The $22 million, 53,000-sq. ft. facility in Jenks, Okla., is similar in spirit to TopGolf, featuring three restaurant/bars, a putting green, 60 hitting bays, and proprietary ball-tracking technology. “Yes, you’re using a golf club, but it’s really more like a video game out here,” says founder and CEO John Vollbrecht.
FlyingTee, a new 53,000-sq. ft. driving range and sports bar similar in spirit to TopGolf, will host a grand opening in Jenks, Okla., on June 7, Tulsa (Okla.) World reported.
“This is not about golf,” said John Vollbrecht, founder and CEO, at media day for the three-story, $22 million golf, dining and entertainment facility. “Yes, you’re using a golf club, but it’s really more like a video game out here.
“It’s not sitting at a restaurant staring at each other for two hours or going to a movie theater where you don’t interact. You are playing games with your friends. You’re engaging in activity-based entertainment that’s a very appealing way to socialize with your group of six to eight people. It’s something new that you can do,” Vollbrecht said.
The facility features three restaurant/bars, a putting green, 60 hitting bays and the company’s proprietary ball-tracking technology, which allows visitors to see how their game would fare at more than 30 of the world’s most famous courses, including Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, World reported.
“It’s a different type of entertainment experience,” Vollbrecht said. “If you play the games, the golf courses, all the different applications in the software, it doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad. That’s not the point. It’s about having fun together, even laughing at some of the bad shots … and more importantly, being able to have a real nice meal.”
The technology will offer games such as darts and blackjack that can be played by trying to hit targets (greens) on the course, which is about 250 yards long, 100 yards wide and surrounded by nets roughly 180 feet tall, said Tracy Phillips, director of golf instruction. Handicaps can be programmed in to change the size of the targets, World reported.
For the serious golfer, the devices also will be able to measure such things as club-head speed and distance. “Playing the golf side for actual golfers is a fabulous experience,” Phillips said. “Who would have thought you could see ball flight and play the golf course at the same time. Normally, you are hitting into a simulator. You’re hitting into a net.”
The soft openings have drawn many families and nongolfers, World reported.
“The main complaint about golf is that is takes too long, and it’s too expensive,” Phillips said. “In this situation, you could rent a bay for an hour, spend $20 at non-peak time and hit as many balls as you want, play a few different games and golf courses.”
FlyingTee is a jewel in the RiverWalk Crossing development, where the first shops appeared in 2005, a couple of years after the Oklahoma Aquarium opened in Jenks. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation purchased the center in 2012, World reported.
“This is truly a destination area of Tulsa now,” Vollbrecht said. “Over the next couple of years, it’s going to be amazing to see it really explode.”
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