Over reading break I had the opportunity to go to freezing Edmonton for soccer. Some days were 3 degrees and others went down to -25. What a crazy city to live in! During my free time, when I should’ve been doing school work, I went to the Windermere Golf and Country Club and tried out their golf simulator. It was far too cold and snowy to play on a real course but I still wanted to get a round in. These state of the art simulators allow you to play on most of the PGA Tour courses from around the world. You set up your ball in the designated hitting area. Once your ball is placed, swing away. The simulator analyzes a bunch of data from your swing including speed, spin, launch angle, club speed, etc. All of this data is projected onto the screen that you are shooting towards to give you a very accurate flight path. Because you are shooting towards a screen that projects the course in front of you, it feels as if you are actually playing on the real course. My friend and I played one of the PGA Tour Courses in Hawaii and tee’d off from the championship tees. It was a humbling experience. After we completed 9 holes we tried out some of the games that the simulator had. Target Practice, Closest to the Pin, Bullseye, and the most popular, the Long Drive Competition. My friend and I spent way too long playing the Long Drive Competition and I completed one of my biggest goals off the tee. I drove over 300 yards!! I averaged around 280 yards but hit one 304 yards, only to be outdrove by my friend by 3 yards.
Benefits of a Golf Simulator:
- Lots of practice with different shots and clubs
- If you live in a place that gets snow over the winter then this is a great alternative
- You don’t need to hang up the clubs in the winter
- You can play courses that you would never have the opportunity in real life
- Many of the games provide a fun way to work on specific shots instead of just hitting balls at a driving range for an hour
- You can challenge friends in games that would be too hard to set up on a real course.
- You can play a full 18 in around an hour and a half because there is no walking
- With a group of friends it ends up being cheaper for a round than at a real course
There are golf simulators popping up all over the place. Iron and Wood in Victoria opened up recently and has been booked solid. Because of all the benefits of simulators, they are becoming very popular around the world. The technology is getting better and apart from not being able to leave a divot, it is very similar to playing a real course. If you want to work on your golf game but don’t have 4 hours to play, don’t feel like walking 10 kilometres, or want to play some fun challenges with friends, a golf simulator is the way to go.