Will This Indoor, City Golf Model From GOLFZON Be Coming To The U.S.?

Erik Matuszewski’s coverage spans golf businesses, news & destinations

Oct 14, 2024, 06:00am EDT

GOLFZON has introduced its first City Golf location — and it’s urban golf model for playing a full 18 holes indoors — in China. And worldwide expansion is planned. GOLFZON

GOLFZON has introduced its urban golf course model — City Golf — at a convention center in Tianjin, China, with a hybrid, indoor setup that combines simulator golf with real green complexes.

And while the format is debuting in China, the plan is to expand City Golf to other major cities worldwide.

Backed by GOLFZON China, which operates 230 screen golf facilities in the world’s second-most populous country, City Golf has an 18-hole setup that features one screen and one synthetic green per hole across a 106,000-square-foot venue. The location also features a fitness area along with a dining component.

“City Golf is the most ideal urban golf course, applying GOLFZON’s world-class golf simulator technology and golf course management expertise,” said GOLFZON Newdin Group Chairman Kim Young-Chan. “We expect it to become the world’s leading golf platform, offering a new and unique golf experience akin to playing a round on a real course right in the middle of the city, starting with China and expanding globally.”

After hitting tee shots and approach shots in a simulator golf bay, the screen will raise and participants at City Golf will then move to a unique putting green to finish the individual hole.GOLFZON

In the City Golf format, participants on Hole 1 would hit tee shots and approach shots (if needed) in the screen-golf bay, which retracts for the players to finish the hole with putts on an actual green. After putting out, the players would move to the second hold, which has a new screen and new specially designed green.

Each of the 18 holes at City Golf features a specially designed green with its own unique characteristics.GOLFZON

City Golf is essentially a full 18-hole round played indoors, on a far smaller footprint than an outdoor course.

It’s a different setup than GOLFZON’s current presence in the U.S., as the South Korean-headquartered company partnered with Troon on golf entertainment simulator venues called Golfzon Social. The initial locations in the New York area cater to golfers and non-golfers alike, offering interactive arcade games as well as game-mode favorites — like darts and window smash — in addition to more than 200 top golf courses available to play on the company’s high-end simulators.

A foursome finishes on the green after taking early shots in a simulator at City Golf in China. GOLFZON

With City Golf, GOLFZON China is seeking to establish a new golf culture in a market where the game’s popularity continues to grow.

GOLFZON has more than 11,000 commercial locations in 63 countries worldwide. Most of them, particularly the more than 5,000 venues in South Korea, are more focused on traditional golf than entertainment golf, with GOLFZON recording more than 90 million rounds a year globally played using its simulator technology.

Simulator golf continues to gain in popularity in the U.S., with 73% growth in the total number of participants from 2019 to 2023, according to the National Golf Foundation. As successful franchises such as Five Iron Golf, Topgolf Swing Suite, and X Golf continue to add commercial locations, will GOLFZON’s City Golf find its way to North America?

With the City Golf format, participants will move from simulator to simulator and green to green at the 18-hole indoor venues.

GOLFZON