Indoor golf breaks out of box

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This article was published 03/01/2025 (281 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s largest golf simulator hub is opening a second — albeit smaller — location next month.

The St. Vital site will add to an increasing network of golf simulators throughout the province — in new businesses, established golf courses, basements, garages, apartment complexes and office towers.

But before Golf Square plants roots at 200 Meadowood Dr., a high-tech indoor league led by two of golf’s biggest names, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is set to be televised from Florida.

“It’s a perfect example of how big the simulator world is right now,” said Brian Munz, Golf Manitoba communications director.

Golf Manitoba hasn’t tracked the number of simulators sprouting within the province. Anecdotally, it’s a lot — much more than before the COVID-19 pandemic, Munz noted.

June Kang took his clubs to a Manitoba golf simulator a couple years ago. He looked around, saw the traffic and decided to launch his own venture.

Golf Square opened at 106 Scurfield Blvd. in February 2024, touting itself as Winnipeg’s largest golf simulator facility.

“After I opened this location, it got popular,” Kang said, exiting one of its 10 simulator bays.

He’d just demonstrated the South Korean technology implemented at Golf Square. Sensors track ball and motion as he swung through a virtual copy of the Masters course in Augusta, Ga. — a popular choice for Winnipeg customers.

Kang reviewed his form, checked the ball’s speed and backspin inside the bay. All were available via statistics and video footage.

“Compared to outside (golf), it can show you more data,” Kang stated.

He’s booked corporate parties, bachelorette groups and birthday celebrations. Seeing the demand motivated him to open another location, he said. He’s aiming to unveil Golf Square on Meadowood Drive in February.

After the five-bay site opens, Kang may look outside the Perimeter Highway. He sold his sushi restaurant to focus on Golf Square; there’s room for golf simulator facilities in rural centres, he said. “Manitoba is just starting.”

Both Avid Golf on Taylor Avenue and the Tee Box Virtual Golf at Keenleyside Street opened in the latter half of 2022. They’ve recorded steady and growing demand, despite facing increasing competition.

“We’ve been getting busier each year,” said Cody Brownlee, Avid Golf general manager.

It seems other golf simulator businesses in the area are booming, too, Brownlee added. He and friend Luc Bohunicky, who started Avid Golf, made simulator golf a weekly endeavour during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bohunicky would book tee times at midnight, a week in advance, to ensure the friends had a slot, Brownlee recalled.

“It just got to the point where Luc, being an entrepreneur, and me being similar … (were) like, ‘Why don’t we just open one? There’s clearly a demand.’”

Since launching, Avid Golf has seen a range of customers, from first-time players to the province’s best. It’s in its second year of hosting a simulator golf league where teams compete against each other.

Saturdays are often booked solid from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the Tee Box, said general manager Maddi Milot. She’s clocked a surge of new golfers trying the sport.

The Tee Box, like other golf simulator businesses, shortens its hours in the summertime as players reroute to outdoor courses.

It’s hard to know when the industry will reach a saturation point, but it must be getting closer, said Rob Henschel, an operating partner at Pinseekers Golf Lounge.

He and Karoline Henschel took over two former Golfzon locations — one on St. James Street, another in Oak Bluff — and rebranded as Pinseekers in 2023. There’s been less pre-booking this year, Rob Henschel said.

He cited more simulator options. During the pandemic, customers needed to book a week in advance to get a Golfzon spot.

“Competition, at the end of the day, is never a bad thing,” he added.

Some 6.2 million Americans have used a golf simulator over the past year, Florida-based National Golf Foundation reported in November. It’s a 73 per cent jump from pre-pandemic numbers.

People are increasingly installing golf simulators at home.

Derrik Goodwin joined the pool of golfers with basement simulators. It makes it easy to practise, he said. “(And it) allows me to have a really good game in the summer without spending a lot of practice time in the summer.”

Goodwin is the head professional at the Glendale Golf and Country Club. This winter, he’s coaching members in Glendale’s simulators — the golf course implemented its first simulator five years ago; it added a second a couple winters ago to meet demand.

Members book evenings and weekends, and golf lessons are smattered throughout. It helps Glendale keep staff year-round, Goodwin noted.

“I think COVID was a big part of it,” he said, reflecting on the simulators’ popularity. “The sport really blew up.”

Like others in the industry, he’s noticed an uptick in new golfers trying simulators — places where they can practise without worry of stalling other groups. Many long-time players and friend groups of all ages book times consistently, weekly.

“It’s kind of like the new bowling,” Goodwin said with a laugh.

He predicts home golf simulators will become more common; they’re already more accessible due to cheaper prices. Several golf courses have hopped on the simulator bandwagon, he added.

The Richardson Centre at Portage Avenue and Main Street introduced a golf simulator for its tenants last year. Simulators are advertised in housing complexes in the Refinery District and Seasons in south Winnipeg.

“When you look at the people that both play golf recreationally and competitively, they want to be able to do that 11, 12 months of the year,” noted Munz from Golf Manitoba.

Market analyses of the global golf simulator industry vary in numbers, but align in their projections of growth over the next five years.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com