We enjoyed the innovative side that revolutionizes the concept of golf …
The creation of a TOPGOLF is between 15 and 18 million dollars and that of Las Vegas (which saw the 2016 Las Vegas Final) … 50 million! This is the concept of bowling that has been resumed! The tracks were removed and a driving range took instead!
The driving range, about 200m long and about 100m wide, is composed of a synthetic pitch with interactive targets that are related to the TV monitor that reacts every time your ball reaches his target.
Each place is composed of a screen that displays the results of the players, a rack for clubs wedge drive and a distributor of balls that reacts to the passage of your club in front of a cell that triggers the distribution of the ball to play.
A large corner sofa welcomes players who, while one of them plays, sipping their beers or eat their burgers!
Each ball is “traced” in order to be able to return the score which is to each one. The targets are broken down into different parts as are the dartboard targets. Depending on where your ball falls, you score more or less.
We were there Saturday, July 21 from 17 to 19 hours, while a thunderstorm threatened, the three floors and the 100 carpets were almost complete knowing that we can play in comfort up to 6 people or more on reservation ! The decreasing rate depending on the time you play will range from 25 to 45 dollars an hour.
When we left at around 7:30 pm, hundreds of people were waiting patiently to enter and occupy a golf mat!
TOPGOLF in France?
To the question: would the concept work in France? In the USA there are about thirty TOPGOLF with a championship. Golf is cultural across the Atlantic. Only one center in France would it be profitable near the capital or another large metropolis.
It would be a huge investment for a country that has only 500,000 players against millions in the US. On the other hand, the concept that frees itself from the dress code offers the possibility of beating balls for two hours or more, with friends who for some have never played golf!
Indeed, a beginner to TOPGOLF is not obliged to go through the pro box then green card to have fun.
He seizes the first club that comes to him on the rack and he does not care about his grip, his position in front of the ball, his outfit and he has no pressure from the part that could follow him as on a course!
You have players who come to hit the ball as others come to bowling to play like bowls! TOPGOLF’s success is being able to mix and match the finals of the 2016 Finale Golf in Las Vegas and the pure beginner that traditional golf could or could not put off.
On the outskirts of the golf mat, we find the square merchandising, the bar and its TV screens that broadcast golf continuously, a huge terrace that allows you to have lunch safely away from the “Yeah” of the one who has achieved his goal and ” F … ball “from the traditional socket!
While waiting to see TOPGOLF in France, we invite you to visit the TOPGOLF website and to target your TOPGOLF evening, because at night the light shows are fantastic, during your next trip to the American land!
Text and Photos: LJA – Golf Méditerranée
Discovering also: Royal Mougins Golf Course
Below TOPGOLF photos: Copyrights: Architectural Photography by Michael Baxter, Baxter Imaging LLC: