Top Golf

[Lihu]

Went to the facility in Metuchen with my son today.

2 hour wait time and lots of birthday parties.

The “Dave and Busters” of driving ranges. 😂

[dennyjones]

10 minutes ago, Lihu said:

2 hour wait time

You have much more patience than I.   I won't wait anywhere that long.. I've walked out of doctor's office and dentist's office in less time than that.   Even retired, my time is more valuable that a 2 hour wait

but enough about me and one of my many issues...I have issues!

 

Describe your experience please.    They are going to be building one in Michigan and I'm curious.

[billchao]

24 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Went to the facility in Metuchen with my son today.

2 hour wait time and lots of birthday parties.

The “Dave and Busters” of driving ranges. 😂

That's funny. You don't even live here and you've been there more than I have. I have no plans to go whatsoever.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

You have much more patience than I.   I won't wait anywhere that long.. I've walked out of doctor's office and dentist's office in less time than that.   Even retired, my time is more valuable that a 2 hour wait

but enough about me and one of my many issues...I have issues!

 

Describe your experience please.    They are going to be building one in Michigan and I'm curious.

It’s more of a teen hangout, like a bowling alley for golf or a D&B for real.

Go to the one in Michigan, it’s worth the $50 per hour if you have nothing else. If I lived around here, I’d likely have a net at home like Bill and take up skiing again 😊

 

1 hour ago, billchao said:

That's funny. You don't even live here and you've been there more than I have. I have no plans to go whatsoever.

😁

[paulballs]

Totally disagree that it's a teen hang out. I've been multiple times to multiple locations in different states, its mostly a mid 20s - 30s crowd. 

It's not intended to be any kind of golf simulation or driving range. It's like darts/bowling with a golf ball. I enjoy playing golf, but I also enjoy Top Golf. 

 

BTW, you can put your name on the wait list and leave. They will send you a text when you have about 15min til your stall is open. Granted you can't go very far, but you can even reply "need more time" and they offer I believe 15, 30, 60min more increments. 

Edited July 23, 2018 by paulballs

[RayG]

Funny- I first heard of Top Golf while in Florida a few years ago (Tampa area). There was an article in the Paper announcing the project or recent opening (I can't remember) and there was a description given by one of the owners/managers on how it was for everybody. But that there would be 'zones' for different types of guests. The Top floor (3 tiers) would be for more exclusive/expensive parties and corporate type things, middle tier was for general use by the public- B'day parties, Bro-Stags and such. But the lower level would be for the 'real golfer'. A quieter area for actual practice with the ability to give yardage numbers and trackman info type of stuff. Has anyone come across this scenario at one of their locations?

[ghalfaire]

They have a top golf in Gilbert, AZ.  I have been there several times and enjoy it.  Usually with one of the Grandsons.  Don't recommend weekends as it will be crowded. But a good way to spend a couple of hours.

[ejm1994]

On 7/21/2018 at 5:09 PM, dennyjones said:

Describe your experience please.    They are going to be building one in Michigan and I'm curious.

They just opened one here in Pittsburgh last Friday. I went on Sunday, about 10:30 AM, place was decently crowded but I got a bay no problem. It's definitely worth the $25/hour because of the shear number of balls you can hit in that time. At a regular range, like the one in my little neighborhood, I'd spend $15 for a bucket of 102 balls. I can play 5-6 "games" easy in an hour, 20 balls each "game." And it tells you the exact yardage that you hit each ball (provided they make it onto a target, but even if they don't, you can estimate based on what it told you for previous shots that did land on a target).

For someone that's also missing a driver, like me it's great that I can use their clubs they have at each bay for no additional charge.

10/10 would recommend. Been there twice in the past two days.

[iacas]

33 minutes ago, ejm1994 said:

And it tells you the exact yardage that you hit each ball (provided they make it onto a target, but even if they don't, you can estimate based on what it told you for previous shots that did land on a target).

They're limited flight balls, though, so it's not super helpful for the better players who want to dial in yardages or anything.

[ejm1994]

34 minutes ago, iacas said:

They're limited flight balls, though, so it's not super helpful for the better players who want to dial in yardages or anything.

Watched this a couple days ago. Not sure how accurate the beginning part is where they are testing the top golf ball versus a regular ball, but they seem fairly close. Closer than I’d have imagined, anyway. 

 

[nevets88]

I'd rather go to a range with real grass with better than normal regular range balls and a short game area with bunkers and real practice greens and quiet and no waiters interrupting you. Plus hard to get a face on video of your swing and if stall in front of you is taken. It's about the same price to get a day pass (literally unlimited balls) at Neshanic versus TopGolf at Edison  

TopGolf is like those movie theaters where they serve food and booze while you sit and watch the movie  instead of a movie there's a golf stall. During the winter in Edison at least they blast the heat so if you want  outdoor practice during winter, that's the place to go. With the pool tables throw in some ping pong tables it feels like ESPN Sports Zone albeit no wall of screens. If you want to be reductive, whenever they start serving liquor, it's basically a giant upscale bar, or like a collection of corporate suites at a baseball stadium, with golf. 

[iacas]

@ejm1994, that’s a lousy test. It’s calculating flight not measuring it.

Most have said 10-15% less distance. Which matches my experience.

[Bucki1968]

Tampa location is usually pretty busy. I don’t like hitting off mats so I don’t go to try to practice. I go if friends want to meet for the “bar experience”. The food is ok but overpriced as well as the adult beverages. I do see a lot of non-golfers having fun which I guess is a good thing just as long as they do it there and not in the group in front of me on the golf course. 😜

[Darth_Fader]

27 minutes ago, Bucki1968 said:

I do see a lot of non-golfers having fun which I guess is a good thing just as long as they do it there and not in the group in front of me on the golf course. 😜

I don't know what top golf is, but daaang we could do with syphoning some of the non-golfers that the (rare) sunshine over here has drawn to golf courses 🤷‍♂️ 

[Lihu]

7 hours ago, ejm1994 said:

Watched this a couple days ago. Not sure how accurate the beginning part is where they are testing the top golf ball versus a regular ball, but they seem fairly close. Closer than I’d have imagined, anyway. 

 

I think it’s the dimple pattern that alters the flight?

I hit a bunch of balls that I felt would have sliced coming way over the top, but ended up okay with these balls. Of course, my course balls have quite a bit of spin.

 

55 minutes ago, iacas said:

@ejm1994, that’s a lousy test. It’s calculating flight not measuring it.

Most have said 10-15% less distance. Which matches my experience.

Sounds about right, they’re even a bit shorter than my usual range balls. Unfortunately, I was using their clubs and didn’t have my Mevo with me.

 

Overall, a fun experience, it’s a “kind of golf” experience with a D&B feel. We paid more than some did for better stalls and the member card was only $5/person. It was along a highway, so going somewhere else to wait was not really possible. Once in a life experience for us, but if it was the only place to go that’s where I would “winter” my game.

[Hardspoon]

They just opened a TopGolf a few miles from my house (the Pittsburgh location @ejm1994 visited), so I'm definitely going to go check it out.  It seems like it'd be entertaining, and my wife is much more interested in going than she would be to a driving range.

We may do a company outing there or something soon.

Also - you can reserve bays online for a specific time (at least that's my understanding), so I don't think the wait time or it being crowded is an issue.

[paulballs]

Comparing this to an actual driving range or real world golf practice/experience is like comparing Go-Karts to real racing. It's meant to be a recreational activity for the masses, like darts or bowling. If you get caught up in what kind of balls they use and how far they fly and the chatter around you,  it's not for you. I'd sincerely doubt many ppl go there with the idea of getting in some real ball striking practice time. I've done it, it's fun, it's different. I love going to the range and hitting balls too. But the 2 things are not the same animal. 

[cutchemist42]

I would definitely try one if I was near one. Closest one is a future one in Minneapolis 

Im curious to see how they make Canadian/northern locations work. As I understand it, the bays are very open and the amount of unit heaters needed for winter would be a lot?