OPPORTUNITY IN EXPLODING INDOOR GOLF MARKET REALIZED AT X-GOLF NAPERVILLE

They're everywhere.  Or at least that's how it feels. What was once a very minor one-off storefront presence is now a full-blown phenomenon.  I'm talking about indoor golf, which has exploded in the Windy City over the last few years.

Fanciful golf names are aplenty.  The Green, The Haven, The Shack, Halfway House, Game of Irons, Five Iron, Iron Street, PARennial, Birdies, Smash Factor, Screen Golf Masters, Elevation Golf, Power of the Golf Ball, Play18, Score 18, you name it, it's out there.  What they all have in common is a place to swing the club in a controlled setting and receive immediate feedback on your club speed, launch angle, ball speed, back spin, carry distance, descent angle, and a couple dozen more measurements that are all at your fingertips.

Want to play 18 at Pebble Beach? Go for it.  Hit a hundred balls at the island green at TPC Sawgrass?  You can do it.  See how far you can blast the new driver?  Swing away.  The options are endless.  Besides the dozens of stand-alone indoor golf facilities, many area golf courses have added simulators as a way to generate revenue by enticing golfers to stop by in the winter.  And judging by the sheer volume of places available, it seems to be working well.

I remember playing indoor golf in an Orland Park industrial park back in the 90's.  The technology back then was rudimentary at best when compared to today, but one thing hasn't changed.  You still hit a golf ball into a screen, and a computer measures the direction and distance of the ball.  Today's simulators have advanced to the point where you can see the ball splash when it lands in the water and leave a divot mark on the green on an approach (don't worry, the computer will fix it).

All you need is a space, the equipment and a positive vision and you're in business.  One of the major players in the indoor golf stratosphere in Chicago is X-Golf, which operates 10 locations in the area.  The California based corporation started in 2015 and has over 90 facilities in 32 states and was ranked in the top 300 in the latest Entrepreneur magazine's top franchise listing.  Unsurprisingly, three-quarters of the locations are in states where snow is commonly on the ground in the winter and courses are closed 4 months of the year.

X-Golf will provide support for franchisees on the basic aspects of starting a business, including site selection, sales and customer relationship training, and brand and local area marketing. Jacob Mayer and Hemal Patel took advantage of what X-Golf had to offer for their first business endeavor together. The two had met while working at Ernst & Young in Chicago. Jacob had ventured down from Green Bay after graduating from Marquette, while Hemal grew up locally in St. Charles and went to school at Illinois-Chicago.

Their careers went in different directions, but a chance encounter years later changed life's trajectory for both.  Riding the same train home from work, they met again and found out they were both married with children and lived in Lisle. And they also found out they shared a passion for golf.

After reconnecting and becoming golf playing buds, they became interested in indoor golf as a way to keep their game sharp and juggle the time constraints of work and family life, and a visit to the X-Golf in Glenview started them on the entrepreneurial journey.  Although not necessarily planning on becoming business owners, once they started looking into franchise opportunities with X-Golf, they never came across anything that said this was a bad idea and signed up for having a golf playground so close to home.

They started the process in June of 2021 and opened up in a space in the Cress Creek Square Shopping Center on Ogden Avenue in March 2022.  Although the summer months may be a slower time for indoor golf in general, Hemal and Jacob focus on the “72 degrees and sunny, all day, every day” and “Where else can you play golf at night?” truisms, and rainy day reservations will fill up quickly.

A combination of fundraisers, corporate events and private parties also help keep the bays occupied, and the ability to practice for an hour with reams of data to measure improvement is appealing for time constrained and info driven golfers.

X-Golf claims the combination of laser, light, impact and camera sensory technologies used to collect raw data at and around the impact zone results in 98% accuracy, one of the best in the industry.  I can attest that the Naperville simulator experience was a significant upgrade over an indoor golf play I had last April in the south suburbs.

One of the trickier game aspects to reimagine indoors is the putting. A 7-foot default is used so any shot within that distance of the hole is considered good, but the X-Golf screen provides what can best be described as a “rolling marbles” alignment tool to assist in reading the contours of the green.  Once you get acclimated to the depth perception of putting into the screen and are able to judge the distance and speed, the process fairly mimics the on-course experience, and you have the option to reduce the default distance or to actually putt into the hole. The green speed can even be increased to challenge the more advanced player.  

This is all achieved through 3D modeling technology, which adds a whole new level of realism to the environment projected on the screen. For example, the image of a tree in front of you will act like a real obstacle and a poorly struck shot in a high lipped bunker might be rolling back to your feet, and the overall course visuals looked amazing.  You may not be able to feel the cold breeze coming off the North Sea at St. Andrew's, but it's about as close to the experience that most will get, and if you want to add the wind to affect the flight of your shots, you can do that, too.

The space at X-Golf Naperville includes 8 state-of-the-art, 16 foot wide hitting bays, a bar and high-top tables nicely spread through the room, with plenty of open floor space to comfortably maneuver a golf bag full of clubs.  Comfy couches are behind each bay if you want to sit back and relax between shots.  16 TVs are scattered throughout to watch the sport of the moment, and an empty bay can be used to provide an ultra big screen view of your favorite team or player. 

The bays are commonly rented in 60 minute intervals at $50 per hour, a rate that is fairly consistent across the area.  What to do with that time is up to the individual, as the simulator can be programmed for golf course play or practice.  The X-Golf bays have auto returns that will tee the ball for the next shot, a handy feature that saves a bit of time.  Figure an hour per person for 18 holes, so a round for a foursome would generally reflect the time and cost of a round outside, without having to worry about finding your ball or being slowed down by the pokey group in front.  

Monthly memberships are also available to maximize the simulation time.  A $250 membership will allow 1 hour per day, or 2 hours daily can be purchased for $500.  The membership also includes additional discounts for extra sim time, individual lessons and food and beverages.

Some of the local indoor golf facilities could be best described as restaurants with golf, featuring full menus and kitchens (like Birdies in Oak Lawn) or in conjunction with a restaurant (like Halfway House in Elmhurst, attached to HB Jones). X-Golf firmly falls into the golf with food camp, keeping things simple with the offerings.  

The menu showed a typical list of items you might find at the halfway house at the local course, including burgers, brats and hot dogs, with wings and pizza also featured.  On a recent visit I tried the fire roasted veggie pizza (supplied by the nearby East Side Cafe) and it was pretty good, and the jumbo pretzel was accurately labeled: gigantic, soft and with just the right amount of salt. They also offer an extensive list of craft beers from local breweries. The food is still a work in progress, and the owners are constantly looking at different options to improve the menu.

I was originally drawn to Naperville in a search for new irons as X-Golf was listed as a distributor for Stix. (I did try the Stix irons but they weren't the right club for me).  Although the Stix clubs are there only as rentals, the plan is to eventually have Taylormade, Srixon and Cleveland clubs available for sale, and a Srixon demo day is scheduled for February 25th.  Fittings and instruction will be provided by PGA Golf Professional Mitch Young, who will work between the Naperville and Orland Park locations. Young has also worked at several private clubs in the area, most recently as Head Pro at the Kankakee Country Club.

Golf leagues on Monday thru Wednesday have just finished, and another 10 week session will be starting at the end of January, with the hope of getting 30 teams signed up. Three man teams compete in various formats across different courses each week, with the grand prize a round at Black Sheep, the exclusive private club in Sugar Grove.  Although the data driven capabilities of the simulators would seem to appeal to a younger, tech savvy demographic, the leagues have included a wide range of ages from Gen Z thru Baby Boomers.

Outreach into the community is also front and center for the X-Golf owners.  They have recently partnered with the US Adaptive Golf Alliance, an organization that is dedicated to bringing the game of golf to the disabled.  The USAGA is headquartered in Westmont and is made up of 40 members organizations across America that sponsor clinics to introduce the game to all those interested.  Adaptive golf uses modified rules and equipment to allow people with a variety of disabilities to play and compete at golf.

Both Jacob and Hemal have continued with their careers in Finance, so investing in the X-Golf franchise has added an extra layer to already complicated lives. But as they approach the 1 year anniversary, except for the occasional Packers-Bears dustup, everything seems to be going well for the tight golf buddies and new business partners. The 2 find themselves at the forefront of an exploding entertainment market, a very good place to be.