From a library to a putting green, Putt Social opens in Green Bay

Rich Palzewic

Staff

March 24, 2025

GREEN BAY – Whether folks are looking to work on their putting game or simply have some fun, General Manager Erich Norenberg said Putt Social is the place to be.

Norenberg said the facility, located at 2255 Main St. on Green Bay’s east side, opened for business last November.

“I promise you – these greens are so good,” he said. “We put a lot of work into them to make sure they were as true as possible. If I had to describe them, imagine the best greens you’ve ever played on in your life, and then our greens are better than that.”

Norenberg said the greens surface is very smooth and not bumpy.

“Your ball won’t be skidding all over the place,” he said. “The greens run incredibly fast and incredibly pure. When you’re trying to work on certain aspects of your game, it’s the perfect place to do it. We have something in terms of every sort of break. We have putts as short as eight feet, all the way up to 60 feet.”

Norenberg said Putt Social has nine holes with fixed locations, so most people complete 18 holes.

“I’d say most people – with a little group – probably take anywhere from 30-45 minutes to complete it,” he said.

More specifically, Norenberg said he would describe the space as both mini-golf and a competitive track.

“If you look at the traditional mini-golf places, we don’t have all of the stuff they do on their greens like windmills kicking your ball all over the place,” he said. “We’ll also have putting championships and leagues. I think it turned out exactly how we wanted it to be.”

Norenberg said Putt Social is basically a full golf course shrunk down into 5,500 square feet.

“What makes it so cool is even for the most skilled players, Putt Social is not a one-trick pony – it’s a challenge,” he said. “It’s not like you go around once and you’ve perfected the course, so from that aspect, it’s great for the skilled player. We wanted to make the course as authentic as possible – similar to outdoor golfing.”

Even better, Norenberg said, is the number of families that come through.

“Recently, I had five families roll through the door in one morning,” he said. “I like seeing the kids laugh and smile and have a good time – it’s fun to be a part of it. We have also rented the space out for corporate events, parties, etc. It’s been wonderful to see the reception so far.”

The set up

Norenberg said the work to make the greens “perfect,” took place over five days.

“To be honest, it happened very quickly,” he said. “We had an amazing team we worked with who are pros at this. After we got things painted, it took five days to complete.”

Norenberg said they installed a garage door in the front so they could get the Bobcat in with gravel and then hand-raked everything.

“Once we graded everything out and got it compacted, then we brought in a semi or two worth of turf,” he said. “It was super labor intensive. We wanted to make sure everything was snug and tight.”

Norenberg said he’s got other plans for the garage door, too.

“It not only looks cool, but hopefully we’ll do ice cream and stuff during the summer for kids,” he said.

According to the Putt Social’s website (putt-social.com), kids four and under golf free, ages 5-12 are $8 and adults pay $11 – all for 18 holes.

Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The other side …

On the other side of the building, you’ll find the sister company of Putt Social: Indoor Golf.

Norenberg, who is also the general manager of Indoor Golf, said the two spaces go hand in hand.

Indoor Golf, he said, has a golf simulator setup.

“We have 120 courses you can play,” he said. “There is also a multi-sport setup that allows you to throw a Frisbee, kick a soccer ball, play quarterback, take batting practice, do laser games, etc. You can do so many cool things on those simulators – they’re too much fun.”

Norenberg said there are also some limited food options.

“I don’t have a full grill, per se, but we do pizzas and cheese breads here,” he said. “We can do anything from a cheese pizza to a chicken bacon ranch pizza. They’re always fresh pizzas rather than frozen cardboard box pizzas. We’ve also got a full bar with tap beer and a great whiskey and bourbon selection.”

A vision in the making

Norenberg said at one point, the space Putt Social occupies was actually the East Branch of the Brown County Library.

After the library vacated the area, he said his team went to work brainstorming ideas of what to do.

“We really wanted to do something more engaging to more people within the community,” he said. “Not everybody thinks golf is for them, but something like indoor mini golf resonates with more people. Our goal is to show people this sort of setup and environment is really for everybody and not just for people who identify as golfers.”

Norenberg said pretty early in the process, a putting surface rose to the forefront of what everyone wanted to do.

“There were a couple of other ideas, but none of them really resonated with me,” he said. “Essentially, our core team got together and universally said, ‘We need some sort of putting setup.’”

For now, Norenberg said the space is “pretty plain looking, but I have visions to improve that area.”

“Rather than changing the course or track, the changes would be more about curating the environment,” he said. “There’s so much more I want to add to the space to make it more homey – like flower pots and some more aesthetic things.”

Norenberg said he also hopes to add a leaderboard on the wall.

“I have this idea of having a giant leaderboard against the back wall where we put people’s names up for the rounds of the week or month or things like that,” he said. “People can take pride in their good play. Having said that, it’s much more than going for a good score – it’s also about developing memories and things of that nature.”

Norenberg said with Indoor Golf and Putt Social, he’s not trying to compete with outdoor golfing options.

“The Indoor Golf side of the business has a bit of seasonality with it,” he said. “In the past, during the warmer weather months, we’ve reduced hours – typically open after 2 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We’re interested to see if our schedule as a facility changes this summer – we’re not entirely sure yet, so for now, it’s kind of a wait-and-see approach.”