Topgolf brings golf to the masses, and the masses to golf

The new Golf Channel show ShotMakers piqued my interest in the whiz-bang venue at which the game is played: Topgolf.

If you haven’t heard of or been to a Topgolf facility, you don’t know what you’re missing – even if you don’t love golf. (If you don’t love golf, though, why are you reading this?)

There are currently 41 Topgolf locations around the world, including the one in Las Vegas where ShotMakers is filmed. But since I don’t live anywhere near Vegas, I headed to the closest Topgolf location to me: Fishers, Indiana (just north of Indianapolis). (Naperville, Illinois, is also close, but the traffic is miserable around Chicago.)

The great thing about Topgolf is you don’t have to be any good at golf, or even enjoy it, to have a blast. Every facility is a multi-tiered structure with heated (and cooled) hitting bays complete with tables and couches. Inside is a bar with a huge menu of upscale pub grub that is served right to your bay. You can bring your own clubs, or use the men’s or women’s clubs they have available at no extra fee.

So what’s so great, even if you don’t like golf? Well, there are 9 different games you can play. The netted-in range has targets from 50 yards out to 180 yards, and depending on which game you’re playing, you hit to one or more of these targets. Each ball has a microchip in it, and it keeps track of the player who hit it and whether or not you hit your target. The computer keeps your scores, just like bowling. All you have to do is eat, drink, swing when it’s your turn, and cheer or jeer at everyone else’s shots.

I took along my 14-year-old son, who likes to play golf, and my wife, who does not. Also in our party were our nephew and his significant other, neither of whom play golf more than once a year, and my wife’s sister, who just came along for the bloody Marys. We played for 90 minutes, in relatively cold weather (which we barely noticed thanks to the heated bay), ate, drank, and had a blast. We got done about noon on a Friday, and the 66 hitting bays were starting to fill up with corporate groups.

Rates range from $25-$40+/hr, depending on the time and day. For me and my son, anyway, it was a huge shot in the arm during this cold spring when it has been nearly impossible to get out to an actual course.

So if you’ve been curious about Topgolf, and wonder how it feels for both golfers and non-golfers, take it from a very wide range of perspectives: Topgolf is even cooler and more fun than it looks on ShotMakers.

The Topgolf range looks lke a cross between a traditional golf range and a video game.

When it’s your turn, you just wave your club in front of the sensor, and a ball rolls out. The chip in the ball and sensors in the targets track your shots.

The Topgolf bar isn’t a bad place to hang out, even if you’re not playing.

Look at my son’s set-up – what posture!

Not to brag, but I was Player 1.