Indoor golf could see another surge with TGL’s TV coverage of a new, accessible kind of golf
Big-time spectator golf’s shiny new toy, Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) – which showcases teams of three well-known professional golfers facing off in a state-of-the-art 250,000 square foot indoor golf arena with a seating capacity of 1,500 – debuted on ESPN last week to an audience of nearly 1 million television viewers. This week’s match, which has Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links GC (a squad rounded out by Max Homa and Kevin Kisner) facing off against Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala, and Collin Morikawa of the LAGC (Los Angeles Golf Club), should put interest into overdrive. Woods, at age 49, still moves the needle on the fairways and, apparently, in nighttime indoor golf, too.
Prime time professional golf on a weeknight was a calculated risk, to be sure, but with a couple of dozen of the PGA Tour’s most recognizable and popular players appearing in a fast-paced, tech-powered fun-focused version of the royal and ancient sport, TGL has a puncher’s chance to capture a new and enthusiastic audience and make the game’s professional tours a more inviting and inclusive draw.
To the naked eye, TGL, contested on a dazzling indoor golf stage, is definitely a more energetic presentation than the buttoned-up, genteel week-to-week golf tournaments we have been accustomed to watching. TGL matches are played in a purpose-built man cave on steroids. The SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is slightly smaller than an American football field and loaded with tech-infused indoor golf bells and whistles.
Players hit toward a mammoth 53 ft by 64 ft video screen that, through proprietary software links real-time launch monitor data on each golf shot and to the GreenZone, a 41-yard diameter rotating turntable with a synthetic putting green and real sand bunkers. Even the hitting zones are one of a kind. The Shot Boxes consist of real-world playing surfaces for tee shots and approach shots. The teeing areas feature real grass hitting areas, one with longer grass and one with closely cropped grass. The gameplay is infused with constant movement, quick breaks between shots and engineered lighting and pulse-pounding music that serves as a constant reminder that this is not granddad’s golf match we’re watching.
Whether more viewers begin to connect with the players in a more meaningful and engaging way remains to be seen, but the arena itself, locked and loaded with indoor golf’s most advanced technology, is the unexpected star of the broadcast. The giant video screen today’s top pros hit into in TGL matches is a constant reminder of how far indoor golf technology, simulators, launch monitors and overhead projectors have come in recent years. Home simulator installations are at an all-time high and the scalable options for making one’s indoor golf dreams a reality on any variety of scalable budgets suddenly seem endless.
You could not fault viewers if they find themselves watching TGL and getting the itch or the curiosity to explore an indoor golf space of their own. The Indoor Golf Shop – ShopIndoorGolf.com – is the leading manufacturer of indoor golf equipment and home to the largest selection of residential and commercial indoor golf products online. Our team has helped indoor golf clients of every budget with every room type (even garage and basement spaces) find the ideal simulator for their space, desires, and budget. Any questions a first-time simulator, launch monitor, simulator screen or enclosure customer might have, we take pride and pleasure in helping problem-solve with the goal of turning your indoor golf dreams into a reality.
While TGL takes the proportions and gamification of indoor golf to an extreme, it’s still extremely accessible for a wider-than-ever range of consumers to have a home simulator, play their favorite courses at home, practice to get better, entertain friends and family and even play a variety of other sports in addition to indoor golf. Once you’ve hit into a sim off of The Indoor Golf Shop’s true-to-golf, ultra-realistic Sigpro Softy Hitting Mat or entertained guests inside your very-own purpose-built SigPro Enclosure, you’ll know your passion and enjoyment for golf will have reached an all-time high. There’s really nothing like it.
We’re your best and most efficient source for launch monitors and full golf simulator systems from tops brands like Trackman, Uneekor, Foresight, Garmin, Bushnell, Flightscope, Pro Tee, Full Swing, and Tru Golf.
The Indoor Golf Shop is the DIYer’s best friend when it comes to indoor golf simulator projects. “A lot of people are intimidated by the process and think it’s going to be overly complicated,” says Indoor Golf Shop Founder and CEO Rene Delgado. “But at least with our simulator box-type solutions, everything we manufacture, and design is meant to be set up and installed by a customer in under an hour. Our enclosures, our frames, are push-button connect, color coded, and amazingly simple to put together. You can put it up within 20 minutes. One person can do it. We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible for customers to do it on their own.” And whichever company you choose to buy components from, make sure they have a support team that can help walk you through each installation step over the phone. Some can even remotely connect to your computer and calibrate the system.”
With 2.4 million new golf participants in the U.S. since the pandemic and more than 33 million total playing non-traditional (TopGolf or indoor golf) in addition to the 27 million avid golfers in America, that’s a lot of folks who might be wondering – TGL-inspired or otherwise – what it takes to have indoor golf in their homes. We love those conversations.
Contact us at ShopIndoorGolf.com or call us on 469-942-0980 and we can talk about the golf simulator space of your dreams.
