Bill DiPaolo
Special to The Post
- Three planned indoor golf venues are expected to be packed with the latest in golfing gadgetry and more.
- The X-Golf in the Palm Beach Marketplace on Okeechobee Boulevard will be the first in Florida for the Los Angeles-based company.
Golf — the indoor kind — is making the game easier, more accessible and just plain fun in Palm Beach County.
Three planned indoor venues are expected to be packed with the latest in golfing gadgetry and more.
Simulated screens to measure hitting distance are planned. So are floor plates to determine club swing speed. Lasers that calculate how to chip and putt better. Devices to determine the type of golf ball you should use. Golfers can play simulated rounds at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.
The twin brothers from Jupiter who are opening a site in West Palm Beach plan activities not just for golfers. There’ll be restaurants, bars, ping-pong, music and rows of televisions. A Delray Beach location will be more for golf diehards, with plenty of golf technology but fewer entertainment options.
And the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens will let golf fans cheer some of the world's greatest players as they compete in an indoor, match-play league led by Tiger Woods and Rory McElroy.
“We’re making the game less intimidating. We want people to enjoy golf as entertainment that does not have to take four hours,” said Steven Kittrell, 38. He and his twin brother David next month are opening X-Golf in the former Peter Glenn Ski & Sports in the Palm Beach Marketplace on Okeechobee Boulevard.
The X-Golf will be the first in Florida for the Los Angeles-based company that has about 150 centers nationwide.
Many golfers, and their non-golfing friends, are familiar with Drive Shack, the golf and entertainment complex with the towering batting-cage nets on Belvedere Road near Palm Beach International Airport.
Opened in 2019, Drive Shack is a three-level complex with 96 golf bays where customers can do everything from sip beverages, dine and listen to music to hit golf balls onto a field that calculates their game.
Kittrell promises more.
A simulated driving range is planned. Two dozen TV screens. A bar. Nine simulated bays for golfers. Private rooms with golf simulators. Shuffleboard. Food. Competitions for cash prizes and trips. Golf leagues.
“We want to be a casual hangout for non-golfers. And a place for serious golfers to fine tune their game,” said Kittrell, who attended the Benjamin School and graduated from the University of Florida.
In Delray Beach, new indoor facility will feature lessons, simulated courses
More golfing wizardry is planned at the Delray Beach Indoor Golf Center when it opens on July 27. Individual and group lessons, laser projections to assist golfers with their swings and simulations at more than 1,000 golf courses around the world are planned at the center at Atlantic Avenue and Military Trail.
What type of golf ball is best for individual golfers — like shortstops selecting their own glove — will be an option.
“Different balls perform better at different swing speeds. Golfers using the right ball makes a huge difference in their game,” said Matt Ball, the chief executive officer of Tannin’ n Golf Studio, the company that operates the center.
Entertainment beyond golf is not a large part of the business plan at the Delray Beach Center. Alcohol, wall-to-wall TVs, a staff serving food are not going to greet customers.
“I’m a golf junkie. I keep up with the latest and greatest technological techniques. I want to pass that on to my customers,” said Ball, 59, who was a golf coach in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, before moving to Delray Beach.
That technology is revolutionizing golf, he said.
“Technology has shortened the learning curve to be a great golfer. Used to be, championship golfers were in their 30s before they won big tournaments. Now, they are in their early 20s,” said Ball.
In Palm Beach Gardens, Tiger Woods-led indoor facility is under construction
The Tiger Woods-led indoor golf arena is rising on the campus at Palm Beach State College. The structure is the second version of the arena, once intended to operate under an inflatable dome. Those original plans were scrapped when a windstorm and a power outage ripped up the nascent dome. Construction on this steel and concrete arena began March 18 with the exterior due to be complete in early August.
The arena will sit on a 10-acre site and those behind the project report it remains on target to host the first match in January 2025 — a match to be broadcast on ESPN.
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- You are out of the blazing sun.
- You can play simulated golf at St. Andrews in Scotland, Pebble Beach in California and Augusta National in Georgia and hundreds of other courses around the world — and never leave Palm Beach County.
- You can play at night. And when it’s raining.
- Getting struck by lightning isn’t going to happen. Don’t laugh. PGA legend Lee Trevino and two golfing pals were struck in 1975 at the 13th hole at the Western Open Golf Tournament in Illinois. Trevino needed back surgery to remove a damaged disc.
- Quickies are popular. One hour is all it takes to play an 18-hole round.
- Simulated golf — “sim golf” in golf lingo — is a fun, easy gateway for beginners.
- You can watch a football game, munch chicken wings, enjoy a beverage and play golf — all from the same spot.
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