhelmed (by the response). We put a reopening sign back in January. We thought we’d get a little traction with that, but the community just went crazy.”

That does bring a little added pressure.

“We really feel the weight and the gravity to do this right to make sure everyone is happy,” Salvas said. “And, we really are paying attention to comments. So if we want, Albuquerque, you keep telling us when you want. We’ve heard comments about keeping some of the carpet; that might happen (if) that’s possible. We want to have those little nostalgic points back to the past, while also bringing something new to the future.”

Mayor Tim Keller was on hand to try a ceremonial first putt (he just missed, but made it on his second shot; Salvas was not so lucky), and also spoke of the ties to the past and bringing things into the present.

“You know, we were talking a little bit when I came in about how we haven’t been to Putt Putt since you were a kid, (but) when you walk back in, it all comes back to you right away,” Keller said.

The mayor went on to say that he appreciated that Putts N Pints would be locally owned, as opposed to a franchise. He also spoke of his own nostalgia for the space, noting that the house he grew up in was within walking distance, and how one of his first girlfriends worked at Putt Putt. Then Keller refocused on the present and future.

“But, this is actually a trend in Albuquerque and in the metro area,” he said. “The resurgence of these classic things that are now all of a sudden coming back in a way that is new and refreshed and awesome for the next generation. So this actually is just another example of this trend in the Albuquerque metro.”

Keller is not the only one who remembers going to Putt Putt years ago. It was back in 1987 or 1988 when I celebrated a birthday there, taking all of my friends from Arroyo del Oso Elementary School.

Now, we get to bask in the nostalgia with a beer in hand. It might calm our nerves when we just cannot make those putts go in the hole. It’s their home, but sometimes the balls just don’t want to go there.

We will have more updates on the progress of Putts N Pints in the coming months, and we will have a Look Back/Look Ahead Series article that will tackle everything in the works for Brew Lab 101 in the coming days.

A big thanks to Scott for the invite to the presser, and to Mayor Keller for the compliment on the Amon Amarth shirt that I was wearing (somehow, I knew he would spot it in the crowd).

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister