Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | March 18, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 15 G O L F, M E E T I N G S , A N D T O U R I S M G U I D E F O C U S Bringing golf indoors BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to WBJ A few years ago, Doreen Albert was a new golfer. In the colder months, she turned to simulated golf: playing indoors using screens with sophisticated systems that turn real swings into virtual balls flying through a digital course. She found the systems a perfect fit as she improved her game. "You're not on display," Albert said. "If you're on a golf course and you don't really know how to golf, there are people behind you, and they can get a little antsy." One day, while playing with her husband, Todd, and their son in Maine, they hit on the idea of bringing simulator golf to Worcester. "My husband kind of ran with it," Albert said. "Here we are two years later. It's been everything we hoped it A booming market for golf simulator businesses is keeping players swinging year round would be." e Alberts now run Tee-Up Taproom on James Street in Worcester, which, in addition to five golf sim- ulator bays, offers a bar with a small pub menu, darts, and cornhole. e business is just one of more than a dozen stand-alone virtual golf businesses popping up around Central Massachusetts, part of a larger nation- al trend. According to the National Golf Foundation, about 6.2 million Americans used a virtual golf system in 2023, a 73% jump since 2019. Golf simulators harmonize well with green-grass courses, said Jesse Menachem, executive director and CEO of Mass Golf, an association of golf clubs in the state. In fact, many clubs have added their own virtual systems, Menachem said. Aside from offering new players a low-stress introduction to the game, they're a great option for the winter and for rainy or super hot days. ey let people who are pressed for time squeeze in a game much more quickly. "You're not walking or riding between shots. You're just waiting for the screen to update," he said. "An individual could play 18 holes in maybe two hours." 0 1M 2M 3M 4M 5M 6M 7M Number of U.S. golf simulator participants '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21 '22 '23 3.6M 3.6M 4.5M 5.5M 6.2M 4.6M U.S. golf simulator participants The National Golf Foundation has seen a significant spike in the number of golfers aged 6 or older who have participated in virtual golf. Notes: Figures were compiled in November 2023, and the 2023 overall number is an unofficial, year-end estimate. The exact totals for 2015-2018 weren't specified but were all around 3.6 million. The National Golf Founda- tion defined a participant as those who hit golf balls in a golf simulator or into a screen with a launch monitor/shot tracker at a commercial location, golf facility, retail store, specialty clubfitter, or private home. Source: National Golf Foundation Continued on next page Daniel Boisvert has added a golf simulator to his business of helping clients improve their golf performance. He can bring the simulator with him to meet clients, or they can come to his North Grafton location. PHOTOS | COURTESY OF PIN HIGH GOLF

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