Just Add Water
Local Owners Revive Aqua Golf in Redding…
Knocking golf balls into the Sacramento River is such an only-in-Redding experience that the prospect of losing it prompted two sets of brothers to join forces and ensure the unique pastime will continue to be enjoyed for years to come.
Chris and Ryan Haedrich, in partnership with their longtime friends Dan and Mark Rhodes, acquired Aqua Golf a year ago after they were approached by Chris Kutras, the property owner. “He was looking for investors, people who would make something happen,” Chris Haedrich says.
The venerated Park Marina Drive facility was pretty long in the tooth and frayed along the edges but the four men, who grew up in Redding hitting range balls at Aqua Golf, saw a chance to give a local landmark a new lease on life.
The transition was not overnight, Mark Rhodes explains. After taking over, the new owners kept Aqua Golf open to see what was working and what wasn’t. They also collected feedback from customers to learn what kind of improvements would be welcome.
As 2025 drew to a close, Aqua Golf was closed and the work began. Up went a massive shade structure that covers all the hitting bays and down went a snazzy cement flooring. New chairs and tables invite golfers and others to relax by the riverside.
Golfers will find new mats to hit off of and a new ball dispenser that accepts debit and credit cards. Another highly visible addition: an island green with a regulation golf hole. To capitalize on that floating feature, Mark Rhodes says golfers are welcome to take aim at a $1,000 hole-in-one prize.
Interested golfers will need to purchase special golf balls (three for $10, five for $15 or 10 for $20) and then take their swings while an Aqua Golf employee records the effort. The contest has a maximum of one winner a month.
Golfers also are welcome to aim at a smaller metal sign advertising a local business. A direct hit will prompt a horn to sound and water to shoot in the air; the lucky linkster will be awarded a $10 gift card from the featured business business. (In April, when Aqua Golf reopened, Burrito Bandito was on the sign.) Mark Rhodes, Aqua Golf’s manager, says the goal is to add some fun and give other small businesses some exposure.
By far, the biggest feature at Aqua Golf is its setting on the river and the new owners are eager to capitalize on it. Misters and heaters, coupled with the new shade structures, make the facility more usable throughout the year and an expanded snack bar—augmented by food trucks on certain days—make it a comfortable spot to hang out.
After spending a year at Aqua Golf and working on the restoration, Ryan Haedrich says all four partners were continually amazed at how diverse the customer base is and how popular it is with tourists. It catches the eye of motorists on the Highway 44 bridge and curious visitors who float by it while fishing, rafting or paddle-boarding on the river. “The uniqueness of this place just puts smiles on everybody’s face,” says Dan Rhodes.
“We tried to keep that vibe,” Mark Rhodes says. “You don’t even have to be a golfer. Just come and sit, have a beer and enjoy the view.”
Improvements scheduled for the near future include a putting green and high-tech ball-tracking devices for golfers serious about working on their game. Eventually, Chris Haedrich says, they’d like to add a restaurant to offer some riverside dining.
There are only a handful of aquatic driving ranges in the country and the nearest one to Redding is at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nev. Aqua Golf was established in the late 1960s. Dave Nelson purchased the business in 1985 and operated it with his wife, Sherry, until 2005 when Nelson’s daughter, Cindy Galway and her husband, Ken, took over.
Aqua Golf shares some North State history as well. It is situated on a former rock and gravel quarry owned by the Kutras family. Aggregate from the quarry was carried to the Shasta Dam construction site on a massive 9.6-mile-long conveyor belt anchored at present-day Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
When the dam was completed, the late Bob Spaid, a visionary developer, acquired the leases from the Kutras family and started work on a Polynesian-themed village and recreation area on Park Marina Drive. His dreams of a monorail and a pod of floating boathouses never quite materialized, but his iconic Round House (just south of the Highway 44 bridge), a row of pecky cedar A-frame homes and Aqua Golf still stand as testament to his quirky legacy. •
Aqua Golf
2275 Park Marina Drive, Redding
(530) 244-4653
reddingaquagolf.com
