A big, yellow ball with a cheeky smile and bright eyes hovers over the Gold Coast Highway at Mermaid Beach, greeting locals and tourists as they drive by.

It was even enough to catch the eye of actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie, according to the manager of the miniature golf course that's home to the supersized feature.

This giant, smiling golf ball greets motorists passing Mermaid Beach. ( ABC Gold Coast: Solua Middleton )

The landmark in question is a large golf ball, which sits on an equally large tee, and when you see it, you know you've arrived at the Gold Coast and putt putt.

It is 50 years since the mini-golf business first came to the Gold Coast.

In 1969, entrepreneur Tom Wykoff brought the game to Surfers Paradise before eventually opening a bushiness in Mermaid Beach.

The Norton family has been managing the course since the very beginning.

Lorna Norton remembers the early days fondly.

"We used to play putt putt practically 20 hours out of 24 hours a day, or be working," she said.

"It was lots of fun.

Putt Putt Mermaid Beach in the early days before it had the themed courses. ( Supplied: Putt Putt )

"There were a lot of local people who played putt putt back in those early days of Surfers, so it was a lot of families, and we got to know a lot of people.

"That was our life; you had no days off."

Mrs Norton said when the course was first built, she and her husband decided to apply for the job of managers. They were successful and the course of their lives changed.

"It was like this was the new start of our life, because we had been on the coast for three years by then, so this was the next phase and it was just every day," Mrs Norton said.

"It was just beautiful, that's all we did was putt putt."

Mermaid Beach has been the location for putt putt for most of its history.

Mrs Norton said customers from the early days came back many years later with their families.

To keep the business successful, the Nortons recognised that it needed to keep evolving.

What was once a plain putting green is now three courses themed on a jungle train, nursery rhymes and a tropical waterway.

The putt putt course has evolved over the years to remain popular with players. ( ABC Gold Coast: Solua Middleton )

Mrs Norton works alongside her daughter: Australian putt putt champion Collette Harvey.

"I could probably play putt putt before I could walk, apparently," Mrs Harvey said.

"I used to follow people around and they would ask if I could play with them and I would show them how to play with my little plastic putter."

It's fair to say Mrs Harvey has seen thousands of people play on the course while growing up, as well as the occasional celebrity like the music group Hanson and Queensland NRL great Wally Lewis.

"We've had Lleyton Hewitt and Bec Hewitt with their families, Ian Thorpe, and Anthony Mundine plays here regularly," Mrs Harvey said.

"We've had quite a lot of sporting celebrities come through.

"When Angelina Jolie was here, they wanted to hire out the whole place, but we said we wouldn't shut down for them, and they could come in and play with everyone else because we weren't going to turn away our customers."

Mrs Norton hasn't quite retired from putt putt life.

"It's home to me," she said.

"I spent a lot of time here, and I had a lot of time off when I had my children, but I … was always involved in a small way, eventually becoming more and more responsible.

"I never, ever thought that I would do something like this, and it just makes you feel very special.

"Why quit when you're on top?"