Entrepreneurs. Tell me they’re not just a little bit weird.

How on earth do they come up with the ideas they do? Particularly without the use of mind altering substances? They’re like musicians, except with money not melody.

On more than one than one level, I’m full of admiration, even a little jealous. An inventive idea in our family is taking the wheelie bins out a day early, to make sure we don’t miss the rubbish truck.

Almost a decade ago, I remember sitting down with local golfing industry identity James Cooper, and listening politely – patiently – while he talked me through his “grand plan”.

It involved the construction of a one-stop-golfing entertainment precinct, where men and women of all ages – specifically teenagers – could congregate day and night, hit balls, drink beer, eat burgers, and flirt with members of the opposite sex, all without the pressure of having to fill out a scorecard at the end of 18 holes

“Sounds great.” I lied, as least insincerely as I could. “And you’re building this joint where? Oh – on the way out to the airport? With planes soaring back and forth above. Terrific. Let’s hope nobody skies their three wood so badly that it collects a 737 on approach from Melbourne.“

Even as a golfing enthusiast, I couldn’t picture how the operation was ever going to generate a sustainable income. Particularly not there, plopped in the middle of what at the time was a largely unattractive, semi industrial wasteland, with next to no foot traffic, or for that matter, future pedestrian appeal.

And yet here we are, a decade later, golf nuts from every different socio economic bent, sipping on ice-cold Coronas while they queue patiently for a hitting bay, the grassy expanse in front of them a sea of yellow-green practice balls, roughly 350,000 each year, to be precise.

And that’s just the start of it.

The food and beverage sales, the parties, the weddings, the mini golf, the high performance fitting lab, where golf’s true nuff-nuffs gather, salivating at the hi-tech opportunities to fine tune their game. The US Ambassador even hosted a dinner in the fitting “vault” – no chance of that conversation ever getting out.

Yep – James Cooper and his tight band of Golf Central “backers” have got it all going on.

What a genius judge I am. Feel free to give me a shout, anytime you’d like me to critique an entrepreneurial venture.

Like most speculative undertakings, Golf Central was the culmination of years of planning and research, resulting in the conclusion there was nothing wrong with the game of golf – it just had to served up differently.

“Ten years ago, golf was in a very interesting place,” says Cooper, a one time touring professional who didn’t waste too many years working out he was a far better businessman than he was player.

Contemporaries like Adam Scott might have been flying around the world in private jets, but if Cooper had stayed on tour, he would have been catching buses to tournaments – and probably walking home.

Subsequently, his time as the golf manager at Hyatt Coolum resort and stint with global sports management company IMG, introduced him to a whole new world of opportunities, people and possibilities, all centred around the game he had grown up with. And he’s never looked back.

“Clearly there was ample interest in the game – people of all ages loved it,” he explained. “But the traditional model of paying a lot of money to join a club and tying yourself up for five hours on a Saturday was horribly outdated, particularly among young people. They couldn’t afford the time or the cost of membership.

“To re-engage its core audience and broaden the appeal, the game needed to be brought into line with the pace and colour and excitement of the modern day world.“

Cooper, sooner than most, recognised that with all the emergent technology, it was only a matter of time before those opportunities materialised.

In 2012, he set off on a world wide search of all the latest gadgetry that would enable the facility to “game-ify” golf practice – rather than just smashing balls out into a wide open field, through “top tracer technology” there would be targets to hit and rewards on offer.

Additionally, serious golfers could chart their progress – data from computers told them if they were hitting the ball straighter and further and more consistently. And most importantly, more purely than their mate in the bay next door. Feedback – the food of champions.

Cooper calls it “active entertainment”.

“Once upon a time, blokes were happy sitting in the front bar of a hotel drinking beer,” he says. “These days, that’s considered boring. Our 10 second attention spans demand constant stimulation and variety, and that’s the itch we are scratching.”

“They say you can’t be everything to everyone, however we are giving it a good shot. From aspiring professionals to weekend hackers, beginners to big hitters, even those tinkering types with eight different woods in their bag – we see them all! We love hearing them laugh, high five and share stories of how good they are, or were, or even could be.”

As a further pointer to the burgeoning appeal of Golf Central, 35% of the venue’s customers are now female – in fact “GC” is listed among the Top 5 Tinder date destinations in Brisbane.

Significantly, it’s about to become even greater, with construction about to commence on “Stage 2” of the entertainment precinct, which will be connectively known as “Landers Pocket”.

The name is nod to the history and the market gardens that once occupied part of the Brisbane Airport. Patrons can look forward to settling in a for a session at the “Green Beacon”, a 600 seat brewery and distillery, and afterwards spilling out into the meticulously manicured open air concert area, with room for 2500 music revellers.

Another 26 hitting bays, a second mini-golf course, “padel” courts – at the right time, you’ll be able to hang out there for days on end.

Yep, thank goodness for the entrepreneurs in our midst.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get those bins out on the street.