My Son and I played Kidnappers at our local simulator (high end public course set up in a banquet room) -- good setup with some trackman 'lite' capabilities and good graphics -- kind of like the shot tracker on PGA broadcasts. They have 2 'bays' and they have to have someone there the whole time --full bar which is nice. We do a one putt max and can play 18 holes in a 2 some in an hour @$35/hour. I have to imagine each bay is +$50K with all the electronics, mats, screen and with the labor $35/hr seems reasonable and beats Ice Fishing.
Anything beats falling through the ice and drowning!
I'm not sure of your numbers - I know someone who used to be in that industry, so I will ask - but I'll try to compare cost/benefit:
GOLF COURSE - $5m to build - 200 golfers / day is pretty much the max
SIMULATOR - $50k (1% of golf course cost to build) - has to average 2 golfers / day to keep up with the golf course
The golf course probably gets a lot more for a green fee than the simulator ... Cape Kidnappers charges a lot more than $35. But it also costs a lot more to maintain, too, and the simulator wins on economy of scale [you don't have to buy that many simulators until there's demand].
So from a strictly economic standpoint, the simulator is going to win out long term. But, as the MasterCard commercials used to say, being there = priceless !