Get a FREE indoor golf bar business plan

We've developed a 10 page business plan guide for those thinking about launching a golf simulator business. Over 1,500 visitors have downloaded our indoor golf business plan to date. Get yours and be on your way to opening up a golf center, golf simulator bar, or indoor golf facility soon.

In addition to the free golf simulator plan, we are now including our personal financial planning spreadsheet to help you assess your financial goals.

The plan and spreadsheet are 100% free to download!

Get My Free Plan

** Check out our new indoor golf revenue calculator in the top nav under "Open a Center" **

How The indoor golf study Data Helps You

Starting an indoor golf center is a little like buying a house. You want to research the neighborhood and builder before pulling the trigger to make the purchase. In starting a golf simulator bar, you want to find out whether there is demand for your idea, how the golf center business model works, and what are some of the best practices of a successful indoor golf bar. This is where our research comes in - it helps you get a quick handle on these topics to develop an educated plan for your indoor golf simulator business.

Over 400 visitors purchased our study to develop a business plan and get a handle on:

What sort of indoor golf visitor volume to expect by month of the year
The effectiveness of various marketing strategies as indicated by current indoor golf facility owners
What indoor golf center owners are charging customers to play at their facility
Key factors driving profitability for indoor golf bars
and so much more. . .

In addition to getting a good idea of how an indoor golf bar makes money, our research will help you:

Helps you get a loan by showing lender industry grounded figures on revenues
Test your assumptions on revenues and costs
Find out how many golf simulators would give you the best profit

Running a profitable indoor golf simulator bar

Yardstick Golf surveyed over 200 indoor golfers to understand their preferences and find out more about what might make their experience more enjoyable or more frequent. These insights combined with other research help us get a sense of what it takes to run a successful golf simulator bar.

Location is critical to indoor golf facilities

Your potential customers often begin the journey to you by searching on something like “indoor golf near me”. We asked what is the farthest golfers would consider driving to play at an indoor golf facility. Two-thirds of respondents indicated the most they would drive is 20-30 minutes to play on a golf simulator. In general, high handicap golfers are willing to drive a little farther to play indoor golf than are low handicap golfers. It does appear that one of the reasons that the low handicap golfers are not as willing to drive as far is that they play indoor golf more often. Folks who play less frequently may be willing to drive a bit farther for the entertainment experience of a golf simulator.

indoor golf is entertainment

While the golf simulator is the biggest part of your golf facility, it is not the only think that is important to your customers. Food and beverage sales are an important part of the indoor golf business. In the player preferences study, it was cited one of the top items in driving repeat visits. Ensuring your guests have enough room to socialize and feel comfortable swinging the club are key. Just look at TopGolf and you’ll get a sense of how they are emphasizing socializing as part of the entertainment experience.

People play indoor golf because they want to have fun. That has ramifications for the systems you choose and how you set them up. Make sure your golf simulator is easy to use. In our survey, golfers wanted a system that they could use without help and had intuitive menu’s and features. They also wanted systems where the golf simulator load speed and regeneration of the simulated course was fast. In general, faster golf simulators equates to more frequent play.

Get to know your customers

Did you know that it costs 5 times as much to get a new customer as it does to retain one? Once you get a customer in your indoor golf center, do everything you can to get to know them and make sure they have a great experience. Build a database of customers even if you keep it in Excel. Note their favorite times to come, which golf simulator courses they prefer, and their contact information. This can help you ensure you give them a great indoor golf experience and make them feel appreciated. You can also use this information to encourage play in your slow season. Encourage them to bring friends and make it worth their while. Doing a great job retaining your current customers is vital to running a profitable indoor golf center.

Weather greatly impacts indoor golf profitability

Every day you can’t play outside is a great day to own an indoor golf bar. Golf simulators get a lot more play in cold, snowy and rainy months than on clear sunny days. As such, indoor golf revenue tends to get a boost in cold and wet climates. If you are planning a facility in a climate where golfers can play year round, you’ll have to do that much more to get them to play your golf simulator. That doesn’t mean indoor golf is a bad idea in nice climates, but you will have to develop an indoor golf business plan with a great offering that competes with playing golf outside.

Your Indoor golf facility doesn’t just compete against outdoor golf

Those same customers that searched on “indoor golf near me” probably searched on “entertainment near me”, “bars near me”, “movies in my town”, etc. You get the point, many of your prospective customers are looking for things to do. That means you need to make sure those are searches where you’ll be found. SEO or search engine optimization is a big part of being where your customers look. Take a little time to make sure your site is optimized for local search and you’ll get more customer flow.

Let's connect

Autism Awareness is an important cause to us at Yardstick Golf. We've been touched personally and contribute half our April revenue to the cause every year. Thanks to our customers for helping us raise funds every year for the Autism Society Central Virginia 5K Walk.

Lem Clevenger

REQUEST A FREE INDOOR GOLF CONSULTATION

Provide your contact information and we'll have our partner, Ace Indoor Golf contact you about their free consultation. The founders of Ace Indoor Golf have a combined experience of over 18 years in the indoor golf simulator industry. They have installed over 200 simulators in both the commercial and residential markets.

By representing more than one manufacturer, Ace can customize products to meet customer’s specific demands and help you assess:

Golf simulator comparisons
What the various golf simulators cost
Whether you'd be better off with a golf simulator lease or buying a simulator
Golf simulator bar setup

Request more information - info@yardstickgolf.com.

Turn your love for golf into a new career