One round a week or month, with 18 holes across four plus hours is rarely, if ever, enough. Players will seek out golf in every part of their life, be it on TV, at the driving range, putting on the carpet, watching YouTube videos, or mimicking a swing in front of any, and every, mirror. Admit it, we have all done it.

However, even all that is barely enough.

Enter the golf simulator revolution.

Golf simulators in various forms have been around for a long time, but never have they been so available, as reasonably priced or in such abundance.

A study by Straits Research published in 2022 showed “golf simulators market size was valued at US$1,315 million in 2021 and is projected to reach US$3,388 million by 2030 at a CAGR of 10.1 percent during the forecast period (2022–2030).”

An indoor bunker at Golf Studio allows you to work on every part of the game. PHOTO: Supplied.

What has caused that bump in popularity?

There are, without question, more golfers than in recent times post COVID, and the availability of tee times at public golf courses had been an ongoing problem for non-member golfers all trying to tee it up at similar times.

The return to the workplace also necessitated golf being consumed outside of work hours, something that is a difficult task in darkness, or cold weather climates.

Those who provide simulator technology, such as launch monitor brands like Trackman, Foresight, Big Swing and more have also tapped into the entertainment element of golf that has seen a surge in popularity with non-playing golfers. Think the Top Golf crowd without needing the space. Drinks, TVs and golf all in a small square space ... it’s hard to argue that won’t be popular.

Australia, as always, is a golf market that while reflecting the greater world, contains its own intricacies. And that is certainly true in the golf simulator boom and the options on offer to golfers around the country.

From the option for the fortunate enough to have the space and money to install a simulator of their own in their home to work on their game and entertain friends, to dedicated improvement spaces and those skewed more towards entertainment, Australia’s cities have plenty to offer.

Golf coaches are certainly finding the expansion in this market to their liking, able to teach longer hours and attract clients who struggle to get to the course for an hour during a weekday.

Status Golf in Canberra offers fun mixed with golf for members and functions. PHOTO: Supplied.

By way of example, one of Australia’s busiest teaching pros, Gary Barter, who is coach to the likes of two-time Australian Open winner Matt Jones, is involved with the simulator operation, Playfair, at Randwick in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

The direction a facility goes is an important element to its success and is influenced by a variety of factors, including desired clientele, location, space and of course options in the area.

Some, like Strokes Gained Studio in Sydney’s Northern Beaches was built with Trackman launch monitors, Science and Motion Sports putting analysis and contains a gym. All of this with PGA of Australia professionals and TPI trained fitness coaches on hand. Clearly this is for the dedicated golfer looking to spend time working on their game.

Although certainly capable of giving instant and quality feedback via the launch monitor that is the choice of Tiger Woods (Big Swing), Big Swing Golf sells itself more on fun.

Available in Drummond Golf locations around Australia, Big Swing promotes “Realism, Fast Rounds, 84+ Courses and Group Fun”, with games other than just golf playable through the simulator.

Just like the game played on grass, there is simulator golf for any and everyone, and the options will only continue to diversify as the market continues to grow with operators, and users for that matter, surely encouraged by the Australian Golf Strategy messaging that “All golf is golf”. Simulators well and truly are a part of that.

These facilities allow more than just working on your full swing or playing an interactive version of a golf course. A case in point is the huge Golf Studio in Mordialloc, Victoria.

Touted as “Australia’s largest indoor golf centre”, Golf Studio covers more than 1700m2 of indoor practice area, including two TrackMan equipped simulators, 185m2 of Wellputt putting green, a Sandbelt-styled practice bunker and short game area as well as an indoor range allowing for 10 metres of ball flight with TrackMan driven ball flight technology.

Golf 24 is rapidly expanding its operation around Australia with its 24/7 access model. PHOTO: Supplied.

This is an all-encompassing way to work on your game how you like, when you like, with the added benefits of a pro shop and café, as well as coaching.

Membership is offered in a variety of affordable categories that offer different access to the facility itself and its various offerings, including a Platinum Membership that allows for 24/7 access.

The concept of being able to work on your game 24 hours a day and in perfect conditions is a fairly new one for golf, but the simulator boom is pushing it into the mainstream. And the dedication bordering on obsession of golfers is the driving force behind it.

Think 24-hour gyms with access cards, and you get Golf 24, which itself is growing at a rate of knots.

With three locations in Queensland and one in east Melbourne, the Trackman driven Golf 24 offers members 24/7 booking access 365 days a year.

The 55-minute practice sessions will appeal to many, so too will the more than 100 of the world’s best courses that can be played in the simulators, while coaching is a big part of the Golf 24 experience.

Members can also compete against one another in competitions organised by Golf 24, all of which offer real prizemoney.

Golf 24, established by PGA of Australia member Adrian Lawson, is so confident of its membership offering that it offers a membership guarantee. Just one of the elements that will be arriving soon in Adelaide, Sydney, Hobart and Canberra.

Right: Professional help at Golf 24 is one of the big focuses to help clients improve their game. PHOTO: Supplied.

Already established in the nation’s capital is Status Golf  – “Canberra’s very own indoor golf centre offering the ultimate indoor/screen golfing experience with state of the art golf simulators …”

Open late every day, Status Golf offers the chance to play golf on more than 130 courses around the world, including many of the famous ones you will recognise from the PGA Tour and major championships.

Play nine or 18 holes, enter the weekly competition, or join as a member, there are plenty of options on offer at the location in the middle of Canberra, as well as functions.

Lessons are also available at Status Golf, which pours local beers from Capital Brewing … it’s hard to think of a better way to escape the Canberra winter and get your golf fix than teeing it up indoors at St. Andrews with a beer and some mates.

The newest player on the market was set to open its doors in May this year, with The Tee Block ideally located in the golf rich, and obsessed, Gold Coast.

Led by experienced PGA member Neville Austin, The Tee Block is all about offering its members the chance to work on their game in an ideal environment with the best technology, all on Hope Island Road so those in the vicinity with their own golf buggy can take a ride with their clubs attached.

Another of the 24/7 facilities with tiered memberships categories, The Tee Block offers affordable ways to practice your golf with their technology choice a point of difference.

Utilising Foresight GC launch monitors in three of its five hitting bays, Austin believes their choice of technology is ideally suited to being indoors and at high swing speeds to deliver accurate feedback and realistic shots on the screen.

The massive indoor facility at Golf Studio is the largest of its kind in Australia. PHOTO: Supplied.

The use of technology growing isn’t just limited to indoor facilities of course, with one of the busiest driving ranges in Australia to undergo a tech transformation later this year.

The Town of Cambridge announcing earlier this year that Wembley Golf Course will be equipped with the TrackMan Range system to offer more feedback to golfers than just their golf ball sailing off into the distance from the multi-tiered driving range.

Meanwhile, for those looking to bring the golf simulator boom to their own home, a personal mission to do the same resulted in the creation of Bayside Golf.

Sam Merton has a similar story to many golfers, and it resulted in an Australian provider of everything you could need to build your own simulator.

“I wanted to build a golf simulator after moving into a bigger house having relocated from Sydney,” Merton told Golf Australia. “We had just had a baby and getting four hours on the course was becoming tougher and so I went down the worm hole online and spent a lot of time in Facebook groups before deciding to do something about the difficulty of obtaining elements in Australia.”

The main issue that Merton, who has a background in IT, faced was obtaining enclosures that could be customised for each space and were safe to use and durable to withstand thousands of golf balls being launched into them.

There were of course various options in America, that could be shipped to Australia at a large cost, but unlike US stores like Home Depot offering the required corner fittings, that wasn’t the case here.

Merton has now created a reasonably priced flagship enclosure product that is the first of its kind in Australia and can be customised. A move that subsequently launched a full service simulator company.

Right: Trackman offer home set-ups as well as commercial using its Trackman 4 unit. PHOTO: Supplied.

The “Build Your Simulator” section of Bayside Golf’s website allows customers to go through a step-by-step process to create their very own ideal setup, including Skytrack, Flightscope Mevo and Garmin R10 launch monitors, hitting mats, projector, and two options of gaming PC to run the tech.

Arguably the most recognisable name in launch monitors, TrackMan also offer simulator builds for private use, all tailored to the needs of the client.

Utilising two radars and one camera, the TrackMan 4 unit is perfect to power your practice and play on some of the world’s best golf courses from the comfort of your own home.

Be it at home solutions, the ever expanding number of simulator business offering practice and play or driving ranges embracing technology to offer golfers a deeper and more enjoyable experience, the golf simulator revolution is just getting started.