The first thing you notice about TopGolf is how really high the netting is around it.
And people have noticed. No matter how many times the media have written about it, people still ask, "What is that thing?"
It's TopGolf, an entertainment venue based around golf - a high-tech driving range with multiple bars and food service.
After six months of construction, it opens to the public at 9 a.m. Oct. 28. The Jacksonville location, on Brightman Bouleavard near the St. Johns Town Center, will be the Dallas-based chain's 30th, and its second in Florida.
The number are big: The driving range has 102 bays over three levels. Each bay can hold up to six people. So with the bars on all three levels and event spaces, total capacity is more than 1,000, said Josh Zenner, director of operations. So far, TopGolf has hired 530 people in Jacksonville, he said, about 100 of them full-time.
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The total price tag was about $25 million, a spokeswoman said, and the company expects 350,000-400,000 customers a year. By the way, that fence is about 165 feet high.
The game works like this: There are 10 large round targets spread out over the range, from 25 yards to 215 yards away. Each of the targets is divided into quadrants, and there are various games that involve hitting at different targets.The golf balls have microchips, and computers keep track of who hits where.
Players rent a bay by the hour to hit the golf balls. That's $25 an hour from opening to noon, $35 an hour noon-5 p.m., $45 an hour 5 p.m.-close. So if five people are playing, that would be $5, $7 or $9 an hour per person.
It opens at 9 a.m. each day, closing at midnight Sunday-Thursday and 2 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It's open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The bays are heated in the winter and cooled in the summer, and servers come to take food and drink orders. The menu includes a lot of appetizers, as well as sandwiches, burgers and flatbreads in the $9-$12 range.
Zenner said it's common for people to come to TopGolf just to eat and drink and not play golf at all. But the three bars usually get busy with people waiting to play. Two-hour wait times are not uncommon at peak times in other cities.
But the lounge on the first floor and the open air terrace on the third floor (with fire pit and music stage) can be rented out for private events, and several rooms are set aside for that purpose. The bays right off each of those spaces can be included in the event package.
Events account for about one-third of a typical TopGolf's revenue, said Alexa Wheat, marketing manager.
Wednesday night, the venue hosted about 200 people for a media preview.
David Barnett and Drew Landrum are pretty serious about their golf. They were down from Augusta, Ga., to work on their golf podcast, Tour Junkies.
"I think it's like cosmic bowling, where they've got music, they've got lights," Barnett said. "That's what we're trying to do. Golf is a fun game; we're trying to take the stuffiness out of it."
The facility is just past the north end of the St. Johns Town Center, the mile-long development that has become Jacksonville's main retail center. And the area is growing even more. Two projects, The Strand and Town Center Promenade, are going in across Town Center Parkway, both large, mixed-use developments.
"The area is already dominating the market," said Cliff Taylor, retail specialist and senior vice president at CBRE. "So it's more like a feather in the cap. What's a little different about it is that it's not a pure retailer. But it's also in the category of IKEA, where it's more of a destination."
The Town Center already draws shoppers from the entire area, he said. And while TopGolf may not draw people from 100 or 200 miles away the way IKEA does, it should draw from the full MSA.
"If someone is vacationing on Amelia Island or in St. Augustine, they might come into Jacksonville just for TopGolf," he said. "And that should have some spillover to other restaurants in the area."
Roger Bull: (904) 359-4296
Roger Bull: (904) 359-4296
