DUFFER ’S DE L IGHT

Simulators, home putting greens a big part of the golfing game

By Mark Carter

More Americans than ever are participating in “golfing activities,” per the National Golf Federation. Turns out, a record 41 million of them are, and that includes a sizable chunk who never step foot on an actual course.

NGF estimates that roughly 15.5 million Americans participated exclusively in “off-course” golfing activities in 2022.

Golf indeed has expanded beyond the fairway, past the sand traps, the water hazards and greens. Golfing activities, as counted by NGF, include those undertaken at driving ranges and entertainment venues such as Topgolf but also entail indoor simulators and home putting greens.

(And if bellying up to the bar after a round were to count as an off-course golfing activity, then that 15.5 million figure most certainly would be larger.)

While all sports are played for fun, golf perhaps more than any other lends itself to entertainment. After its merger with retail golfing giant Callaway, and not long after it opened a Rogers location in May of 2021, Topgolf announced plans to open 10 venues a year for the foreseeable future, one of them in Little Rock. In 2022, sales at existing Topgolf venues were roughly $1.5 billion, up 42 percent from the previous year.

While Topgolf and venues like it have proven to be popular with golfers both serious and casual, in-home golf simulators and home putting greens take the golfing experience to another level. The U.S. golf simulator market, the largest in the world, reached $1.5 billion in 2022 and is projected to double by 2030, according to Straits Research.

Evans Dietz, owner of D&D Sun Control and Roll ‘N Wrapz, is an avid golfer when he’s not tinting windows or wrapping trucks in signage. His home course is Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley Country Club, but he’s been all over the country and even the world to hit the links. And his Little Rock home is equipped with both a simulator and a putting green.

Each is great for entertainment, he said, and both prove invaluable to the duffer who’s serious about improving his or her game. His Full Swing simulator bought through and installed by Roderick Edwards of Triple S Alarm is not just another video game.

“You don’t have to be a super serious golfer, but these are not for the super casual golfer, either,” Edwards said. “These are for the golfer who wants to get better.”

Edwards has installed golf simulators in homes, offices, clubhouses, resorts, apartment complexes, restaurants and bars across Arkansas. He calls the Full Swing systems that Triple S installs “another arrow in our quiver of high-end amenity options” available to his customers.

“We are able to take areas within the home or office that may have been designed for a theater room, training area or warehouse and repurpose the area,” he said. “Business owners are having to come up with different ways to recruit new em-

Americans participating ployees, from adding office gyms, coffee bars and even sports simulation systems.”

Many of the homeowners who buy simulators also have putting greens installed, and that’s where Jason Bermingham of Arkansas Luxury Lawns comes in. Bermingham is a Canadian expat who played minor league hockey for the old Arkansas RiverBlades, and “fell in love with my wife and the city.”

He launched Arkansas Luxury Lawns as an offshoot of his Maple Leaf Lawns about five years ago. His firm installs putting greens and synthetic lawns throughout the state. Arkansas Luxury Lawns employs five, but Bermingham said he needs eight or nine to meet demand. The putting greens he installs vary in size and scale, depending on budget and accessibility, but an average green might go for $15,000 to $20,000 and take about a week to install.

Bermingham said the greens increase the value of a home, require very little maintenance and provide a popular backyard entertainment option. And of course, afford the chance to work on one’s short game on his or her own time.

“Demand has been great,” he said. “We were lucky enough to get ahead of the curve in Little Rock, and now we’re all over the state.”

The putting green market is growing. Projections from market research firm DataIntelo call for 5.6 percent growth by 2030 in the global market, with the U.S. leading the way. The market was valued at $1.58 billion in 2018.

Golf simulators, meanwhile, can vary greatly in price depending on the model. High-end models with Trackman technology can go for as much as $150,000. But most will fall within the $5,000 to $15,000 range and take two to three days to put in.

Dietz said having a simulator and green at home enables him to work on his game on his own schedule. With the simulator, he can play any course in the world and have every aspect of his game monitored and then send those results to a pro for evaluation.

“You can play at midnight. You can have your buddies over and gamble on the green,” he said. “There are real-world benefits with the Trackman data. There’s no lying or claiming to have made a hole-in-one, for example. It’s all right there in the system. Plus, it allows you to stay in golf shape in the winter.”

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