Downtown getting influx of indoor options
A player can work on his golf game and never have to leave the city
There are any number of places golfers can go to find indoor hitting bays, simulators and even TrackMan devices that provide endless amounts of data on a player’s swing. They are available at clubhouses, equipment stores, fitting centers, even bars.
Until now, though, none of those places were downtown.
Golfers who live or even work downtown don’t have to go far or worry about finding time after work to hone their swings or improve their game.
Now they have two easy choices — go to Market Square and check out Five Iron Golf, a combination practice range/bar/entertainment complex; or head to the Strip District and visit OnPar Now, which is more golf-centric with hitting bays, a sand trap and a putting green that can change slopes and breaks with the touch of a button.
Both offer the convenience of working on your golf game without having to leave town.
“I think it goes back to making it a fun environment related to golf,” said Alex Koch, assistant general manager at Five Iron Golf located at 2 PPG Place. “We have something for everybody, even if they’re not into golf.”
The downtown location is one of a dozen Five Iron Golf stores around the country. It is similar to TopGolf in that it also offers food and beverage, pool tables, ping-pong and multiple television screens. But the attraction is golf.
There are 11 hitting bays with simulators and an interactive PuttView putting green. The simulators offer more than 100 courses around the world that a golfer can play.
Five Iron Golf also has bag storage and a locker room with showers for golfers who need to clean up and go back to work after a practice session.
“We get a great mix,” Koch said. “We get some dedicated golfers in the winter, especially in the morning, and we notice a good bit of the bar crowd and entertainment-seeking crowd in evening. We want to make the game inclusive for everybody.”
OnPar Now is different. It is locally owned, there is no food and beverage — although private events are catered with both — and no other forms of entertainment. It is strictly golf, with one other attraction — free parking behind the location in the Strip District Terminal building.
“We’re a little different here in the Strip,” said Jan Receski, owner of OnPar Now. “We have more of a professional atmosphere.
Corporations really like coming here for [private] events. They want to get together, but they don’t just want to go to a bar. We offer this.”
While On Par Now is open to all ages, men and women, Receski wanted to develop a place that would cater to women looking to learn the game or play better. Having worked as a data systems manager for the Hillman Company for 31 years, she understands the value of women getting to have the same opportunities to play in corporate events — and not being embarrassed to do so.
So she opened On Par Now 15 months ago and hired master club fitter Rhianna Ray to give lessons and fit equipment. The hope is to be a learning and development center for what Receski said are the 44,000 female students who attend colleges within a 10-mile radius of her location.
OnPar Now has four hitting bays with TrackMan simulators than offer more than 90 courses for golfers to play. But one of the real attractions is the indoor putting green with Putt View technology that has 55 jacks located under the surface to change the slopes and the breaks.
“I lived outside the circle,” Receski said. “If I would get invited to an event, it was usually, ‘John couldn’t make it, can you fill in?’ I’ve never understood that. It’s so important for business relations and personal relationships, and it’s so healthy to play. I wanted a space to welcome females so they wouldn’t feel intimidated.”
And they don’t even have to leave town to work on their game.