The History of Miles of Golf
1953-1954 Pat’s Par Three Opened.
It was a driving range and par three golf course and was where many of today’s area golfers got their start. A miniature golf course was opened shortly later. The driving range was on the northwest part of the property with the par three golf course wrapped around the south and east part.
Pat’s Par Three was owned by Casey Partridge. Casey also owned Fox Hills Golf Course. He built and owned Pat’s Par Three but did not manage it. Rolly Rollins first managed it. Many remember Rollins as the one armed golfer who was a very good player. Rolly managed Pat’s Par Three until the 1970s.
Francis Lotte managed the business during the 1970s. Lotte was the city golf champ. People called him “Casey” thinking he was Casey Partridge. Lotte died in 1993. During the early 1980s, Bob Hatto managed the business.
1990 Kyu Cho Purchase.
Casey Partridge died sometime around 1990 and his wife then sold the property to Thomas Kyu Cho from Bloomfield Hills. Thomas Kyu Cho still owns the property. Initially, it appeared that the property would become apartment buildings. Shortly after Cho purchased the property, Dominos Pizza and Tom Monaghan obtained an option on the property to develop it into apartments. Monaghan was unable to get the proper zoning to complete the project and his option expired. Cho then built the present golf shop and managed the golf business for a brief period before leasing it to David Kim.
1995 Miles of Golf Starts Operations.
In 1995, Cho entered into a long-term lease with Miles of Golf. With the property now committed to its golf usage, in 1996-97 Miles of Golf expanded the size of the driving range, installed a watering system, and built new tees and greens. In 2006 another major expansion was completed that doubled the size of the golf shop and added new club testing facilities and winter tees.
Richard Boman provided most of this history. Richard, after returning from the Korean War worked at Pat’s in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. He built the miniature golf course with 2 other men.