Topgolf: More than just bells, whistles and a light show

I have never been a video game guy. Not necessarily by choice, but more likely because when I was a kid my parents refused to buy me a Nintendo or Sega. They did buy me the Intellivision game system out of the Sears catalog one Christmas. A few years later Nintendo was released, making the Intellivision painfully obsolete. Right then and there my dad decided he wasn’t going to waste any of his hard-earned money on video games again.

I’ve also never been into simulator golf. It’s just not the same as real golf. But then there was the winter I tried to use one to stay in golf shape (if there is such a thing), and skulled a 5-iron into the PVC pipe that hangs from the bottom of the screen. The ball ricocheted into my ankle and left me in a crumbled heap on the floor. (I’m sure hundreds of people have been injured playing simulator golf, but I might be the only one to publicly admit it. It’s an epidemic, people.)

So, if I’m not into video games and I’m not into simulator golf, you would probably guess I’m not a huge fan of playing Topgolf. And you’d be right.

It looks cool, it’s a fun scene, the food is good. I’d just rather be playing golf.

I asked a lot of people for their takes on Topgolf. One was Woody Moriarty at Blue Hills CC in Kansas City, Mo. (He’s our 19th Hole interview this month.) He told me, “I’m just not into it. I like the environment of being outside and playing golf, not hitting into a bunch of bells and whistles or a light show.”

Love it. Pretty sure that when he got home that evening he yelled at some kids to get off his lawn, right?

Then I talked to my friend’s son, Christopher Lipford, a 16-year-old high school junior who has played Topgolf around 15 times, traditional golf maybe five times. While he enjoys the challenge of golf, Topgolf is easier for him and his friends to visit on a whim. Plus, “I don’t have to wear golf clothes to Topgolf,” he told me, “and I feel more welcome there than at the golf course.”

Ironic, as the one golf course he’s ever played is a course called “Smiley’s.”

While on some level I agree with Woody, I also can’t argue with the way Christopher and his friends feel about walking into a pro shop. Topgolf is exposing millions to the feeling that hitting a golf ball can be a really good time. But how do we bring their laid-back customers to the actual golf course?

Whenever I speak at a chapter event, I always ask the chapter to give me a few story ideas. Topgolf and what it means to the traditional game comes up every time, guaranteed. It’s an interesting concern from superintendents since there isn’t a blade of natural grass out there. (OK, two Topgolfs have some natural grass, and another, as you’ll read about in the story, will be conjoined with an actual golf course.)

This month’s cover story isn’t about video games or simulator golf, and it’s certainly not about maintaining turf. This story is about how golf is (and isn’t) evolving, and one way we might create new golfers from a generation that doesn’t seem to have the time or the patience for golf.

Though I’m not a Topgolf nut, I enjoyed writing this story and learning more about the company, its goals and how industry pundits believe it might affect the game we all adore. As for this Topgolfer cynic? I say thank you, Topgolf, for getting more people out there hitting golf balls.

Now it’s up to us to find a way to get those same people to hit one on our golf courses. Our jobs depend on it.