Many golfers dream of playing Pebble Beach or Augusta National, but the reality is that only a lucky few will get to play Amen Corner or shank a drive into the Cali coast. If the real course is out of the question, Topgolf may be able to provide the next best thing. Using the same ball-tracking technology that is seen on TV broadcasts and in Topgolf centers, Toptracer Range allows golfers to play virtual versions of the world’s premier golf courses.
Toptracer Range is the newest product from Topgolf being licensed to neighborhood driving ranges, enabling them to incorporate ball-tracking technology to enhance the range experience and make it interactive. “Driving ranges today are pretty one-dimensional experiences,” said Ani Mehta, Topgolf’s VP of Corporate Development. “You go because you want to get better at your game, without any feedback.”
Golfers familiar with Topgolf centers have seen that they don’t operate like traditional ranges, as they are closer to bowling alleys. Groups share one bay and take turns trying to hit targets or score the highest. “It’s about making golf more fun and building a community,” Mehta said. “We built technology, then we built a community around that technology.”
Golf in a virtual world allows for experimentation. “You can do some fun, crazy stuff on the driving range,” Mehta said. “Real targets that correspond to dinosaurs or roulette wheels in the virtual environment.” That’s what makes the Toptracer technology unique. In one bay, someone can practice approach shots at a PGA Tour course. While, just feet away, a group of people can drink beer and line drives at a stegosaurus. While the fantastical worlds are not yet an option at Toptracer ranges, they show where golf in a virtual world could be heading.
The virtual models of real golf courses are a current feature. These courses model the exact yardages and layouts of the real counterparts. Still, they aren’t perfect. “(Hitting out of bunkers) is a challenge that the golf simulation industry has always dealt with,” Mehta said. “How do you create the true golf experience while always hitting from a perfect lie?”
This doesn’t mean the golfer gets a free pass. Smash a drive into the trees and it will bounce off branches and end up wherever the tree feels like leaving it. Now if the ball lands behind that same tree, it becomes a bit trickier. “How do you replicate being behind a tree in the virtual world, when there isn’t one in front of you on the range?” Mehta asked. “It’s a problem the golf simulation industry has always dealt with.”
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Bringing Toptracer technology into driving ranges has a significant effect on the range itself. “A couple facilities we installed Toptracer in, they only had a vending machine,” Mehta said. “Now they bring food trucks in, get a liquor license, start hosting events. It’s ancillary revenue that didn’t previously exist.”
Currently, there are nearly 30 ranges with Toptracer technology, but Mehta said the company’s goal is to have “hundreds or thousands” more in the coming years. Playing at a Toptracer Range will cost the golfer more than a typical bucket of balls. But, instead of aiming for the teenager driving the Range Servant, the golfer can brave the winds of the Golden Bell at Augusta.
Even if the lies aren’t true to real golf, playing Augusta without dealing with the notorious bunkers isn’t the worst thing in the world.