This golf business appears to be booming...

[Steve Strasheim]

Getting a decent tee time here is next to impossible:

http://beyondgolfomaha.com/

Take your clubs into the bar, have a drink and play a round with blizzard conditions outside. While they must obviously slow down in good weather, it is still a good practice facility as an indoor driving range. This place has three hitting bays with simulators and they have been packed with a steady stream of golfers every single time I have been there.

[K. Krahenbuhl]

We often play Pebble Beach and Pinehurst at Swanson's Golf Center here in Houston.  Perfect for cool or rainy days.  The golf pairs nicely with a bucket of beers.

[Sean Eidson]

We had a place like that in Dallas.  It was empty when the sun was shining and packed when it wasn't.

Dallas has more sunny days than not, so it was often empty.  And it went out of business.

Omaha doesn't have as many sunny days, so they might make it.

[Shane Wright]

There is a place in SW Minnesota - Fairmont - population approximately 11,000 - that has a similar golf simulator.  People come from all over southern Minnesota to go to it, even on their lunch breaks.  It is an absolute hole in the wall that you would barely notice if you were driving by.  I happened to see the sign when I was driving thru for business and had to take a peek. 

I started talking to the guys playing and they said they had a tee time set up over their lunch break.  It takes them 1 hour to play and then they head back to work.  The thing is, they were from Albert Lea which is an hour away.  So essentially a 3 hour lunch break....not sure what type of jobs they did. 

Anyways, the place is packed all the time. 

Without looking, I asked them what course they were playing.  They said "It's Prairie something.....yeah Prairie Dunes...some course out in California." 

I had to laugh just slightly.  But they were having a great time.

[Mike Wagner]

There was a place like this in Kirkland, WA a few years back and it didn't make it.  I'm not sure the technology was ready....the new ones seem much better.

The problem is longevity....people try it once, but I'm not sure many real golfers go back.  I sure have had my fill after doing it once....

[Garland Bayley]

Talk about the technology not being ready! I went to a place in Omaha 30 years ago where I played Pebble Beach by hitting balls into a large projection screen. There was something behind the screen that sensed the hit and then rolled the projection forward as if you were going to where your ball landed. It sucked. I could feel great shots coming off the club and watch them fizzle on the screen. Then I would catch one on the toe that should have gone nowhere, but the screen would zoom forward like I had pured the best shot of my life. After about 5 holes, I was just going through the motions to finish what I had paid for.

[Ulrich Mayring]

At $35 / hour I can't understand how they are so successful.

Ulrich

[Chris Flamion]

I have used one of these on many occasions.  They are great fun as long as you understand they aren't perfect.

Ulrich, a round of 18 with 4 people would hardly ever clock in at more than 2 hours and you have almost as much social time since you never get spread out.

[Bill Rocco]

I have yet to be able to slice a ball a fairway over in a simulator....can not say I have never done that in real life. If it is raining play golf in the rain, if it is cold play golf in the cold...and if it is snowing play tiger woods 2010

[Jim Sweeney]

Take your clubs into the bar, have a drink and play a round

golf pairs nicely with a bucket of beers.

Glad you enjoy it and hope you have a great time, but this is exactly why I don't go to these places....too much like a bowling alley!

Actually, my clubs are stored from Thanksgiving to St. Paddy's day, unless I go to Florida or Arizona.

Enjoy!