Doni Ash, the owner of The Shattuck Golf Course in Jaffery, loves golf, but acknowledges that it can be a challenging sport, especially for newcomers. He’s also the father of two young boys who love to play miniature golf.

So, after noticing an unused area of land on his course, he had an idea that felt only natural.

“I kind of thought, ‘Boy, you know – I have the space. It’d be a great addition to an 18-hole course,’” he said about the decision to install a new mini-golf course at The Shattuck. “We have this kind of unusable acre or so, not too far from the pro shop.It would be a beautiful spot with Monadnock views – so that was the idea behind it.”

The Shattuck recently announced the addition via its Facebook page with a post that stated simply, “Coming soon…” It also included a virtual, 3-D representation of the planned expansion that Ash said accurately depicted the layout of the final course.

“Some of the landscaping might change a little bit – we’re going to do some more evergreens and tall grasses, stuff like that – but yeah, that will be the layout,” he said, emphasizing that one of the courses holes would be 200 feet long, making it one of the longest in New England.

“It’s 18 holes, family friendly, so we’re excited,” he said.

The course was designed by Scranton, Pa.-based Harris Minigolf, a family owned and operated company that designs and builds mini-golf courses across the Northeast, according to Ash. He decided on Harris after playing a round of mini-golf with his son at one of their nearby courses.

“I knew after playing that course that I wanted them to design and build my course,” he said. “So I gave them a call.”

Ash revealed that he had had input on the overall layout and even designed several of the course’s holes himself.

“Everything else – it seems like they nailed it. Just what I was looking for,” he said.

Ash hopes that the addition of a mini-golf course will attract new and younger people to the sport.

“Most people love mini-golf, and I think it’s a good way to get people – especially young people – excited about the game. And maybe one day they’ll pick up a real game of golf,” he said.

Ash said they are planning to break ground on Tuesday, March 19, with hopes of opening the course sometime in the early summer.

“June 1 is our target date to open – if not, July.” he said.