10 minute read
Save Some Green • CG Indoor Golf Guide
WARM AND DRY
Seattle’s indoor golf scene is as diverse as its outdoor one with endless offers from these high-tech hangouts
BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
There’s neither a typical, nor likely, nor official age at which golfers stop playing in the snow, rain, and 35-degree temperatures of winter, but the vast majority will at some point.
It was sometime in my mid-30s when I called “time” on practicing in frigid downpours and going out for an evening nine with icicles forming on the clubhouse roof. Some do it sooner, others last a little while longer, but most of us will have become fair(er)-weather golfers by the time we’re into our 40s.
Oh sure, a few hearty souls relish the cold, knowing that tee-times will be available and courses far less busy than they were just a few months before when they had to be up at the crack of dawn to get their name on the tee sheet.
Most clubs and courses will have a few winter events on the calendar — Turkey Trots, Frostbite Fourballs, and the like — which are usually great fun so long as you prepare for them and know what to expect. And though I’ve played in a few fun and enjoyable Turkey Trots, some can turn miserable if the weather really does get unpleasant. You might even find your garment layering wasn’t quite up to the task of safeguarding you from the elements.
Thank goodness, then, for the collection of indoor golf facilities that have opened in western Washington over the recent years. These places enable us to keep swinging in t-shirts and shirt sleeves throughout the year, and come complete with cozy bars, quality restaurants and other forms of entertainment, which means the rest of the family, a bunch of friends, or your colleagues and co-workers can all be involved.
Here are three of our favorites in greater Seattle.
Topgolf Swing Suite
Bellevue • Part of the Forum Social House
The timing was hardly perfect for opening a brand-new bar, restaurant and entertainment facility. COVID was about to rear its very ugly head and shatter everyone’s world, but in December 2019 — after years of forming dreams and making sacrifices — Noah Garoutte and his two business partners decided to go ahead with their plan to open the Forum Social House on Bellevue Way.
The 20,000-square-foot space in Lincoln Square houses two full bars, a restaurant (serving tacos, sliders, flatbreads, chicken, and salads), a nightclub — featuring a dramatic and beautifully built mini golf course with several fun games like Koi Pond and Iron Throne — and four Topgolf Swing Suites. One of the suites has the full clubhouse look and vibe, and can accommodate up to 50 people to gather, watch, play and socialize.
Garoutte hopes this is just the first of several Forum Social Houses. “We’re definitely looking to scale up… and are currently looking at two or three new locations.”
Though Garoutte and his partners certainly run Forum Social House with a corporate mentality, like any other 21st century business, the co-founder says he wants to bring a mom-and-pop approach.
“We’re a family here,” he says. “We have people in marketing and accounts, but everyone has a say in the way the company operates. We want to be the sort of business we would have wanted to work for years ago.”
It’s a refreshing attitude with which to do business, and it shows. Everyone is welcome at Forum Social House whatever their age, and the objective — to have fun. Pure and simple.
The Topgolf Swing Suite allows you to work on your swing and play the usual games you get at outdoor Topgolf facilities like the one in Renton. Patrons also have the option to play several other games: Quarterback Challenge, Baseball Pitching, Hockey Shots, Soccer, Carnival Classic (where you throw balls at targets on the screen), and Zombie Dodgeball, which younger customers find especially entertaining.
Hours are 5-11 p.m. on weeknights, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays, noon to 2 a.m. Saturdays, and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays, with two-hour Swing Suite reservations starting at $160. Visit ForumSocialHouse.com for more information.
Five Iron Golf
Seattle
Five Iron Golf was born in New York City in 2017 and currently has 24 locations throughout the country, with more on the way.
The 12,000-square-foot Seattle venue opened on Capitol Hill in March of last year and operates 12 Trackman golf simulators that enable you to play 261 amazing courses, including several of the world’s best: St. Andrews, Valderrama, Pebble Beach Muirfield Village, Royal Birkdale, Royal St. George’s, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Lahinch, Ridgewood, and Scioto.
Golfers get all the most important metrics for their swings, including: clubhead speed, ball speed, smash factor, lateral curve, club path, face to path, face angle, launch direction, plus Swing Plane. And are allowed to practice in comfortable surroundings.
You can also work on your short game with tools such as Puttview and SAM Putt Lab to work on distance control, green reading, your stroke, and more.
Besides the amazing simulators, Five Iron offers golf leagues as well. In stroke play, each team signs up for a time slot and arrives at that time for eight weeks of the regular season. There is also one week of playoffs, which everybody makes. A newsletter is sent out to players detailing the next week’s course, that week’s competition format, drink specials, and prizes.
Players can compete for a chance to win a four-night stay at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. Five Iron has a bar and restaurant, with all the food and drink choices a birthday party group, or a lone golfer, might expect for having a good time.
The venue also offers a couple of things the other indoor golf facilities don’t: lessons and club fitting.
There are two teaching professionals at Five Iron, Alex Race and Charles Lee. Race grew up in Seattle, attended The Golf Academy of America in San Diego, earned a degree in journalism at Cal-State Long Beach, and has worked both as an assistant pro and private instructor — as well as playing mini-tours in Southern California.
Lee, meanwhile, was a touring pro in Asia, where he played in 50 world-ranking events. A half-hour lesson with either pro cost $75 or a full hour is $140.
Simulator prices range from $30 per hour at quiet times (weekdays and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. and weekends between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.) to $90 at peak times (Friday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday noon to 8 p.m., and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.).
Five Iron opens at 6 a.m. during the week and closes at 11 p.m. On Fridays, you can start at 6 a.m., and go all the way through to 1 a.m. It opens at 8 a.m. on Saturdays and closes at 1 a.m. On Sundays it’s open between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
See all their offerings at FiveIronGolf.com/Seattle-Capitol-Hill and book an appointment today.
Back 9 Parlor
Lynnwood
Last year’s Monday League Golf Night at Back9 Parlor got a bit rowdy by all accounts. The indoor golf establishment on Alderwood Mall Blvd. in Lynnwood, which opened in March 2019, has a lot of regulars.
Its most loyal married couple, Amanda and Troy Van Hook, were about to win the league title for the third straight year. Troy can play a bit, but the running joke is that he rides his wife’s coattails. “Amanda is as consistent as the day is long,” says Back9 Co-owner Rian Cool. Cool, Back9’s digital marketing specialist, opened the business with three fellow-investors in the space that had been occupied by the Clubhouse Golf Center.
At the time of writing, the Back9 website showed the Van Hooks in a tie for fifth with four weeks of the regular season remaining. Back9 also runs Fall leagues on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. These start around the middle of September and finish with Championship brackets in mid-December.
The maximum handicap per pair is 27, though that drops to 18 for the playoffs. The format is one team versus another, alternate shot with men playing from the pro tees and women from the forward tees. Seniors play from the amateur tees.
A different course is used each week. The itinerary includes Sea Island, Firestone, Mauna Lani, and Greywolf, with championship games played at The Belfry. Prizes for the winning teams include Back9 swag and free entry for the following season. Winners also have their names etched on the Back9 League Champions plaque. There’s a bracket for losing teams, too, so interest remains constant for three months each season.
The cost to enter a league is $120 per team, and each player pays a $35 green fee each week. Each night’s league books out quickly, and handicaps — this fall, at least — range from one to 27.
“The leagues are a lot of fun,” says Cool. “They can get quite competitive with a ton of regular customers and a few new teams each season. It’s always great to see which team will win the playoff each season and have their names added to the growing winner’s plaque.”
Back9 hosts both corporate and public events. The venue features an appetizing food menu and offers many drinks, including beer, wine, and a nine-strong list of cocktails. Visitors can enjoy a John Daly with Tito’s vodka, Cointreau, lemonade, and iced tea or a Juan Daly, which replaces the vodka with Espolon Tequila.
There’s a children’s menu as well, as everyone in the family is welcome at Back9. “We pride ourselves on our accessibility,” says Cool. “Both with our price points on simulator rentals and food, and the atmosphere we create for families, particularly kids who really enjoy our multi-sport simulator functionality, headlined by the ever-popular Zombie Dodgeball.”
Cool says Back9 is currently preparing for an influx of holiday traffic. “We expect to see a large boost in numbers playing our six Full Swing simulators ($60 per hour from 5 p.m. on Friday to 7 p.m. on Sunday; $45 per hour at all other times) as the weather worsens and golf outside becomes less and less likely.”
Business hours are 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the week, 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays.
Visit Back9Parlor.com for updates and specials.
