Above the Challenge members building cardboard mini golf course

Megan Tomasic
Thursday, May 6, 2021 12:01 p.m. | Thursday, May 6, 2021 12:01 p.m.

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Courtesy of Haley Feltes

Connor Watson (from left), Aaron DeMayo and Noah Dunlop work on the mini golf course at Greensburg Church of the Brethren.

Courtesy of Haley Feltes

One of the holes in the course requires players to go through a ring of fire. Two members of the organization Above the Challenge are building a mini golf course out of cardboard. Part of the course takes players through Jurassic World, depicted by a Tyrannosaurus head. Two members of the organization Above the Challenge are building a mini golf course out of cardboard.

Courtesy of Haley Feltes

This hole requires players to go through a skycraper building. Two members of the organization Above the Challenge are building a mini golf course out of cardboard.

Courtesy of Haley Feltes

Courtesy of Haley Feltes

Two members of the organization Above the Challenge are building a mini golf course out of cardboard.

For the past three months, Connor Watson and Aaron DeMayo have been working on turning a pile of cardboard boxes into a mini golf course.

The course, which started as nine holes and quickly expanded to 18, promises to lead attendees of a June fundraiser at the Greensburg Church of the Brethren through worlds of dinosaurs and Marvel superheroes, through a jungle and onto a baseball diamond.

The project was started by Watson, 20, of Murrysville and DeMayo, 22, of Greensburg in February after they decided to create an activity for people who have been cooped up because of the pandemic. They are members of Above the Challenge, a North Huntingdon-based organization that works with individuals in the special needs community.

“Somehow we got talking about (how) you can make these out of cardboard, and then they (started) looking it up on their phones and they were like, ‘We can make a hole like this,’ ” said Mary Ann Gerken, co-founder of Above the Challenge. “We have a bunch of cardboard boxes, and so right away they started putting them together.”

Plans for the course originally called for it to be nine holes, but as time went on, Gerken said, “they had more and more ideas.” DeMayo, who came up with the idea for several of the course’s holes, said he got inspiration from courses he’s played in the past because, he said, “I play a lot of mini golf myself.”

Watson added, “When we were there together, we were kind of talking about how we want to make the holes a certain way, and we just kind of had to think of a creative way to make them and we made them.”

The course is under construction at the church in Southwest Greensburg. Watson and DeMayo work on making and painting each hole multiple times a week and are aided by other Above the Challenge members and Haley Feltes, creative director at the organization.

The mini golf course will debut at the fundraising event, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. June 13. The event will feature a bake sale and basket raffle.

All proceeds will benefit Greensburg Church of the Brethren, which is used by Above the Challenge for events when the weather does not permit outdoor activities. Several Above the Challenge members also volunteer at the church, helping to take out the garbage and cleaning up after events.

For DeMayo, being able to work on the project is a way to come together as a group to do something that will benefit the community and the church where he volunteers.

Watson agreed, adding, “It means a lot being able to work on this. (It’s) something I think is really cool, and it’s really exciting to work on.”