thechrisgibbs Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Anyone interested in $60,000 in passive income per year and living your golfing dreams? Not an ad, I promise; just hear me out! So recently, my neighbor invited me to a place he has a 6-month subscription to called PrivateFairway. The owner has four locations right now with a few more in the works. As someone who has been to a handful of indoor simulator 'experiences' and countless fitting bays, something about this place stood out to me as different. So each location has one Trackman built simulator bay, an area for clubs, a bar top and mini-fridge with room for a BYOB vibe, AND the owner only allows 35 memberships at a time. He doesn't allow one-off sessions and starts at a minimum of 10, hour-long sessions at $250. Most of his members do the unlimited sessions, 6-month pass which is around $1200. He is sold out at all four locations and has a waitlist of 50 people for each location. Some quick math shows that each location is pulling in $84,000/year from the memberships, not including the 10 punch pass type users. THE MONEY LINE Out the gate, I did a quick analysis on how much each franchise makes in gross margin and startup costs for anyone interested in a passive income type option. Let's start with startup cost (Estimated $58,490): Right out of the Trackman simulator catalog which retails for $49,990 (+$3,500 for Utah sales tax). I can't be sure around how much it cost him to remodel the interior, but with cheap new carpet and painting, I wouldn't guess he put more than $5,000 into the remodel if he put anything into it at all. As you can see, it's a pretty cookie cutter designed space with a bar top, two barstools, and a mini fridge (not pictured). All-in, I bet you can get out the door for $2,500-$4,000 for this setup. Building a well designed website like the one he has, I would assume $6,000 with a run rate of $1,000/year. We'll add the $6K to the estimated start up cost. Now, onto the annual expense of running the place (Estimated $17,984): The space: Around 1,000 square feet at $7/sq. ft./year which comes out to a space in an outlet space for $7,000/year. This is pretty low for strip mall areas around here, but I know he got that price if not better as I live nearby and you can look up a few of the other open spots in the strip mall. I'd put the actual cost at around $10-$20/sq. ft./year if you are looking at nice area retail spaces. We'll call it $14 for the sake of this cost analysis, so $14,000/year on average. The Trackman Software and Hardware annual subscription costs $1,334/year with a 3-year subscription. Annual Cost of Running a Website: $1000/year. Based on my own electric bills for cooling and heating less than a mile from the space, he likely pays $1,200/year to keep it at 74 degrees. Business insurance for that retail space probably runs under $450/year. Now I know there are likely plenty of things I missed, but the beauty of this space is that he doesn't have to pay for marketing at all. In fact, when he opened up his fourth location in Sandy, Utah, he posted the news on his Facebook and filled his 35 memberships in two days. Two days to get up and running at full capacity. He limits users to booking out three sessions in advance. You pay your subscription upfront. You can bring as many people for your hour session to play as you want. And the best part, he has ZERO employees. All members get a key fob and go in when they book their sessions. When the new person gets there, the other logs out at the hour. It's mostly all on an honor system. He has a few cameras that you can find online that allow free cloud recording in case anything gets damaged, but just as golf is a gentleman's game, the honor system seems to be working VERY well. So all in, you need the startup costs of around $60,000 (Although Trackman has financing options), and your annual fees will probably be around $18K. With that said, just the memberships of 35 people will bring in around $84K/year with a waitlist to boot. This is a pretty incredible look at a franchise with great passive income potential. After the first year, you'd be looking at close to $60,000 in passive income with extremely minimal effort post launch. Sounds good to me. Would love to hear your thoughts on this guy's business model. JonMUSC08, MattF, Larryd3 and 5 others 2 6 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
GolfSpy_SHARK Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 @B.Bostonthe space in Milford I showed you is looking pretty sweet rifgt now…… Chip Strokes, thechrisgibbs, GolfSpy BOS and 2 others 3 1 1 Quote Check out my reviews: G710 Irons Official Review I MC Shaft & V Series Putter Official Review 2022 Forged Tec's Official Review I Nitron Push Cart Official Review WITB: Weapons of grass destruction (link to WITB) Traverse is filled with all this shiny metal and tracked by RadSpeed 8* - MotoreX F1 6X SIM 3W - Project X HZRDUS Green U505 Driving Iron 17* - Project X HZRDUS Black SpeedZone 4H - Project X HZRDUS Black 2022 King Forged Tec's 4-PW - KBS $ Tape 130 48 (SM8), 52 & 60 (SM7) - Nippon Modus 125 S ER2VI PROV1X #19 Are you a veteran? Check out the Veterans Golf Association (VGA) Thread! Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 4 minutes ago, Lacassem said: @B.Bostonthe space in Milford I showed you is looking pretty sweet rifgt now…… Curious, you thinking about something along these lines? If it happens, I’m so interested to see how it goes. GolfSpy_SHARK 1 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
GolfSpy_SHARK Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 1 minute ago, GolfSpy_TCG said: Curious, you thinking about something along these lines? If it happens, I’m so interested to see how it goes. Bryan and I have gone back and forth on doing something. Mostly joking but knowing us….somewhat serious lol. there is a lot of real estate around and commercial market is not like the residential rifgt now, would be pretty easy to get something inexpensive. But in all reality we wouldn’t be able to at this point on our lives my worry is the market. Golf is huggggge rifgt now. clearly the past 2 years are very different but what happens in a few when golf drops off? Neither of us are much of golf experts either, I think Bryan could probably do some training but me probably not. If we ever did anything it would probably be a 3 bay sim. thechrisgibbs, MattF and RockerFCC 3 Quote Check out my reviews: G710 Irons Official Review I MC Shaft & V Series Putter Official Review 2022 Forged Tec's Official Review I Nitron Push Cart Official Review WITB: Weapons of grass destruction (link to WITB) Traverse is filled with all this shiny metal and tracked by RadSpeed 8* - MotoreX F1 6X SIM 3W - Project X HZRDUS Green U505 Driving Iron 17* - Project X HZRDUS Black SpeedZone 4H - Project X HZRDUS Black 2022 King Forged Tec's 4-PW - KBS $ Tape 130 48 (SM8), 52 & 60 (SM7) - Nippon Modus 125 S ER2VI PROV1X #19 Are you a veteran? Check out the Veterans Golf Association (VGA) Thread! Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 7 minutes ago, Lacassem said: Bryan and I have gone back and forth on doing something. Mostly joking but knowing us….somewhat serious lol. there is a lot of real estate around and commercial market is not like the residential rifgt now, would be pretty easy to get something inexpensive. But in all reality we wouldn’t be able to at this point on our lives my worry is the market. Golf is huggggge rifgt now. clearly the past 2 years are very different but what happens in a few when golf drops off? Neither of us are much of golf experts either, I think Bryan could probably do some training but me probably not. If we ever did anything it would probably be a 3 bay sim. The glory of this place is the lack of employees. Would you guys go all in with Trackman or look at alternatives? Only trick with Trackman is the space behind the golfer (10’). There are other places that do all-in hitting bays for much less than $50K, but the software they set you up with is so easy to use. You really don’t even need a tutorial. If you guys ever get serious, just promise you’ll do a Franchise Setup type series on here! RockerFCC, GolfSpy_SHARK and GolfSpy BOS 3 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
dlow206 Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Sounds like a good idea to me, but cost of renting a space in my area is much higher. Other problem for me is that there is already some competition on my area, but they are bigger with more bays and offer a similar type of membership structure. GolfSpy_SHARK, MattF and thechrisgibbs 3 Quote Follow my golf journey to break into the 80s Tester for the Titleist TSi Driver Spring 2020 MGS Tester for the Fujikura Motore X Shaft Updated 07/15/2022 Driver: Rogue St Max LS - Autoflex Fairway Woods: Rogue Max St 3HL and 7 Wood Irons: JPX 921 Hot Metal 5 to AW - Aerotech Steelfiber i95 Stiff parallel tip Wedges: Glide 4.0 54 and 58 Putter: PLD Custom Kushin 4 Link to comment
GolfSpy_SHARK Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 6 minutes ago, GolfSpy_TCG said: The glory of this place is the lack of employees. Would you guys go all in with Trackman or look at alternatives? Only trick with Trackman is the space behind the golfer (10’). There are other places that do all-in hitting bays for much less than $50K, but the software they set you up with is so easy to use. You really don’t even need a tutorial. If you guys ever get serious, just promise you’ll do a Franchise Setup type series on here! Technical software stuff is all Bryan lol. You need mechanical stuff that’s me lol. oh I am sure we would entire series, hopefully MGS staff would promote thechrisgibbs and sirchunksalot 2 Quote Check out my reviews: G710 Irons Official Review I MC Shaft & V Series Putter Official Review 2022 Forged Tec's Official Review I Nitron Push Cart Official Review WITB: Weapons of grass destruction (link to WITB) Traverse is filled with all this shiny metal and tracked by RadSpeed 8* - MotoreX F1 6X SIM 3W - Project X HZRDUS Green U505 Driving Iron 17* - Project X HZRDUS Black SpeedZone 4H - Project X HZRDUS Black 2022 King Forged Tec's 4-PW - KBS $ Tape 130 48 (SM8), 52 & 60 (SM7) - Nippon Modus 125 S ER2VI PROV1X #19 Are you a veteran? Check out the Veterans Golf Association (VGA) Thread! Link to comment
GolfSpy BOS Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 38 minutes ago, Lacassem said: Bryan and I have gone back and forth on doing something. Mostly joking but knowing us….somewhat serious lol. there is a lot of real estate around and commercial market is not like the residential rifgt now, would be pretty easy to get something inexpensive. But in all reality we wouldn’t be able to at this point on our lives my worry is the market. Golf is huggggge rifgt now. clearly the past 2 years are very different but what happens in a few when golf drops off? Neither of us are much of golf experts either, I think Bryan could probably do some training but me probably not. If we ever did anything it would probably be a 3 bay sim. Remember though… our you tube channel would take off. We’d be the hack version of TXG. PS you’re Matty… so get ready to swing. A lot. sirchunksalot, JonMUSC08, Vegan_Golfer_PNW and 3 others 6 Quote Epic Max LS 10.5 - Motore X F3 6X | Speedzone 5-wood - Ventus Blue 8S | TSi3 20* Hybrid - KBS Proto 85S SMS Pro 4-PW - Steelfiber i110S | MG3 Raw Black 50.09, 54.11, 58.11 - DG TI S200 ER2B | Pro V1x | NX9 Slope | Jones Trouper R | CaddyLite EZ v8 Link to comment
Chip Strokes Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 10 minutes ago, B.Boston said: Remember though… our you tube channel would take off. We’d be the hack version of TXG. PS you’re Matty… so get ready to swing. A lot. man i’m having nightmares imagining the boston accent version of ian… ”ok Mahky (marky) boy…” MattF, edingc, sirchunksalot and 6 others 9 Quote SIM2 8º | KuroKage XD 70TX SIM 3W 14º | Fujikura Atmos Black Tour Spec 9TX SIM2 5W 18º | Fujikura Ventus Black 10X U500 2i | Fujikura Ventus HB Black 10TX T100 4-PW | Dynamic Gold X7 SM6 52* SM8 56* SM8 60* | Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 DW | BGT Stability Tour Link to comment
Vegan_Golfer_PNW Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 4 minutes ago, Chip Strokes said: man i’m having nightmares imagining the boston accent version of ian… ”ok Mahky (marky) boy…” "He's hit that wicked ha'd. Gonna land in someone's lobstah paht" To answer the question thatd be awesome but I'd have to compete with a tour van, a couple indoor sim places and top golf just to name a few. MattF, GolfSpy BOS, Chip Strokes and 4 others 3 4 Quote Follow my journey to enjoying golf and going low Driver: Epic Max LS Ventus Black 6x 44.5" 3wHL: Rogue ST LS 75x Tensei AV Blue w/ xlink 7w: Apex UW 21* MMT 80S DI: Caley 01X 18* with KBS PGH Stiff plus 95g 4-AW: 0211 with KBS Tour Stiff 2.5* up 3/4" long, Soft stepped, MOI matched Wedges Zipcore Putter: L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 69*/35" in blue Ball: TBD Shot Tracking: Bag: Vessel VLX 2.0 Grip: Lamkin Sonar + Midsize My Reviews: Caley 01X Driving Iron Review 2023 Max Swing Speed Training and Speed Progress: Current Speed 120 in the MGS Speed Challenge (updated 3/15/23) TAIII #2 Review here: TAIII Impact #2 Putter ) Zipcore Tour Rack 54/full and 58/mid (review here) 0211 2019 Unofficial Review Link to comment
GolfSpy BOS Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 38 minutes ago, Chip Strokes said: man i’m having nightmares imagining the boston accent version of ian… ”ok Mahky (marky) boy…” You would be disappointed just like @sirchunksalot my accent isn’t that strong. Unless I’ve been drinking a lot of Sam Adams or Dunkies. butttt if we wanted to break some screens or cave in some driver heads we could have you along as a special guest just those “will it blend” videos that were so popular. GolfSpy_SHARK, MattF, sirchunksalot and 3 others 2 4 Quote Epic Max LS 10.5 - Motore X F3 6X | Speedzone 5-wood - Ventus Blue 8S | TSi3 20* Hybrid - KBS Proto 85S SMS Pro 4-PW - Steelfiber i110S | MG3 Raw Black 50.09, 54.11, 58.11 - DG TI S200 ER2B | Pro V1x | NX9 Slope | Jones Trouper R | CaddyLite EZ v8 Link to comment
GolfSpy BOS Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 1 hour ago, GolfSpy_TCG said: The glory of this place is the lack of employees. Would you guys go all in with Trackman or look at alternatives? Only trick with Trackman is the space behind the golfer (10’). There are other places that do all-in hitting bays for much less than $50K, but the software they set you up with is so easy to use. You really don’t even need a tutorial. If you guys ever get serious, just promise you’ll do a Franchise Setup type series on here! My office gym has a full swing simulator and I love that one. But it’s not as good for fitting/club data stuff. gc hawk would be a worthy alternative since it’s above you and you don’t need to switch for lefties and righties. it’s definitely a tricky business model. We’ve seen a few places go up and down quickly. There was a cool place that had a small ProShop, and a bar/restaurant. It WAS really cool, but it’s hard enough to keep a bar going that it just fizzled out. thechrisgibbs, sirchunksalot and MattF 3 Quote Epic Max LS 10.5 - Motore X F3 6X | Speedzone 5-wood - Ventus Blue 8S | TSi3 20* Hybrid - KBS Proto 85S SMS Pro 4-PW - Steelfiber i110S | MG3 Raw Black 50.09, 54.11, 58.11 - DG TI S200 ER2B | Pro V1x | NX9 Slope | Jones Trouper R | CaddyLite EZ v8 Link to comment
GolfSpy_SHARK Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 1 minute ago, B.Boston said: My office gym has a full swing simulator and I love that one. But it’s not as good for fitting/club data stuff. gc hawk would be a worthy alternative since it’s above you and you don’t need to switch for lefties and righties. it’s definitely a tricky business model. We’ve seen a few places go up and down quickly. There was a cool place that had a small ProShop, and a bar/restaurant. It WAS really cool, but it’s hard enough to keep a bar going that it just fizzled out. Yea has to Be minimal. Most places that succeed around here team up with a restaurant that’s in the plaza to sell food. one of the places we go is BYOB, local Police don’t care, and you order Chinese food from next door. It’s perfext MattF, thechrisgibbs and GolfSpy BOS 3 Quote Check out my reviews: G710 Irons Official Review I MC Shaft & V Series Putter Official Review 2022 Forged Tec's Official Review I Nitron Push Cart Official Review WITB: Weapons of grass destruction (link to WITB) Traverse is filled with all this shiny metal and tracked by RadSpeed 8* - MotoreX F1 6X SIM 3W - Project X HZRDUS Green U505 Driving Iron 17* - Project X HZRDUS Black SpeedZone 4H - Project X HZRDUS Black 2022 King Forged Tec's 4-PW - KBS $ Tape 130 48 (SM8), 52 & 60 (SM7) - Nippon Modus 125 S ER2VI PROV1X #19 Are you a veteran? Check out the Veterans Golf Association (VGA) Thread! Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 1 hour ago, rbsiedsc said: "He's hit that wicked ha'd. Gonna land in someone's lobstah paht" To answer the question thatd be awesome but I'd have to compete with a tour van, a couple indoor sim places and top golf just to name a few. I think you’d be shocked. Salt Lake City has Top Golf within a few miles, an outdoor all-year driving range that has top golf sim software, PGA superstore with 6 sim bays, and a handful of indoor places. The place is just so simple and so perfect. And it seems like there are so many people that want the Home Sim experience, have the money but not really the space. MattF, RockerFCC, GolfSpy_SHARK and 1 other 4 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
bens197 Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I can see it now...two Boston fellas running a golf simulator channel... "Welcome back everybody, big club testing day...today we've got the new...hold up for a second, we need a quick timeout for a commercial break...this portion of the introduction is brought to you by Dunkin'. Seriously, where else are ya gonna get a cuppa?" GolfSpy_SHARK, MattF, MattWillGolf and 3 others 1 5 Quote Titleist TSi3 Fujikura Speeder NX Blue 60X TaylorMade SIM2 3 wood Fujilkura Ventus Blue 7-X Titleist U505 2 Tensei 1K Black 85 X Titleist T100 4-P Nippon Modus 3 120X PING S159 50-S 55-H 59-T DG X100 Vokey SM8 50, SM9 54 & 60 Nippon Modus 3 120s L.A.B. MEZZ Max Broom Accra 47" 79.5* Srixon Z-Star XV Currently testing the 2024 PING S159 wedges… https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/63483-testers-announced-ping-s159-wedges/ Was testing, still loving the 2023 Titleist T100 Irons 4-P https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/60456-titleist-t-series-irons-2023-forum-review/ Link to comment
tommc23 Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 $6000 for a website?? Heck I’m glad I only spend $300 a year for the website I run. bens197, MattF, GolfSpy_SHARK and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 4 minutes ago, tommc23 said: $6000 for a website?? Heck I’m glad I only spend $300 a year for the website I run. The $6K was for the initial build. I put $1,000 on the annual cost to host it. This website was pretty well done and manages the purchasing and scheduling for the sim. https://www.privatefairway.com RockerFCC, GolfSpy_SHARK and MattF 2 1 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 3 hours ago, dlow206 said: Sounds like a good idea to me, but cost of renting a space in my area is much higher. Other problem for me is that there is already some competition on my area, but they are bigger with more bays and offer a similar type of membership structure. I’m sure pricing in Seattle would definitely have to be higher based on location cost for a 1,000 sq. ft. spot. You would probably have to test out pricing based on local competitors. Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
fixyurdivot Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Interesting overview @GolfSpy_TCG. A one year ROI with so little infrastructure and overhead is really attractive. SLC area's demographics seem particularly well suited for this venue. I see this a little bit like the new version of bowling. Even non-golfers can participate and have fun hitting golfs version of a gutter ball while enjoying some food and drink. I personally think this uptick in golfs popularity will last for some time and any drop off will be minimal. MattF, GolfSpy_SHARK, bens197 and 1 other 4 Quote G410 Plus, 9 Degree Driver G400 SFT, 16 Degree 3w G400 SFT, 19 Degree 5w ZX5 Irons 4-AW Glide 2.0 56 Degree SW (removed from double secret probation ) ER5v Putter (Evnroll ER5v Official Review) AI-One Milled Seven T CH (Currently Under Product Test) Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 32 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said: Interesting overview @GolfSpy_TCG. A one year ROI with so little infrastructure and overhead is really attractive. SLC area's demographics seem particularly well suited for this venue. I see this a little bit like the new version of bowling. Even non-golfers can participate and have fun hitting golfs version of a gutter ball while enjoying some food and drink. I personally think this uptick in golfs popularity will last for some time and any drop off will be minimal. I can only hope! I’ve only been golfing for 5 years, and I’m still just ramping up my involvement. GolfSpy_SHARK, MattF and fixyurdivot 3 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
russtopherb Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 5 years ago, there were 4 indoor simulators near me, including one less than 10 mins away. Today, there is one. Don't forget - I'm in MA where there are golf courses out the wazoo, and a long winter where golfers want (actually, need) to get their fix. It's an industry with a very niche market and to me, there are a lot of concerns based on location, costs, expenses, and market fluctuation. Now might seem to be the perfect time to set something up, but what about 2 years from now? thechrisgibbs, MattF, GolfSpy_SHARK and 2 others 5 Quote In my carry bag: ST-X 10.5* Kai'li Blue R Flex ST-Z 15* Kai/li Blue R Flex ST-Z 4h Linq Blue R Flex Launcher 5h Launcher CBX 6i-PW CBX 54* & 58* Huntington Beach #10 e12 Contact CURRENTLY TESTING - Mizuno Long Game Link to comment
fixyurdivot Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 9 hours ago, GolfSpy_TCG said: I can only hope! I’ve only been golfing for 5 years, and I’m still just ramping up my involvement. Only at it for 5 years and sporting a 7.8... I still like you . The reason I think the sport will, at worst, fall no further in popularity than pre pandemic, anytime soon, is because of the likes of Top Golf. It and the cottage industry simulator venues open the sport up to lots more folks for fun and practice. My niece lives in SLC and she and her husband got into playing course golf after attending a TG event (she would have been the last person in my family I would expect to interested in the sport). Historically most of us are introduced to the game by heading to a range and building up enough confidence to tackle a course. For much of the country, this is not an option for 3-5 months a year. But with these SIM Bays popping up, lots more opportunity exists and during periods of the year folks are experiencing cabin fever. But don't take my word for it, I'm pretty sure the folks at Callaway did some market analysis before signing that big check for TG. Now you got me thinking about this investment in Bozeman... expected by many to become the next Denver. MattF, thechrisgibbs and GolfSpy_SHARK 3 Quote G410 Plus, 9 Degree Driver G400 SFT, 16 Degree 3w G400 SFT, 19 Degree 5w ZX5 Irons 4-AW Glide 2.0 56 Degree SW (removed from double secret probation ) ER5v Putter (Evnroll ER5v Official Review) AI-One Milled Seven T CH (Currently Under Product Test) Link to comment
JonMUSC08 Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Great concept idea. Location and minimal cost are key. Could do both a membership and non-member rate. These days, if you work-from-home you could set up your "work office" at the sim location and maintain reservations and help with any technical issues. Set up a fridge and little kitchen so people could keep drinks cold and warm-up any food they bring. Start off real cheap and use a Mevo+ MattF, fixyurdivot, GolfSpy_SHARK and 1 other 4 Quote Charleston, SC HDCP 13.0 Driver: M6 9* with 65g Stiff Mitsubishi Tensei Red shaft 3 wood: G425 stiff shaft 5 wood: Stealth 2 stiff shaft 4-gw irons: JPX 921 Hot Metal w/ X-stiff KBS 130gr shafts (soft stepped) Wedges: MG3 52, 56, 60 Putter: 34" Scotty Cameron 12.5 Ball: ProV-1x Tracked By: MGS Tester '20 - G710 Iron Review MGS Tester '19 - Precision Pro NX9 HD Pro laser rangefinder Link to comment
bens197 Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I spent this morning looking into this and frankly, I think it's a fantastic idea how it's structured. I love the memberships, no one-off play and trackman. For the gear heads and die hards, having access to trackman while you "play" is worth it on its own. Anyone who has ever been fit has seen their numbers but what do your numbers look like when you're teeing off on the 14th hole or hitting your approach into the 17th to win the match? Super cool setup, I like it. MattF, thechrisgibbs, GolfSpy_SHARK and 1 other 4 Quote Titleist TSi3 Fujikura Speeder NX Blue 60X TaylorMade SIM2 3 wood Fujilkura Ventus Blue 7-X Titleist U505 2 Tensei 1K Black 85 X Titleist T100 4-P Nippon Modus 3 120X PING S159 50-S 55-H 59-T DG X100 Vokey SM8 50, SM9 54 & 60 Nippon Modus 3 120s L.A.B. MEZZ Max Broom Accra 47" 79.5* Srixon Z-Star XV Currently testing the 2024 PING S159 wedges… https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/63483-testers-announced-ping-s159-wedges/ Was testing, still loving the 2023 Titleist T100 Irons 4-P https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/60456-titleist-t-series-irons-2023-forum-review/ Link to comment
GolfSpy_SHARK Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I would be really interested to see a dual purpose SIM. Something for @bens197mentioned the "gearheads" and then in the same building something for folks that want to come, play 18 and have a few cocktails. Nothing really around here has that currently its one or the other. Memberships for those that really want to crunch the numbers and the one-offs that come in for rounds and play. This would be great IMO i went to our local spot and was doing analysis on shafts for the driver last year. Paid full sim price for an hour and I was just doing data collection, would be nice to have something I could pop in couple times a week and not spend the 45 dollars for the hour... fixyurdivot, bens197, thechrisgibbs and 1 other 4 Quote Check out my reviews: G710 Irons Official Review I MC Shaft & V Series Putter Official Review 2022 Forged Tec's Official Review I Nitron Push Cart Official Review WITB: Weapons of grass destruction (link to WITB) Traverse is filled with all this shiny metal and tracked by RadSpeed 8* - MotoreX F1 6X SIM 3W - Project X HZRDUS Green U505 Driving Iron 17* - Project X HZRDUS Black SpeedZone 4H - Project X HZRDUS Black 2022 King Forged Tec's 4-PW - KBS $ Tape 130 48 (SM8), 52 & 60 (SM7) - Nippon Modus 125 S ER2VI PROV1X #19 Are you a veteran? Check out the Veterans Golf Association (VGA) Thread! Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 2 hours ago, russtopherb said: 5 years ago, there were 4 indoor simulators near me, including one less than 10 mins away. Today, there is one. Don't forget - I'm in MA where there are golf courses out the wazoo, and a long winter where golfers want (actually, need) to get their fix. It's an industry with a very niche market and to me, there are a lot of concerns based on location, costs, expenses, and market fluctuation. Now might seem to be the perfect time to set something up, but what about 2 years from now? What were the indoor sims like that didn't make it? Did they have employees and overhead? That's definitely higher risk if you have to maintain employees as your cost goes up drastically and your GM goes down respectively. MattF and GolfSpy_SHARK 2 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 50 minutes ago, JonMUSC08 said: Great concept idea. Location and minimal cost are key. Could do both a membership and non-member rate. These days, if you work-from-home you could set up your "work office" at the sim location and maintain reservations and help with any technical issues. Set up a fridge and little kitchen so people could keep drinks cold and warm-up any food they bring. Start off real cheap and use a Mevo+ I thought about something like a Mevo+ as you could build the entire setup like I did just with more of a hands-on building experience of the simulator. I did a pretty deep analysis of how to setup an 'affordable' ($4K) Home Setup. I used a Skytrak and The Golf Club in my home setup, but it's not near as simple to use as the Trackman setup. Also, the Skytrak doesn't pick up my Driver very well. MattF 1 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
thechrisgibbs Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 34 minutes ago, Lacassem said: I would be really interested to see a dual purpose SIM. Something for @bens197mentioned the "gearheads" and then in the same building something for folks that want to come, play 18 and have a few cocktails. Nothing really around here has that currently its one or the other. Memberships for those that really want to crunch the numbers and the one-offs that come in for rounds and play. This would be great IMO i went to our local spot and was doing analysis on shafts for the driver last year. Paid full sim price for an hour and I was just doing data collection, would be nice to have something I could pop in couple times a week and not spend the 45 dollars for the hour... I'm definitely on the 'gearhead' side of the equation. Also, the $45/hour is super expensive compared to the membership. You'd only have to go 26 times to make the 6-month membership worth it. Also, the Private Fairway setup only lets you book three hour long slots at a time. This is nice as you can book a three hour session if you want to have a little get together, or you can sneak in for an hour everyday like my neighbor does. He basically books a slot three days out right after his current session is done. I don't know about you guys, but a one hour session is much easier for me to get away with when asking my wife if I can go swing the sticks vs. a minimum two-hour plus drive time 9 holes. GolfSpy_SHARK and MattF 2 Quote Driver: Stealth 8* turned down to 6* X-Stiff, Graphite Design Tour AD XC-6 3 Wood: Sim 14* X-Stiff, Aldila Rogue Silver 2 Iron/2 Hybrid: Mizuno MP-20 HMB, Graphite Design Tour AD; Forged Tec set to 17* X-Stiff, Catalyst 6.0 P-4 Irons: MP20, Dynamic Gold X100 Wedges: Vokey SM9 50 degree 08F, 56 degree 08M and 60 degree 08M My Putter: B.2, LA Golf Shaft Ball: AVX 5.3 Handicapped; Right Hander; from Salt Lake City, Utah Link to comment
JonMUSC08 Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 3 minutes ago, GolfSpy_TCG said: I thought about something like a Mevo+ as you could build the entire setup like I did just with more of a hands-on building experience of the simulator. I did a pretty deep analysis of how to setup an 'affordable' ($4K) Home Setup. I used a Skytrak and The Golf Club in my home setup, but it's not near as simple to use as the Trackman setup. Also, the Skytrak doesn't pick up my Driver very well. I'll have to check that out! I've been dreaming of putting in a home simulator myself BUT at an 'affordable' budget price too. Yea i feel like the Mevo+ is the "poor man's trackman"? Maybe? Plus is can easily pick-up righties/lefties unlike skytrak. Of course this is my concern as a lefty haha. thechrisgibbs and MattF 2 Quote Charleston, SC HDCP 13.0 Driver: M6 9* with 65g Stiff Mitsubishi Tensei Red shaft 3 wood: G425 stiff shaft 5 wood: Stealth 2 stiff shaft 4-gw irons: JPX 921 Hot Metal w/ X-stiff KBS 130gr shafts (soft stepped) Wedges: MG3 52, 56, 60 Putter: 34" Scotty Cameron 12.5 Ball: ProV-1x Tracked By: MGS Tester '20 - G710 Iron Review MGS Tester '19 - Precision Pro NX9 HD Pro laser rangefinder Link to comment
GolfSpy_SHARK Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 8 minutes ago, GolfSpy_TCG said: What were the indoor sims like that didn't make it? Did they have employees and overhead? That's definitely higher risk if you have to maintain employees as your cost goes up drastically and your GM goes down respectively. This is what I have seen around here. Courses have a few but they already have the infrastructure and members to play. The others that have succeeded are family owned and run. The one we go to its the wife, husband, son and daughter in law that manage and run it. The husband does an instruction throughout the year. Pretty good deal and they survived the pandemic so do not see them going anywhere anytime soon. The ones that failed were larger, multiple bays that were never full (about 8 I believe they had vs 4 at the mom and pop shop). A full kitchen and the food was terrible, they also charged $80 and hour vs $45 an hour so thats just a no brainer who was going to succeed (opened at roughly the same time). thechrisgibbs, GolfSpy BOS and MattF 3 Quote Check out my reviews: G710 Irons Official Review I MC Shaft & V Series Putter Official Review 2022 Forged Tec's Official Review I Nitron Push Cart Official Review WITB: Weapons of grass destruction (link to WITB) Traverse is filled with all this shiny metal and tracked by RadSpeed 8* - MotoreX F1 6X SIM 3W - Project X HZRDUS Green U505 Driving Iron 17* - Project X HZRDUS Black SpeedZone 4H - Project X HZRDUS Black 2022 King Forged Tec's 4-PW - KBS $ Tape 130 48 (SM8), 52 & 60 (SM7) - Nippon Modus 125 S ER2VI PROV1X #19 Are you a veteran? Check out the Veterans Golf Association (VGA) Thread! Link to comment
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