Even after one year open in Keller, Monster Mini Golf franchisees Holly and Brian Hernandez still hear the surprise in guests' voices and see it on their faces as they walk through the doors.
“There is a misconception that we are a kids’ place, but we are for everyone,” Holly Hernandez said. “We just booked a group of senior citizens for a conference. During the week, it is mostly an adult crowd, a date-night crowd, an event crowd. Weekends are busy with families and birthday parties. We love to cater to everybody.”
Along with mini golf, there is duckpin bowling, an array of arcade games and a laser tag room. Manager Paul Pendergraf said there have been guests in the laser tag room from 3 to 80 years old.
The details
The Keller location is the second for the Hernandez family. Originally from California, they moved to Texas in 2012 and opened a Monster Mini Golf in Frisco in June 2020, according to previous reporting.
Both say that there were a lot of similarities between the two towns, which made the transition to Keller easier. Holly Hernandez said they wanted another location on the Fort Worth side of the metroplex and were drawn by Keller’s family-friendly persona.
Pendergraf, who has previous experience running LEGOLAND at Grapevine Mills, was hired before the Keller location opened. A large group of Keller ISD students are employed at the entertainment venue, many of whom have worked for the Hernandezes since the location opened June 7, 2025.
“The Keller kids have really good manners, and obviously that comes from parenting,” Brian Hernandez said. “We’ve got a lot of 5-star reviews and they name the kids by name in the reviews. They practice what we preach: cleanliness and friendliness.”
Holly Hernandez added, “We tell them, if we are clean and friendly, we can compete with all the big boys, all the corporate brands.”
A closer look
Each Monster Mini Golf location has its own theme of hand-painted murals that incorporate the local community. The staple of the company, incorporated in each location, is mascots Eve L. The Cat and Jawbone, a dog.
The Keller location features monsterized murals of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the Fort Worth Stockyards, the Keller water tower, Bonnie and Clyde driving in a car and a Day of the Dead mural to honor the family’s Mexican Heritage. The duckpin bowling mural depicts monsters driving at Texas Motor Speedway and a final mural between the restrooms recalls the building process. As the Hernandezes were turning the former Tuesday Morning location into Monster Mini Golf, the building was struck by lightning in May of 2025.
There’s also an event room with a haunted mansion theme that can be divided into two areas.
Within the golf course are animatronic skeletons and golfers finish the 18th hole by hitting the ball up the tongue of Glozo, a clown that spans from the floor to the ceiling of the building. Holly Hernandez said there are Monster Mini Golf fans who travel to each location to check out the differences in the course murals and the Easter eggs embedded in each one.
The background
When the Hernandezes and their two children opened the Frisco location, saw an entertainment need in that area for the toddler-to-teenager demographic.
At the time, Brian was a stay-at-home dad and Holly was a corporate lawyer. Growing up in Southern California, they played a lot of mini golf and that idea led to them securing a Monster Mini Golf franchise after visiting a location in Las Vegas.
Brian said it checked all of the boxes, such as being family-friendly and not serving alcohol or food, though food can be brought in for parties and events.
At first, Holly had not planned to be actively involved in the day-to-day operation due to her job and left running the Frisco location to Brian and their two children. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and court dates were postponed.
“I had so much fun with all the guests that I ended up quitting my corporate world suit-and-tie job to come to mini golf every day,” she said.
Brian Hernandez, prior to the move to Texas, worked at the San Diego Zoo. His job was to prepare the diets for large mammals and large cats, such as giraffes, gorillas, rhinos and elephants. Sometimes, it even meant bottle feeding baby rhinos.
What else?
Each Thursday in October, there will be trick-or-treating within the golf course. The only days the location is closed are Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, though Brian Hernandez added that if the Dallas Cowboys make it to a Super Bowl for the first time since 1996, he’s received clearance from corporate to close the Keller and Frisco locations that day.
There are four Monster Mini Golf locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area at in Denton, Keller, Frisco and Seagoville and 10 throughout Texas. Between the United States and Canada, there are more than 50 locations.
