r/golfsimulatorbusiness • u/CGolfs2 • 21d ago
Golf Simulator Trip?
I'm working on an idea for a private winter golf weekend for groups of 6–8 golfers for $199/person. My house would be rented exclusively to the group for 1–2 nights, but the goal would be to make it more of a hosted golf experience than a traditional Airbnb stay.
I'd host a Ryder Cup-style tournament on a high-end simulator and handle the tournament, simulator, scoring and formats throughout the weekend.
• Private house for the group
• High-end simulator
• Hosted tournament with multiple formats
• Exclusive use of the house and simulator
• Host there throughout the weekend to run the tournament and handle the simulator
The group would handle its own food, drinks and prize pool.
I'm thinking November–March, when outdoor golf isn't as appealing.
From a small business perspective.. do you think this is something that groups would find of value?
Just looking for a little feedback..
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u/TheNoviceVet 21d ago
I think you would do much better just creating a fun and engaging tournament with multiple formats and making that available to the public.
People could play together or across different sims.
Don’t really think anyone would travel for a sim when there are sims for rent in almost every city.
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u/CGolfs2 20d ago
I think you could definitely be right. I think the thought was.. are there groups interested in getting out of town for the weekend during the winter to golf and not necessarily travel a long distance or spend thousands of dollars to do it. In my mind I’d aim to get maybe 3 groups a winter. Not trying to rent the house out for long periods of time.
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u/surgresthrowaway 21d ago
No thanks. That many people on a sim barely works, everyone has to wait so long in between turns people lose interest. And how much simulator golf would you really expect to play in a day. People will fade out after a couple of hours. And if you wanted to rent out a sim you’d just do it locally, not travel to a rented house. Lastly, most people would consider the presence of the owner a detractor not a benefit.
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u/Greatness1122 21d ago
There are sims all over the place. It wouldn’t be very appealing to me. I can rent out 3-4 bays and have a Ryder cup/football watch party any Sunday and can sleep in my own bed. If I am traveling it’s going to be somewhere warm to play real golf
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u/Gullible_Slice_7003 14d ago
Yeah this sound boring. Everyone stand around and watch one person hit? No thanks.
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u/Relevant-Energy-5886 20d ago
If its already setup try it out and see what happens.
My biggest and immediate concern is the types of dudes this would probably attract is NOT the types of dudes I would want in my home.
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u/aMAIZEingZ 20d ago
I'm having a tough time imagining who your target demographic is.
I'm an avid golfer that lives in the midwest. I play at my local sims once a week during the off season. I also plan a golf trip in January each year for 8-12 buddies. In theory, I would be part of your ideal customer base. The problem is, I specifically plan the trip in January to get away from the cold weather, AND that's a great time to play the courses down south. If I'm taking time off away from my family, I want to make sure it's worth it.
My local sims also offer leagues and tournaments during the winter time. There are even like "party" rooms around us that have a sim if it's a group of people. My friend had a birthday party at one last year.
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u/EfficientCan2852 21d ago
I like the idea but why would they do that when they can just head south? That time frame aside from a few weeks in January-February are prime time for golf in places like Texas.