Golf anytime – how indoor golf simulators save time and bring the fun to your home

Ann-Kathrin Nahl

The game of golf needs to change. As time is of the essence for most people in an incredibly high-paced society, golf has become a game that takes up too much time, both on TV and in actual gameplay. This is also the reason why indoor golf simulators have become increasingly popular. And the experience just got a major upgrade. 

Before you get mad about the initial claim, we are not saying that the traditional format should vanish. However, the reality is that for many people, the time issue keeps them from enjoying golf more often or keeps them away from the game completely. We all know those jokes about husbands getting in trouble with their wives for playing too much golf for too long. The issue itself has by now made it to the highest level of the game. It is one aspect that LIV was trying to leverage from the very beginning. Cut down the amount of time it takes and make golf more entertaining. And it is also something that the PGA Tour can not escape. However, the idea is not to take away Majors, Ryder Cups or the general concept of professional golf. Instead, the goal is to bring golf to more people, more often, and easier to understand for viewers. The PGA Tour’s answer to this is the TGL. An indoor golf simulator league where the best of the best compete against each other in a team format. Indoor golf simulators have long been very popular among amateurs, but the TGL was the first format that gave this side of golf credibility all the way to the highest level of the game. It shows how much fun can be had, but also that it can be used for serious competition. So why has it not emerged sooner?

Save time and space with the Foresight Sports x PuttView integration and turn your indoor golf simulator setup into an interactive putting green

When golfers are told to play indoors, one of the first things they will say is that this is not the real thing. Putting on artificial grass is not the same as being out on the course, and hitting into a screen is not quite as satisfying as watching your ball fly down the fairway or into the rough. And it is true. It’s not the same thing, but it does have many benefits and it just got a whole lot closer to the “real” thing. One major piece that was missing from indoor golf simulators was a more realistic putting experience. In fact, most people probably set the gameplay to auto putt simply because otherwise the outcome is either unrealistic, boring, or it seems impossible to get an idea of speed and distance control, which also makes it unsatisfying. From a professional standpoint, you can say that also makes it ineligible for serious competition because we all know the real fun comes with the pressure over this final putt to win it all. So one of the groundbreaking innovations at the TGL was the external green, which allowed for real putting action and all that comes with it. And here comes the good news: You can have that too! At your house, facility, university,  golf course, or wherever else you want it. Together with Foresight Sports, we have launched a full integration with our software so you can finish your putts on a real pysical green.

It means that just like on TV, you can now play any course you want with your buddies, and once you reach the green, the PuttView software takes over and will show you the actual putt on a real, sloped green for you to finish. Complete with the actual distance you face in the game, as well as the most similar slope to it. Once your ball goes into the hole and your buddies have completed theirs, the Foresight Software takes back over, adds your score and brings you to the next tee. No additional steps needed. This creates a fully immersive indoor golf experience that is as close to the game outside as possible.  You can even decide if you would like to see helpful PuttView visuals while you putt, such as the Ideal Line, or if you want to putt without any visual help. But the coolest thing about this is, that you actually do not need to have any more space than is required for an indoor golf simulator. Remember that dead space around your hitting area that often times is cluttered with training aids, clubs and balls? How about you just turn this into an interactive putting green? Our in-the-box solutions allow you to turn this area into a predesigned sloped putting green with the most common breaks you will face on the course. And if you happen to have more space available, we can also offer you an external putting green solution, which creates a game experience similar to the TGL. Here you can choose from all our products, such as the Moving Series, Custom Series, or Professional Series to be connected with simulator bays from Foresight Sports.

The integration is not only picking the closest putt to what you are facing in gameplay, but it is also ultra-realistic, as the green is sloped and provides countless putting scenarios 

This is the most encompassing product series we have ever launched. While it integrates seamlessly with the Foresight simulators, all greens can also be used as the usual PuttView systems. Meaning you can use the full PuttView software with drills, games, professional practice mode, statistics, and so on. In doing so, it also closes another important gap for usual indoor practice. Instead of having to separate your putting practice from practicing the rest of your game, you can now practice everything in one place. No more dependency on the weather or course conditions. Just grab your putter and get rolling, or pick a course in the Foresight game play and enjoy a realistic round of golf.

While indoor golf will never be the exact same thing as walking the fairways we love so much, or watching four days of golf at the beginning of April every year, it certainly has the potential to grow the game of golf and make it a lot more engaging and accessible for more people. By finally integrating putting into the concept, the experience has reached a level where it is simply fun, convenient, and effective for a very wide range of golfers and professionals. In all aspects of golf.