TopGolf

Golf is already a big part of my life.  I don’t need grow the game initiatives for me to be involved in the game.  However, there are many people that do need them to get involved and TopGolf is a huge part of that.

I was down in Atlanta to watch the NFL Draft with my boy Matt for the eleventh year in a row.  We have a tradition based on some leftover kegs from a 21st birthday years ago.  We had beer to drink and the draft was on.  So we watched it and we have continued every year since from start to finish.  I hope we do it every year for no reason other than that it is a great excuse to get together for a few days and have fun.

Anyway, after the first round on Thursday night, we needed something to do on Friday.  We agreed that TopGolf would be fun.  Since my town doesn’t have one, I was excited to check it out and see what all the fuss was about.  Below is a photo I took of us walking in.

I am not going to get into all the games you can play at TopGolf.  I will tell you the general gist.  We signed up for a lifetime membership.  I am not sure what this is going to get me into, but it got us set up for the day.  We were led to our hitting bay by a nice girl where she explained the games we could play and how the electronic interface worked.  Basically, all the balls have tracking systems and they can tell which hole they are hit into (see picture below).  Clubs are available for those that don’t have their own.  They make all the efforts to accommodate non-golfers.

We decided to play their signature game first and we were immediately greeted by our host who took our drink and food orders.  We decided to play for two hours, which with two people allowed us to play about five different games (20 balls per person).  We were always checked on by our host and I never felt neglected.  There is even a full bar on the second level of the tri-level complex.

We went on a Friday just before lunch and I appreciated it not being crazy busy.  If you go at night or on the weekends expect a substantial wait.  My buddy was telling me it is usually two hours or more.

Anyway, below is what it looks like from the hitting bay.  We had a ton of fun.  I highly recommend going.

I think TopGolf has a real opportunity to increase the game’s reach by touching people who do not play.  If they can get hooked on the game here we can expect to see them paying money at actual courses.  That is a win-win.