Lee’s Miniature Golf still going strong in Alpena after 60 years
Courtesy Photo Former Lee’s Miniature Golf owner Mike Polluch, left, and Clem Van Wagnor and his wife, middle and right, pose for a photo years ago. Van Wagnor took the designs for the course and constructed it. The layout of the course has remained since it was built.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The layout of Lee’s was designed by original owner Lee Reide and built by Clem Van Wagnor. The design hasn’t changed in more than a half-century, and will likely be unchanged for decades into the future.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz For 60 years, Lee’s Miniature Golf in Alpena has been a favorite place for families to spend quality time together outdoors at a reasonable price.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Lee’s employee Andrew Dargis set one of the guitars from the popular video game Guitar Hero back on its rack. The arcade at the miniature golf course features many different video games and air-hockey.
News Photo by Steve Schulwtiz People of all ages love playing a round of miniature golf at Lee’s but it is the kids that really gravitate to it. New owner Dave Dargis said the course is generational and many adults who bring their kids today, came with their parents years ago.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Jeanie Polluch, 90, takes a shot at Lee’s on Tuesday. Polluch’s son Mike owned and operated the course for nearly three decades. She said Lee’s will always have a special place in her heart and is proud of her son for how he used the course to help children.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Kerry O’Tool and his family have visited Lee’s once a year, for about 50 years while visiting Northeast Michigan. He said his father brought him, and now he brings his children and grandchildren.
Courtesy Photo Former Lee’s Miniature Golf owner Mike Polluch, left, and Clem Van Wagnor and his wife, middle and right, pose for a photo years ago. Van Wagnor took the designs for the course and constructed it. The layout of the course has remained since it was built.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The layout of Lee’s was designed by original owner Lee Reide and built by Clem Van Wagnor. The design hasn’t changed in more than a half-century, and will likely be unchanged for decades into the future.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz For 60 years, Lee’s Miniature Golf in Alpena has been a favorite place for families to spend quality time together outdoors at a reasonable price.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Lee’s employee Andrew Dargis set one of the guitars from the popular video game Guitar Hero back on its rack. The arcade at the miniature golf course features many different video games and air-hockey.
News Photo by Steve Schulwtiz People of all ages love playing a round of miniature golf at Lee’s but it is the kids that really gravitate to it. New owner Dave Dargis said the course is generational and many adults who bring their kids today, came with their parents years ago.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Jeanie Polluch, 90, takes a shot at Lee’s on Tuesday. Polluch’s son Mike owned and operated the course for nearly three decades. She said Lee’s will always have a special place in her heart and is proud of her son for how he used the course to help children.
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Kerry O’Tool and his family have visited Lee’s once a year, for about 50 years while visiting Northeast Michigan. He said his father brought him, and now he brings his children and grandchildren.
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ALPENA -- More than a half-century ago Lee and Elizabeth Reide had a dream of building a miniature golf course on State Avenue in Alpena.
Now, 60 years later, their original vision -- Lee's Miniature Golf -- is still in place, thanks to the passion, hard work, and dedication of long-time owner Mike Polluch, who ran the course for 28 years.
This year, Dave Dargis purchased the course and promised to maintain the popular layout of the course and to keep prices affordable.
According to Jeanie Polluch, Mike's mother, the Reides visited Florida each winter and one year they toured miniature golf courses to see what type of design could fit Alpena.
After returning home, Lee designed the 18-hole course and friend Clem Van Wagnor handled the construction of the iconic business.
After Lee died in the early 1980s, Mike purchased the course, and other nearby businesses from his widow. Polluch had a new clubhouse and arcade built, and made improvements, but never strayed from the course's original design.
Mike died last summer.
Jeanie said her son took pride in hosting fundraisers at the miniature golf course for local causes, and made sure it was affordable enough for everyone to play. She said the course, and the community were always important to Mike and it is important the golf course remains open.
"It is great entertainment for families and very uniquely laid out. A lot of strategy is needed for many of the holes," she said. "I think my son did such a good job to improve it as the years moved on and he loved kids, so he always made sure they could afford it. I hope the prices don't go up too much, because it is important that anyone can afford it."
Kerry O'Tool has grown up playing golf at Lee's, albeit only once a year. O'Tool grew up in Bay City, but his father joined Lost Lake Woods Club in 1957. A few years later, the family began to come north to stay at the lodge. While in the area, the family always visited Alpena to play a round at Lee's.
Now, decades later, O'Tool said the tradition is multigenerational.
"We started coming here in about 1960, and now we have kids, and our kids have kids, and we come golf after our family reunion," he said. "It is a fantastic course being right on the shoreline. It is special."
Earlier this year, the future of the course was up in the air. That's when Dargis decided Lee's must be saved and purchased the course. He made minor improvements, replacing the carpet on the greens, adding fresh paint to each hole, and placing flowers throughout the property.
Dargis said he intends to follow the lead of previous Lee's owners and operators, because that is what the customers want and deserve.
"This course is part of our history and part of our everyday life," Dargis said. "This course is part of who we are. Everybody has played here as a child, young adult, and adult. We need to preserve and maintain that and keep it in the way Mike ran it. If I can live up to his standards, then I will think I have done a good job."