In the middle of winter, golf courses across Niagara Region are silent.
Golf carts and greens mowers remain parked in maintenance shops. While some golfers have travelled south, running away from the dreary months that inevitably await, many golf clubs sit quietly in storage.
But over the past decade the development of golf simulators have provided golfers with endless possibilities to play: you can be challenged by the courses at Pebble Beach, Firestone or Torrey Pines, you can play in the rain or in the sunshine, you can play with or without wind.
Tim Proctor, owner of Turf Net Sports Supplies in Fonthill, was initially unsure about the community’s interest in indoor golf. Despite being in the golf business for more than 20 years – Turf Net provides landscape turf, netting and golf course supplies for residential and commercial customers throughout Canada – this was a different undertaking.
But he decided to make the jump, purchasing one simulator on the advice of a friend.
“I was the only one 11 years ago to have this. We bought one unit and then my partner said to me, ‘What do you think the cost of return is?’ I said two-three years. Six months, bought and paid for itself,” Proctor recalled. “I was like, ‘Alright, (we’re) on to something.'”
Turf Net now has two indoor simulator bays with 4K full HD, each installed with 54 PGA-rated courses.
“Everybody loves the game of golf. In the winter time, you’re going down south, you want to get a couple rounds in … or you just want that swing to keep going.”
For more information on Turf Net Sports Supplies and all their products for your golf club visit www.turfnetsportssupplies.com or call toll free 1-877-617-8787.
