It’s not hyperbole to say golf is a major commitment. Not only does the sport cost a pretty penny for everything from equipment and apparel to green fees, it also takes up a lot of time. And, after all, time is money.
Both of these barriers to entry are magnified significantly when attempting to play in metropolitan markets like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Not only is actually playing more expensive, but just getting to a course can take up to an hour or more, which can tack on an extra couple of hours to your outing.
With golf more popular than ever (41.1 million Americans age six and older played in 2022 according to the National Golf Foundation), accessibility is a major key to not only continue to quench that thirst but provide opportunities for further growth in the game.
That’s where Five Iron comes in. Founded in 2017 in New York City, the technology-backed indoor urban golf experience brings the game to your backyard and other places it couldn’t otherwise exist.
“There are so many barriers to entry in golf—the time it takes, the cost and maybe it’s just intimidating,” says Five Iron Chief Marketing Officer Jed Lewis. “That’s why we’re trying to be in the most convenient locations—metropolitan areas—so that people have access to it and they can come on their lunch hour or before work.”
The facilities offer instruction, club fittings via PGA Tour Superstore, and the ability to play 200-plus virtual courses as well as a gamified golf experience to members and walk-ins who can book a simulator in 30-minute increments for up to four hours.
In 2023, Five Iron added 10 locations with three international franchises, including its first in India, while surpassing 50,000 followers on Instagram. With 16-foot-wide bays equipped with Trackman technology, in-sim ordering and Callaway clubs and balls, Five Iron has locations in New York City, Chicago, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Seattle, Atlanta and Detroit.
As of this month, there will be 24 corporate-owned locations, not including four international franchises opened between 2021-’23, with more to come this year. The brand’s recent expansion has been supported by Topgolf Callaway Brands which announced a $30-million investment in 2021.
On March 12, 2024, Five Iron announced a $20 million minority investment from Enlightened Hospitality Investments, growth equity fund of Shake Shack founder/chairman Danny Meyer.
“Five Iron aligns with our belief that the future of golf will continue to evolve from a sport that was traditionally played on-course to a sport that people engage with in many ways and different formats,” says Matt Kettles, Topgolf Callaway Brands Director of Corporate Development. “We see it in the growth of off-course golf, which is being driven by Topgolf, and we believe that off-course golf will continue to evolve and be a major driver of growth for the sport moving forward.”
According to the NGF, 15.5 million Americans participated exclusively in off-course golf in 2022 at places like driving ranges, indoor golf simulators or golf-entertainment venues including Topgolf and Drive Shack.
Working in Five Iron’s favor is the fact that it’s a one-stop shop for players across the sport’s spectrum, whether you’re a scratch golfer looking for a facility to grind and fine-tune your game or you are picking up a club for the first time. Similarly to Topgolf, Five Iron’s broad user base is helping lower the barrier to entry in golf.
“You can play a round in an hour,” says Five Iron Co-founder and CEO Jared Solomon. “It certainly provides access and it just keeps golf top of mind for a lot of people in our cities that just carries over to becoming consumers of the industry. I think that’s an underrated aspect in how we’ve grown the sport overall.”
While 2023 was a big year for expansion for Five Iron, Solomon says the goals this year are to improve the customer experience. That’s why Five Iron unveiled daily complimentary breakfast options for members, which includes high-end coffee machines and bagels. A soon-to-be-released app, which is currently in beta, will make booking easier and more efficient. Even Five Iron’s league, which they claim is the largest indoor golf league on the planet, will see tweaks and improvements.
The proof is in the pudding as Five Iron has seen lesson hours double from approximately 12,000 in 2021 to 23,500 last year while membership has increased 87 percent since 2022.
Even though it’s founded on golf, Five Iron is introducing Multisport to expand its offerings while encouraging non-golfers to visit and be more active and engaged. New games on the simulator include slapshot hockey, breakaway soccer, foot golf, bowl-a-rama, disc-go golf and zombie dodgeball.
“We’re bullish on both sides of the spectrum,” Solomon says. “Entertainment means so much to us but performance is a huge part of the lifeline of this company.”
Lewis concurs.
“I think that’s part of the beauty of Five Iron is that we kind of exist on this spectrum or fader between golf and entertainment and, depending on the time of day or occasion, we’re able to deftly maneuver on that fader,” he says.
“In the mornings at 6 a.m., it’s really about golf and golf improvement—it’s that head-down grinding—but there’s all of these different occasions and use cases we can shift and cater to over the course of a day.
“That’s what can be at the core of our access.”
Will
2 months ago
The prices always seem too high for what you’re getting when I look into these x-golf type places, but given the space and hardware required I can’t think of a way to make it any cheaper. Not a fan of the bar atmosphere, either. With consumer grade simulators getting more accurate and more affordable, I suspect these types of places may go the way of the arcade, at least outside of dense urban areas where nobody has a basement or garage.