Sip-N-Putt, the locally owned miniature golf course known for pairing 18 holes with pizza, wings and beer, is packing up its clubs and moving across the highway. Owner Bret Shallenberger says the business will close its current location at 7420 I-35 N. Frontage Road in December and reopen roughly two months later at 225 Watson Lane W., just across the interstate in New Braunfels.
The move, first reported by Community Impact, comes down to rent. Shallenberger attributed the closure of the current site directly to increasing rent costs, and he told the outlet he was happy the business could stay within New Braunfels rather than leave the city altogether, crediting community support for helping the business grow this far.
From a Miller Lite Box to an 18-Hole Course
Sip-N-Putt opened in January 2023, but the idea behind it dates back further. Shallenberger developed the concept during COVID-19, reportedly drawing his original plans on a Miller Lite box. He has said he loved golf and wanted to build a career around the sport that would give something back to his community, and he has credited belief in that idea — even in its roughest form — with the business making it this far.
The original course was designed with three distinct difficulty tiers, beginner, moderate and championship, to accommodate golfers of varying skill levels alongside the venue's food and drink service, according to MySA. That same combination of leisure and beverage sales has proven to be good business more broadly: industry data compiled by WifiTalents shows mini golf venues serving alcohol see roughly 50% higher average transaction values per customer than dry courses.
Bigger Courses, Solar Panels and Water Recycling
At the new Watson Lane location, Sip-N-Putt plans to add new courses along with additional food and beverage options, and the business intends to make the new complex eco-friendly. Plans call for water recycling and potentially solar panel systems, and Shallenberger's team has said it intends to work with local youth programs as part of the expanded footprint.
The relocation lands squarely inside a real estate squeeze that has been building across New Braunfels for years. Retail vacancy in the city sat at just 1.5% in 2025, with annual net absorption of space outpacing new deliveries and pushing rents steadily upward across the submarket, according to data from the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce. Community Impact reported back in 2022 that the city was already seeing near 100% absorption of retail and office space, leaving small businesses to compete for a shrinking pool of infill sites.
A City Growing Faster Than Its Storefronts
The pressure on small operators like Sip-N-Putt tracks with just how fast New Braunfels has grown. U.S. Census Bureau estimates put the city's population at roughly 122,492 by 2025, up more than 33% from the 90,403 residents counted in the 2020 census, per figures cited by Wikipedia. SmartAsset ranked New Braunfels the No. 2 economic boomtown in the country in 2026, pointing to a 40% five-year surge in housing units and 32% labor force growth in Comal County, a trend Hoodline detailed in March.
That growth cuts both ways for a venue like Sip-N-Putt. More residents and a steady flow of visitors mean more potential customers walking through the gate — the New Braunfels Convention and Visitors Bureau found local tourism generated a $1.3 billion economic impact in 2024 and supported more than 16,000 jobs, according to KSAT. But that same demand is also what's driving up the rent that pushed Sip-N-Putt to relocate in the first place.
Part of a Broader Central Texas Trend
Sip-N-Putt isn't the only Central Texas operator betting on the combination of putting greens and full bar service. Hoodline has also covered Cool Crest's mini golf revival in San Antonio and the arrival of Dirdie Birdie's mini golf and cocktails concept at the Domain, part of a wider regional shift toward pairing family entertainment with food and drink. Nationally, more than 90% of mini golf courses are independently owned small businesses, operating in a sector that has expanded at a 3.5% compound annual growth rate, according to industry research from TRUiC Business Ideas.
New Braunfels' rapid expansion hasn't come without growing pains beyond the retail market. In May, New Braunfels Utilities reported a 550,000-gallon wastewater spill into the Guadalupe River following storm-related power outages, an incident Hoodline covered as a sign of infrastructure strain tied to the city's fast growth. Commercial corridors are also filling in quickly with national chains, including a planned sixth New Braunfels McDonald's location near Klein Road that Hoodline reported would be completed in early 2027 — around the same time Sip-N-Putt expects to reopen on the other side of the interstate.
