Indoor Golf Centre

[JakeWS]

Just daydreaming about opening an indoor golf centre, with 3 maybe simulators, big screen TVs with the sport on selling drinks etc.

Live in a pretty golfy area.

Just wondering if anyone would be wiling to go if one was opening up near them?

and how much would they pay per hour to use the golf system?

Obviously drinks etc would be fairly priced.

 

[Alex1975]

The year old one close to me just closed down. They had maybe 6 bays with GC2. Costa Coffee machine and bar. It was about £10 and hour and clearly too cheap. I would have gone as much had it been double.

 

[guest100718]

Urban golf nr my work, decent sims, bar and food etc. 50ph but often do deals for half price etc. good for a bit of fun over the winter

 

[351DRIVER]

Just daydreaming about opening an indoor golf centre, with 3 maybe simulators, big screen TVs with the sport on selling drinks etc.

Live in a pretty golfy area.

Just wondering if anyone would be wiling to go if one was opening up near them?

and how much would they pay per hour to use the golf system?

Obviously drinks etc would be fairly priced.

Many indoor golf venues struggle, high fixed costs, especially staffing and lots of time when they are taking almost zero.
The fact is you need

CITY (If you are not in a city do not bother)
High end sims, no one comes back if you have crap sims

A solid way to tell people about yourself frequently, most venues are hidden away and if you are a street away unlike a golf course you will not see it

In your shoes i would look for a local owner operated club and try and hook the members up with some sim time as an option on their membership

Avoid paying extra for huge numbers of courses, avoid extra for live events.

Shut down for a few hours each day when people are at work 10 to 12 and 230 to 4pm for example and go out to the local businesses and give them deals..

They are tough and they are costly and there are only a few locations in the UK that can sustain them.

 

[JakeWS]

Yeah I was thinking maybe £20 Monday to Thursday, then £30 Friday-Sunday. £10 is way too cheap.

 

[351DRIVER]

I would include a beer with every booking, get them used to drinking in your place and most people will not take 1 then piss off.

You should start off with a HIGH price, you can always lower it later..

For empty slots, offer an auction for golf conditional they have lunch

i.e. they pay 3 quid to use the empty sim but you sold two meals and got people in..

Indoor venues can be very empty spaces for long periods

 

[JakeWS]

Urban golf nr my work, decent sims, bar and food etc. 50ph but often do deals for half price etc. good for a bit of fun over the winter

Yeah it gets wet round here. quite a lot of closed clubs over winter unless you're paying big for the Birkdale etc. that place would be dry in a monsoon haha.

Many indoor golf venues struggle, high fixed costs, especially staffing and lots of time when they are taking almost zero.
The fact is you need

CITY (If you are not in a city do not bother)
High end sims, no one comes back if you have crap sims

A solid way to tell people about yourself frequently, most venues are hidden away and if you are a street away unlike a golf course you will not see it

In your shoes i would look for a local owner operated club and try and hook the members up with some sim time as an option on their membership

Avoid paying extra for huge numbers of courses, avoid extra for live events.

Shut down for a few hours each day when people are at work 10 to 12 and 230 to 4pm for example and go out to the local businesses and give them deals..

They are tough and they are costly and there are only a few locations in the UK that can sustain them.

I live in a large town haha, not quite a city, but bigger than some cities, quite a few local golf courses.

I have a friend who I would be opening the centre with, we both would be staffing for atleast a large protion of the week.

I was looking at the SkyTrak sim, been on one once and it seemed really reliable, they use them in Manchester at the centre there and do okay, however obviously I understand Manchester is a big city.

 

[fundy]

The big problem you face is demand is quite limited, and the demand you will get is concentrated into quite a small time slot.

Summer, nice days etc people will prefer to play properly at a golf course so your demand is limited. During the day midweek most are at work and those who have time off far more likely to play at a course again.

So this leaves you with evenings, times when the weather is bad and parts of the weekend, and from what ive seen that isnt enough to sustain the business.

Oh and you need to be city centre, not tucked away on an industrial estate and parking is critical

 

[Alex1975]

Yeah it gets wet round here. quite a lot of closed clubs over winter unless you're paying big for the Birkdale etc. that place would be dry in a monsoon haha.



I live in a large town haha, not quite a city, but bigger than some cities, quite a few local golf courses.

I have a friend who I would be opening the centre with, we both would be staffing for atleast a large protion of the week.

I was looking at the SkyTrak sim, been on one once and it seemed really reliable, they use them in Manchester at the centre there and do okay, however obviously I understand Manchester is a big city.

SkyTrak is terrible as a sim, its ok for a launch monitor. There is also a long delay from hit to graphics, it might make your venue smack of budget. My gut says you have to go GC2.

 

[JakeWS]

The big problem you face is demand is quite limited, and the demand you will get is concentrated into quite a small time slot.

Summer, nice days etc people will prefer to play properly at a golf course so your demand is limited. During the day midweek most are at work and those who have time off far more likely to play at a course again.

So this leaves you with evenings, times when the weather is bad and parts of the weekend, and from what ive seen that isnt enough to sustain the business.

Oh and you need to be city centre, not tucked away on an industrial estate and parking is critical

There is a small affluent area near me with a few nice golf courses near by as well as a muni, lots of nice houses being built. A few nice bars and quite lively nightlife.

I was assuming days would be dead, but people with naggy families and only an hour etc can come get 18 in after work I was thinking. Parking is definitely a must I agree.

SkyTrak is terrible as a sim, its ok for a launch monitor. There is also a long delay from hit to graphics, it might make your venue smack of budget. My gut says you have to go GC2.

I know GC2 is the best, but the price haha its considerably more.

 

[351DRIVER]

Manchester indoor venue previously went bust when it was called Golftorium, re opened as the Green, last i heard they used Fullswing sims, unless this has changed (Not been in touch with them for a long time so may have).

These places can really do well, but the ones that fail (and i have seen many) have too many staff being paid doing sfa for long periods,if you have no customers mid morning or mid afternoon, you should close and go tell people about your venue.

There was a place in Edinburgh, i was in there a lot and often just me and 4 staff!
They went down the tubes, actually one of the partners ran off with a bunch of money to OZ but that is deviation from the topic

If it were me, i would want to be next to a bowling alley and pizza place... not bother with meals unless one of you is a chef and set up next to people who do office parties etc.. or a 5 a side place etc

Personally something i would never attempt

OK i just checked the Re Branded to The Green as they struggled as Golftorium but the company did not change, i know the boss has a Mustang en route from the States despite the business having a net worth of MINUS 300k, busy can be misleading...

 

[MendieGK]

SkyTrak is terrible as a sim, its ok for a launch monitor. There is also a long delay from hit to graphics, it might make your venue smack of budget. My gut says you have to go GC2.

I agree. Skytrak is awesome but it's for use @ home not a business. If you had GC2 you could rent bays out to coaches to do lessons in too.

 

[fundy]

There is a small affluent area near me with a few nice golf courses near by as well as a muni, lots of nice houses being built. A few nice bars and quite lively nightlife.

I was assuming days would be dead, but people with naggy families and only an hour etc can come get 18 in after work I was thinking. Parking is definitely a must I agree.



I know GC2 is the best, but the price haha its considerably more.

The thing is its almost impossible for you to make your product more desirable than playing at the golf course, so in summer again you will really struggle to get people in in the evenings.

In summer you may struggle to have 10 in demand hours. And in winter this rises to maybe 30. You are going to be paying a lot of overheads but only able to utilise your asset for a fraction of the time

Good luck, think you will need it

 

[JakeWS]

I am just trying to gauge if it is feasible really. Like I said we would have extra staff at peak times etc but a lot of time it would be self staffed also, probably premade sandwiches etc we were thinking, and drinks of course.

I know it is probably a dream but one day I might pluck up the courage to set it up. What about if you was to add on a golf shop and make it like a golf emporium.

 

[sharpie9587]

Maybe you could get some of the local teaching pros doing lessons down there for extra income. The vast majority of clubs don't have indoor facilities in my area.

 

[fundy]

I am just trying to gauge if it is feasible really. Like I said we would have extra staff at peak times etc but a lot of time it would be self staffed also, probably premade sandwiches etc we were thinking, and drinks of course.

I know it is probably a dream but one day I might pluck up the courage to set it up. What about if you was to add on a golf shop and make it like a golf emporium.

I think you have to find a way to use the building and facilities as much as possible outside those high demand times, hard to gauge what gets people in without knowing the area. A shop should help as theres some crossover, likewise with lessons etc

 

[JakeWS]

The lessons would definitely be on the agenda, I know there aren't many indoor simulators available round here, but then maybe there is a reason for that. Wigan area if anybody is interested.

 

[Hendy]

Guy that owns foyle golf center owned one of these machines had all the golf courses and had it setup in a spare room in his driving range. Think he gave it a year and half if I remember right before pulling the pin and wasn't costing him anything as he owned the building but wasn't making anything.

Then in March we had someone else try it and he was closed by August. Said it was a sore lesson in terms of outlay.

He has the machine still there and I know he'd be willing to listen to offers to get it sold. Same idea play any course and give you all the stats in regards to were you hit the club ball speed ETc etc


edit if you want his number for more details and a price etc I could get you his number..I Am 99% sure he would sell it.. Comes with everything you need to set it up in terms of screen and the bay etc.

 

[shivas irons]

Range near me built an indoor sim at great expense but it was a complete disaster,its now used as a store room.

 

[Alex1975]

I think you have to find a way to use the building and facilities as much as possible outside those high demand times, hard to gauge what gets people in without knowing the area. A shop should help as theres some crossover, likewise with lessons etc

And perhaps a climbing wall and kids soft play.... keep the footfall up, sell food and drink. Keep the building paying for its self at all times.