Golfers need not worry about rain checks these days. Indoor golf is growing in popularity and in the number of places to play.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have formed the TGL professional indoor golf league, which has completed its first season and was broadcast on ESPN.
On April 5, Fore Score Golf Tavern opened its second location at The Palms of Gate Parkway at 7570 Gate Parkway. Its first location opened in August 2022 at 1407 Atlantic Blvd. in San Marco.
Plans have been announced for Chipshot, a venue that will provide space for indoor golf and pickleball in a 30,000-square-foot sports bar atmosphere. It is set to open in the fall at 13164 Atlantic Blvd. in the former Bailey’s Gym next to Turner Ace Hardware at southwest Atlantic and Hodges boulevards.
Strings Sports Brewery, which has locations in Springfield and Jacksonville Beach, is a Chipshot partner.
The project is led by PGA Tour professional Thomas Walsh and Strings owner Scott Adeeb.
The Back Nine Golf franchise plans to open a 24-hour indoor golf facility this summer in the South Beach Regional shopping center at 3740-4194 Third St. S. in Jacksonville Beach. Back Nine Golf has more than 100 locations in the U.S.
Indoor golf has its advantages:
• Regular golf can take more than four hours, while a simulated round can be completed in less than half the time.
• Weather isn’t a factor. It is never too cold or too hot.
• There is never a bad lie.
• There are no lost balls.
• Players can experience the most famous courses in the world.
Indoor golf allows for gameplay, lessons and practice. Monitors measure swing speed, ball
rotation and direction using the same technology the pros use on professional tournament practice ranges.
The simulators allow players to choose from visual recreations of famous courses. Golfers can play virtual versions of TPC Sawgrass, Augusta National, the Old Course at St. Andrews, Pebble Beach and hundreds more for a fraction of the cost to play the real thing.
Some simulators are not restricted to golf. They can be set up for baseball, soccer, football and other activities.
Simulators do require investment. A professional hitting bay, with all of the swing diagnostic technology, can cost more than $30,000.
Travis Fulton Golf
Downtown, Travis Fulton Golf is opening a teaching studio at 1301 Riverplace Blvd., Suite 2020, in Riverplace Tower on the Downtown Southbank. Fulton hopes for a June opening.
Fulton also is associated with Fore Score as an instructor at that facility.
The Downtown studio will be the second for Fulton. His first is at 14797 Philips Highway
where he teamed with the golf club fitting company True Spec Golf.
Fulton said he hopes to capitalize on the businesses in Riverplace Tower.
When open, bosses shouldn’t look funny at workers bringing their clubs to the office.
“Riverplace Tower has about, I think, 33 good-sized companies. We’re going to be open to anybody and everybody, and the services will be private lessons, group outings and junior camps,” Fulton said.
The new stadium for the Jacksonville Jaguars, construction of the Four Seasons Hotel and other Downtown activity is attracting Fulton to bring golf to the urban core.
“With the amount of people that work down there and then live down there in San Marco and Riverside, I think there’s a big need as popular as golf is on the First Coast,” he said.
Back Nine Golf
Back Nine Golf will be in the former H&R Block offices next to the former Bed Bath & Beyond store in Jacksonville Beach.
It uses a model that can accommodate up to 140 members. Memberships cost from $300 to $500 per month.
A round of golf at an area course can cost from $50 to more than $100. A round at TPC Sawgrass is nearly $1,000.
Nonmembers also can make tee times, but members will have priority, said franchisee Kevin Wallrath.
What makes this business different is that it is open 24 hours. There are no
employees. When a golfer makes the tee time, the player is given a code to open the door. Security cameras are in place to deter shenanigans.
“I’m a young father with three young kids, and I just don’t have an opportunity to get out during the daytime to play as much anymore,” Wallrath said.
“So having 24/7 access to a facility was something that was really interesting to me.”
Wallrath said the experience is especially good for beginners.
“Educating kids on the game of golf through these simulators, that’s a big part of it. Teaching a kid on a simulator is easier than being out on the course and holding up other golfers. It’s a more private setting.”
The company is in negotiations with local instructors to give lessons.
Fore Score Golf Tavern
Fore Score encompasses much of the golf experience. Besides the simulator bays at Gate Parkway, it has a bay dedicated to the Golden Tee arcade game and offers food, alcohol and comfortable chairs to recreate the 19th-hole aesthetic.
Daniel Hileman has partnered with the Corner Lot Development Group in the Gate Parkway location.
“With the success of our San Marco location and the demand for corporate events, the Gate Parkway location is perfect for this,” CEO Andy Allen said in December.
Hileman also said then that the residential and business growth in the area is attractive.
“There’s just a lot of roofs over there,” Hileman said.
On opening day at Gate Parkway, Hileman noted that indoor golf has been around for some time, but the experience is much better today.
“The technology has dramatically improved from the past, with a great user experience and accurate ball flight,” he said.
“It’s just a really fun way to experience the game where you don’t have to spend four hours on a golf course. It can be done in an hour.”