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The Golf Simulator Industry is Worth Over A Billion Dollars
Every Monday, I write a newsletter breaking down the business in golf. Welcome to the 131 new Perfect Putt members who have joined us since our last newsletter. Join 7,664 intelligent and curious golfers by subscribing below.
Today At A Glance:
The golf simulator industry has seen incredible growth in the last few years — today’s newsletter details that growth and the factors behind it. We caught up with golf simulator retailer The Indoor Golf Shop to understand the home and commercial simulator market.
Read Time: 5 minutes
Today’s newsletter is powered by The Indoor Golf Shop.
Winter is right around the corner. And we need to keep our game sharp.
Golf doesn’t start and stop at the course – it can consume our life. We talk about it, think about it, read about it, and watch it.
The Indoor Golf Shop caters to golfers who obsess about the game — but want the convenience of practicing and playing in their home or office.
Indoor Golf Shop makes and sells simulator components to commercial facilities and major golf brands. They are North America’s golf simulator superstore.
The Indoor Golf Shop is offering an incredible deal on their SIGPRO Golf Net. Use code PERFECTPUTT and get $250 off.
Hey Golfers —
The golf simulator market has been on an incredible run for the last few years. Research indicates the market is worth around $1.5 billion — and is expected to be over $3 billion in 2030.
We have had several acquisitions and investments in the last two years.
Foresight sold to Vista Outdoor for $474 million.
Full Swing received a $160 million majority investment from Bruin Capital.
Skytrak sold to Golftec for $65 million.
Foresight being valued at nearly half a billion is impressive. For reference — Callaway’s market cap is $2.4 billion.
Golf simulators were seeing a rise in popularity before Covid. Then, the market exploded during Covid as more people were working from home and getting into golf.
The Google Trends report on the search term ‘Golf Simulator’ gives us a better picture of the growth. From 2004 to 2017, the highest number the search term saw was 27. And most years were around 20.
2018 — 28
2019 — 47
2020 — 57
2021 — 70
2022 — 78
2023 — 100
There isn’t one silver bullet responsible for the market’s growth — there are several.
We can look at the growth in two parts.
Before Covid — cost and technology improvements
Post Covid — growth in on-course and off-course golf
Of course — technology and cost continue to improve every year. You can get a golf simulator in your home for under $10,000. And you can pick up a launch monitor for under a few thousand dollars.
To better understand the industry — I caught up with the team at The Indoor Golf Shop.
The Indoor Golf Shop is a full-service golf simulator retailer selling several brands and accessories. We are going to break down two different areas.
Home simulator setup
Commercial simulator setup
Space is important. For your home, the ideal ceiling height is ten feet — in some cases, you can get away with nine feet. You need about twelve feet of width in your room. The overall depth of your room depends on a couple of different factors. Radar launch monitors need to sit eight feet behind the golfer, while optical launch monitors sit next to the golfer. You are looking at 12 - 18 feet of depth for your home setup.
Hitting turf and the screen are often overlooked in the purchase of a simulator — but they are equally as important. Poor quality hitting turf can result in possible injury to your joints and elbows. Sound is essential with a home simulator setup — and a high-quality screen is vital in deadening the sound.
Some of the most popular home simulators for under $10,000?
All three options are around $7,500 and include hitting turf, screen, and enclosure.
Simulators generally hold their value well. The older generation SkyTrak launch monitors sell for around $800 on eBay. While the SkyTrak+ sells for $2,700 new.
Ceiling-mounted options are popular for home use as well.
Those options cost between $15,000 and $30,000 with hitting turf, screen, and enclosure.
And if you are looking to add a golf simulator to your house and need design help — the Indoor Golf Shop can help with that.
More home builders are adding golf simulators to designs. Can it add value to your home? Realtors are split on this. The most common answer I received will certainly add value if the buyer is a golfer.
Commercial golf simulator businesses are booming. An internet search will result in the news of a new indoor location opening every week in a different part of the country.
Golftec opened 25 new locations in 2022 — they now have over 225 locations. X-Golf opened its 100th location last year. And new companies like Swing 365 are starting to build out locations.
And the value-added golf retailers like Golftec and PGA Superstore seemingly all have simulators in their locations now as a method for teaching and fitting customers. Simulators and launched monitors have changed how we purchase golf equipment.
The recommendation for indoor golf businesses is a ceiling-mounted simulator. A business catering to righty and lefty golfers will benefit from a ceiling-mounted simulator.
One of the more popular options for a commercial business is the Foresight GCHawk — which costs around $30,000.
If you are looking into opening an indoor golf space — there are several different business models, and they aren’t a one-size-fits-all. The Indoor Golf Shop typically sees a simulator-style business with a restaurant open to the public.
The industry has a ton of room to run. The forecasted CAGR is around 9% for the next eight years. Compare this to the golf equipment CAGR of 5% for the next eight years. The golf simulator market is growing twice as fast as the equipment market.
We will continue to see new companies emerge — whether simulator or indoor golf companies. Technology will continue to improve, and costs will continue to get more competitive. We are still early in the golf simulator market.
Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!
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