By jmb
Instead of my usual commentary on the world, I thought I would write something purely fun — sharing about my experiences using Top Golf’s Summer pass this year.
So if you don’t know, Top Golf is a high tech driving range that uses ball tracking technology, which enables one to play a variety of games (including virtual golf games) while hitting balls. They also serve food and drinks, so it is something of a social thing. I enjoy playing there when I can, but their normal rates are too high for me to play very often, however, their summer pass is a different story.
The Summer pass cost me $179 plus another $20 to be able to pre-reserve times, and it was supposed to last from Memorial Day through Labor Day, however, it looks like they will be extending the season until the end of September!
The hours one can use the pass are Monday-Friday (Opening-5 pm), Saturday (Opening-noon) and Sunday (Opening am-noon, and 5pm to close). These hours are unfortunately the hottest part of the day in the summer, but generally in the afternoon at least, the areas where you are shooting from are in the shade.
So anyway, I tried to go everyday. I did a miss a week for a family vacation and a few odd days here and there, but otherwise I’m there almost everyday. I sometimes play the other games, but mostly I do the virtual courses (Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Spyglass, and St. Andrew’s), which is fairly realistic except for the “putting” (which is really just chipping to an impossible small target).
I do record my scores and total balls hit in a little notebook. Last summer I hit 3000 balls, so I was aiming to beat that. I passed that milestone earlier this week and I’m now am optimistic I may get to 4000 balls hit by the end of the summer pass — and here’s the cool part. with the cost being $200, that comes out to being that I got to hit 20 balls per dollar spent, which is about half the cost of a the driving range at one of the OKC municipal courses (but without the cool ball tracking, etc.)
However, this fun ends at the end of September. Of course I will be playing more regular golf then (and the weather will be much more tolerable) but I am tempted to sign up for their non-summer pass, but the cost is a bit more: $100/month for 2 players — you of course can bring whoever you want when you play, but this membership gives two people the right to go on their own. I don’t think I can justify the cost by myself, but . . . if you read this and would be interested in splitting a membership with me (so we each would pay $50/month), please be in touch!
One other thing I should mention — you can bring up to 5 people with you to play with the summer pass, so I did get to invite friends to play with me a few times, a few dates with my wife, and even a get-together with extended family once (the picture of this post is from that day), which was awesome.
That said, I still have another month left to play, so if any of my friends or family would like to play sometime before the end of September, please let me know!