(Rendering of Topgolf Lounge concept)
The first location, a 7,761-sq. ft. facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, Wash., is set to open in the fall. Topgolf Lounge is seen as especially viable for urban areas and smaller communities that don’t have space for full multi-tier facilities. The Lounge concept also allows Topgolf to fully control—and profit from—all operating areas, vs. its licensed Topgolf Swing Suites.
Topgolf has exploded in popularity over the past decade, Front Office Sports reported, but the original concept’s physical footprint has been a limiting factor of where the golf game can expand.
But Topgolf believes that limitation will soon be lifted through the introduction of the Topgolf Lounge, Front Office Sports reported. The new concept will distill the multi-tier interactive golf game into an indoor experience using the company’s virtual Swing Suite technology, allowing it to introduce and incorporate Topgolf’s popular food-and-beverage and entertainment aspects into densely packed urban areas and smaller communities.
The first Topgolf Lounge location is set to open in the Seattle, Wash. suburb of Kirkland, Wash. in the fall of 2019, Front Office Sports reported. The 7,761-sq.-ft. location will have four public Swing Suite bays and a private VIP bay.
“The outdoor experiences have taken communities by storm, and we’re really trying to serve and make golf as accessible as possible,” said Ron Powers, President of Topgolf’s Lounge and Swing Suite division. “We know the technology works and the engagement works. Now we need to figure out the balance and an indoor [concept] we can extend to highly dense populations.”
The Topgolf Swing Suite was developed to offer virtual golf games in compact settings, Front Office Sports reported, and the company currently has approximately 130 Swing Suite bays across 50 locations, ranging from bars to casinos. Currently, Topgolf licenses out the bays and lets the facility control the pricing and setting.
Within Topgolf Lounges, however, the company controls the whole experience—including pricing, service and food and beverage—and wants to further penetrate markets with their models. Powers called the lounges an “elevated, more intimate” Topgolf experience, Front Office Sports reported.
While Powers wouldn’t divulge specific growth plans for Topgolf Lounges beyond the Kirkland debut, he said the company believes the lounge concept is viable in markets across the U.S., specifically two ideal settings, Front Office Sports reported. The first is high-density, inner-urban locations—largely on the East Coast in cities like New York, where property isn’t available for the large-footprint original concept.
For now, the closest access to Topgolf in some regions is 12 to 15 miles on the periphery of a city center, Powers said.
“Now we can bring Topgolf into the core and complement the large facilities,” he said. “It’s thinking about what can we do with the different services to entertain the guests.”
The second viability for the Topgolf Lounge concept is in smaller communities where a full venue might not be justifiable, Powers said.
“We’re an entertainment platform, but the fact we can mean so much to so many communities and contribute to the game of golf—as an athlete and business guy, I can’t think of a better place to be,” he said. “We have a voracious appetite for growth, and we’re looking to serve communities we’re welcomed in. You’ll see growth, I can guarantee that.”
Powers believes Topgolf can have a place in helping to grow the game of golf while also providing entertainment for large swaths of the population, Front Office Sports reported. A United States Golf Foundation study found that, of new golfers who’ve played less than three years, 23 percent started at Topgolf. That makes for a considerable opportunity, considering that the company welcomes 17 million guests annually between its 53 domestic and four international venues.
Now, beyond the original Topgolf experience, the company will look toward the future it has in the virtual space, to continue its growth as a business and potential entry point into golf, Front Office Sports reported.
Powers came from the game-software business to join Topgolf in 2015, with the idea of growing Topgolf through technology, Front Office Sports reported. Following his arrival, the company soon made an investment in Full Swing Golf, which Powers called the “largest and most progressive golf simulator company in North America.”
From there, the company partnered with game developers to rewrite the golf-simulator software to replicate the Topgolf experience. Now it’s expanding the offerings, with games like zombie dodgeball and hockey and baseball experiences.
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