The name “Birdie’s Links and Drinks” doesn’t adequately convey all the fun that everyone can have – and all the learning that golfers can gain.

Birdie’s is new indoor entertainment center, it explains on Facebook, with eight simulator bays to practice golf techniques. The simulators also allow people to use golf balls to play other games.

There are also two 18-hole miniature golf courses, whose theming and audiovisual enhancements blow away the typical course that ends with a humongous mouth of a clown.

There’s a play area with ten games: cornhole, foosball, Subsoccer, ping pong, shuffleboard, darts, giant Jenga, giant Connect Four, Jet Pong and – for those who want ever more golf – PutterBall.

And there’s a full restaurant and bar.

The place is named after the late Eileen Bird, known for her Southern hospitality and family gatherings on Lake Norman in North Carolina. “It’s an homage to her,” said nephew Dylan Hannum, who owns Birdie’s with his brother David and their mother, Marge, who is Bird’s sister. “We want it to be a getaway,” Dylan said. “Forget your problems. Reconnect with the family. Have a good time.”

Birth of a business

There’s one photo of Bird in the bar, plus a Southern element to the menu, such as hush puppies, Southern green beans, biscuits, the Creole remoulade for the shrimp and the tangy barbecue sauce that Dylan developed to blend “all the Southern barbecue traditions.” And the bar menu will have Lake Norman lemonade, “sweet but strong, as she liked it,” David said.

The menu overall is classic American bar and bistro, with sections for burgers, pizzas, salads, mac ’n’ cheese and flatbreads, plus sandwiches, wings, chili, nachos, a few entrees and a few desserts.

Birdie’s has taken years to develop for the family, who also run a Fish Window Cleaning franchise. John Hannum is retired and helps out wherever he can, like a good father would.

About eight years ago, David started playing golf with friends and decided that the sport “bit me like a bug.” Dylan and Marge picked up the sport as well, and early during the pandemic they realized that outdoor driving ranges were conducive to social distancing and involved already-existing bubbles of family members or close friends.

However, a driving range requires 18 acres. Instead, they bought six acres, at 320 Auto Park Drive, just west of downtown Middletown, built a 30,000-square-foot building – with a capacity of 504 – and opened in January.

What it all involves

Simulators allow golfers to play 30 to 40 courses from around the world, from Banff Springs to Wooden Sticks, with immersive video from hundreds of drones employed over six hours of tee times. Golfers swing into a high-tech net from the mat or off a specialized rubber tee that screws into the artificial turf. Statistical analysis comes up after each swing. Two curved bays sport enhanced features.

Golfers can also choose to hit balls into screens set up for various games, like darts and tac-tac-toe, first-person shooter video games and Angry Golf, an homage to the hit Angry Birds.

The miniature golf courses come from Blacklight Attractions, a St. Louis company that the family discovered at a trade show. One course follows a pirate theme through five rooms: in port, loading the ship, in Poseidon’s underwater kingdom, on a tropical isle and in the treasure room. The second course is a mashup of pop culture, including “The Simpsons,” “Jurassic Park” and “E.T.” The Pac-Man hole, with all those tiny, criss-crossing aisles between the bumpers, is the hardest.

Both courses run under a black light, which takes some time getting used to and also provides 3D effects for those wearing special glasses.

The business is evolving. The first addition is a golf pro, followed by golf leagues and tournaments. A cornhole league is a possibility, Dylan said, and they are developing party packages.

Before they opened to the public, they tested the course for safety, to ensure that it’s “100% childproof,” David said, noting that a sword was removed because of that testing.

Some elements in the building help muffle the sound, including the vines hanging over the bar, the the white “clouds” above the games area and slatted wooden panels throughout.

Birdie’s is open 9 a.m. daily, closing at 10 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and 11 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. It’s free to enter Birdie’s and play the games in the restaurant-bar area.

The golf simulators run $55 to $75 an hour, depending on time of day, day of week and features. Peak pricing is after 5 p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends. After 8 every evening, the free game area is for adults only. All patrons under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Miniature golf is $12 for one course, or $20 for both. Details: birdieslinks.com.

In a visit a few weeks after the place opened, patrons were enthusiastic. “Awesome,” reported Dorothy McBride, hosting a group of young people. Early online reviews were very favorable.

And Bogey King Golf, a blogger and vlogger from the MOT area, posted an 11-minute video on YouTube that focused on the golf simulator but at least seven times concluded that Birdie’s is “cool,” “really cool” or “super cool.”

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Trampolines and more fun along Route 40?

More local fun may be on tap inside a long-closed Kmart in Bear. A document filed in April 2023 with New Castle County calls for “an indoor trampoline facility, which shall also include laser tag, arcade games, bumper cars, virtual reality games and fast food.”

A sign on the Governors Square building, photographed by The News Journal in December, promises a Fun City, and media elsewhere show the company running 20 indoor entertainment centers along the East Coast. The attractions vary by location.