Peterborough's new Puttstars manager is brushing up her golf skills as the venue prepares to open

The manager of Peterborough’s soon-to-open mini-golf entertainment venue has admitted she has been busy practising her putting skills ahead of the first customers arriving to tee off next week.

Jennifer Gillard (40) is the newly appointed manager of the £2.6 million Puttstars entertainment centre that opens in the Queensgate Shopping Centre on November 11.

Jennifer, who was previously manager of Peterborough’s Hollywood Bowl, the company that owns Puttstars, said: “This will be my first time working in a Puttstars, so I am super excited.

“I’m really looking forward to it and, for me, the most exciting thing is we are going into Queensgate and we get to recruit a new team, everything is new and Queensgate has just been so amazing in accommodating us.”

But the keen Leicester City Football Club fan, says that to date, golf has not really been her sport.

She said: “But I have been playing on quite a few mini golf courses with my partner and two young sons, as I feel I need to know how to do this.

“You might not find me on a proper green but in terms of mini-golf, I’m getting quite good.”

Jennifer has been working with Hollywood Bowl for 16 years.

She said: “I began in a part-time role as receptionist, working just evenings and weekends and within six months decided that I absolutely loved my job.

“I became deputy manager in Leicester and was then manager at Peterborough Hollywood Bowl before being appointed to the new Puttstars centre.”

Jennifer says Puttstars Peterborough, which will be split across two floors in the Queensgate with entrances on both levels, is about more than just mini-golf.

She said: “There will also be food and drink and there will be a bar on both floors and a huge amusement area, pool tables, air hockeys, teddy bear claw machines and other amusements.

“There is so much more in terms of entertainment for people, whether it be a date night to grab something to eat or drink before going to the cinema or a family day out.

“And it will be really affordable.

“We are starting with prices at £5 for junior and £6 for adults - a really affordable day out.

“I think now more than ever, people are valuing family time together.”

To take part in the fun, visitors can either book online or just walk in.

The centre features three fun filled nine-hole courses, The Rookie, The Enthusiast and The Master, each with a different level of difficulty.

Players are equipped with putters and Puttstars branded golf balls.

All scoreboards are digital - there is no pen and paper. Results are entered after each hole and scorecards are sent to the players by email.

The centre, which will employ 30 staff, will be open Sundays to Thursdays between 10am and 11pm and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to midnight.