Indoor Facility

Motivator

I’ve always wanted to do my own thing but never have had the chance to do it. I’ve had an idea for ages now that I can’t get away from and I’ve not done anything on it at all only have it in my head. I’ve not said it to anyone except my daughter who hasn’t any idea what I’m talking about but she’s very supportive and says it’s a great idea.

Is there a market for an indoor facility? Now I’m not talking Trackman but more a large indoor area for short game practice. 6 or 7 greens at varying distances - 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 yards away with water feature and bunkers. A large putting green with slopes and breaks in it and another green with a couple of bunkers built in for practice.

Finance would be an issue as I’m fairly sure, without doing any research, that it would be an astronomical initial outlay to get the place set up. In an ideal world it have an outdoor range then the indoor facility to practice the short game and putting in. Perfect for winter time for people to keep their eye in if they don’t fancy trekking around in the cold for 18 holes. At this moment in time, I don’t want to play 18 holes but I would love to spend an hour or two just chipping and putting.

Cost is one thing, possibly making the idea totally worthless but the main thing is to get people in the door. I’m not going to say where I’m based, but in a 20km radius there are 6 clubs with approx. 5,000 adult members so there people are there. It’s getting the people interested and in the door is what I’m wondering about. If something like this existed in your area, is it something you’d use? If so, how frequently?

chasingbirdies

I would 100% use it myself ,

I've had similar thoughts about opening a place in my county ( but only thoughts, I don't have too much interest in developing them).

Don't know why you wouldn't go trackman if you are going to create bunkers, water features etc.

IN an ideal world I'd cozy up with a good pro and open a warehouse facility with them, few hitting bays, where you are hitting into a a large high net so you can get a general idea of flight (space dependent obviously), putting green, chipping area

Put a trackman or two in as well for lessons with the pro, run night leagues and competitions on different evenings through winter

Could go smaller scale then and just have the trackmans, maybe a putting and chipping green as well

Would be great for Winter - not so sure how busy it would be during Summer

Ivefoundgod

Problem with that short game area is you can really only have 1 or 2 people on it at a time. IMO short game is where ball type is most important. Getting a bucket of range balls on a short game area would be a waste of time for me anyway. Then you have to try manage ball collection in that area. Just not sure how you’d generate much income from that sort of thing. The trackman bays are a much more obvious income generator and you can predict roughly how long someone is going to be there.

Think it’s a mistake to think “I would use this” therefore every golfer in every club near me would. You’d probably only have a small percentage of those golfers actually use something like that and even at that I wouldn’t say they’d be coming every week.

Top golf is the model for this kind of thing elsewhere and it’s very much a casual thing with no short game area.

walterking

Something like K Club "golf world"

A golfing version of 10 pin bowling is how one person described it.

You can have a table with food and drink while you play a game

I haven't been there yet, but planning to go in January

https://www.kclub.ie/k-golf-world.html

Gringuss

I'd love an indoor practice facility where you can practice on trackman or GCquad but without having to take lessons (pay for pro time). A decent warehouse with 3 or 4 trackman bays and an indoor putting green. I've seen something like this on YouTube and wondered if there'd be a market for it in Ireland. For the more serious practicer who wants access to trackman or GCquad without having to hire lessons with a pro. I see a trackman 4 setup in the McGuirk's store near me and it's rarely being used. An option to book/hire it for an hour practice would be great, I've asked them and they said it not possible to hire for practice unless you want club fitting.

El Guapo!

On the above post.... Daniel Sheehan has a new place in Balcarrick Golf club (I think) opening in January. It's basically what you're describing and sounds great, to be honest.

It's being run on a monthly membership with different levels to choose from. You can pay extra per month and include lessons if you like, but it's not a requirement.

I'd absolutely love to give it a go but can't commit to a monthly membership at the moment.

I've no affiliation to Daniel and have never met the guy but I do follow him on Instagram and subscribe to his newsletter. Search for Daniel Sheehan Golf Academy on Instagram and you'll find him.

Sipper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998873#Comment_119998873

This is already available in Killarney by the looks of it. Taken from Facebook

Private Practice Studio Hire.

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Flightscope launch monitor

Sam Putt Lab

Boditrak pressure mat

High-speed cameras

Indoor putting green

Outdoor putting green

Training aids

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Private 1 hour sessions available for individuals and groups of up to 3 players.

€50 per hour

Book online now - https://studiohire.proagenda.com/

Swing Studio Killarney, Mill Road, Killarney, Co Kerry, V93 X7W4

Call PGA Professional Mark Heinemann 087 2209663 for more information.

www.getgolfing.ie

Gringuss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000587#Comment_120000587

Brilliant - thanks for sharing.

allybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058275346/indoor-facility

100% there is a market for it, are you talking about having bayed areas with astro greens set at different distances out for you to hit like below. Or like essentially an indoor open world practise area where you can just walk around and hit balls to any particular green?

If its the former... is there a necessity to have the greens indoor? could you not just have the bays indoor like below and then have trackman on the individual bays with the greens outside. Maybe have a seperate area which is a big indoor putting green with slopes etc

I would imagine if you had the second option and you are using real golf balls then insurance would be a massive issue... lads hitting full wedge shots with other people around, easy to see a shank or a bone hitting another customer and then you are in a world of trouble.

Motivator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120002478#Comment_120002478

Essentially something like this is what I would be interested in doing:

Have a couple of small areas like this and then have a a small indoor range type area for wedges only, hitting away from the putting/chipping greens obviously. Potentially would need to have the wedge area outside as I know from myself my wedges are like rocket launchers and I could have a ball 100+ feet in the air for a 100 yard shot. Having balls coming back at you off the roof wouldn’t be much fun.

RoadRunner

This is how the south Koreans do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF5SWTs7bcI

Gringuss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120013288#Comment_120013288

Wow.... incredible.