Al and Susie Fister at Al’s Golfhaven in the 1980s.
Dear Vance: Help me settle an argument. Growing up here in the 1960s, I remember my family buying our Christmas trees from a miniature golf course just outside of town. My older sister, however, doesn’t believe me. Who’s right? — T.B., Memphis.
Dear T.B.: Nothing invokes the true spirit of the holidays quite like squabbling over where you bought Christmas trees more than half a century ago. And now that you’ve dragged me into the debate, I’m going to say that you’re right. Al’s Golfhaven, located on Raines Road on the outskirts of town, sold Christmas trees. In fact, the parking lot was packed so full of them that ads promoted it as “Al’s Christmas Forest.”
The tree sales were just a small part of a highly popular enterprise developed by Al and Susie Fister, who came to Memphis from Three Oaks, Michigan, in 1960 to open a miniature golf course. Called Al’s Golfdom, it would include the only driving range in the city. Fister, a former basketball coach, told reporters that he chose Memphis for his new venture after considering other cities around the country. “I had a notion about Denver,” he said, “and I found only four golf courses there, but it just got too cold at night. Indianapolis already had seven so that city was out. Memphis was ideal.”
The property at 2683 South Perkins quickly evolved into a 20-acre entertainment complex, with a driving range, go-karts, batting cages, a giant slide, picnic area, and — for the kiddies — an inflatable trampoline tent called the Clown Jump. He even built a small clubhouse, complete with two lounge areas. The Fisters, it seems, never stopped working, even handcrafting unusual creatures and other “hazards” for the miniature golf course, and painting buildings and other structures every color of the rainbow. Al’s Golfdom became so popular that they added light towers (“We’ll only close when they stop swinging,” Al told reporters) and was open every day of the year except Christmas.
In 1965, the Fisters opened a second location at 1884 East Raines Road, calling that one Al’s Golfhaven. Considerably larger at 30 acres, it included all the features of the Golfdom except for the slide, but it offered a larger driving range, with a covered “tee line” and a putting area complete with different sized greens and even sand traps.
But let’s get back to those Christmas trees. Based on newspaper ads like the one shown here, during the holidays customers could “choose from thousands of magnificent trees,” ranging in height from just two feet for apartments or table tops, to evergreens soaring 12 feet tall, which would be tricky to fit into most living rooms, including the Lauderdale Mansion. They could take their pick of “Balsam Fir, Scotch Pine, Blue Spruce, and Douglas Fir.” Note also that “each tree is individually displayed and may be individually wrapped for easy transporting.”
Something that caught my attention was that Al’s Golfdom — the place on South Perkins — is not mentioned in their Christmas tree advertising. Instead, the Fisters opened a second Al’s Christmas Forest at the small shopping center at Quince and Perkins. But always eager to promote their businesses with newspaper ads and even television commercials, notice how they lured customers to the golf center. The advertisement announced: “Free! With purchase of any tree … a pass for a basket of balls and a pass for a game of miniature golf.”
Obviously, this “$6.00 Value” would have been handy at Al’s Golfhaven, but of no value at all in the shopping center on Quince that was home to Kent’s Dollar Store. Hmmm, what to do with golf balls and a free ticket for a round of miniature golf? Well, Al’s Golfdom — with a driving range that was heated in the winter — was just one mile south on Perkins.
Despite all their hard work, it’s a shame that Al’s Golfdom didn’t last very long, closing in 1973. Developers later built the Mall of Memphis there. The Golfhaven, however, stayed in business for 30 years, closing in 1995. A. Maceo Walker Middle School stands on the site today.
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