A video game brought to life

He’s a pretty good golfer and his ears perked up at the discussion. At some point, he mentioned Topgolf, a golf entertainment company that has facilities all over the world and is scheduled to open a facility on the Burlingame Bayfront next year.

One is slated to open soon in San Jose and the nearest Topgolf facility is in Roseville, just a bit northeast of Sacramento.

Seeing it was my birthday Sunday, we figured why not go to Topgolf on Saturday as gift to myself? With my brother-in-law’s longtime neighbor in tow, the three of us headed to the Tampa Bay Topgolf location.

My first impression: this place is big! Just driving into the parking lot, you see this huge, three-story Topgolf logo on the side of the building. There’s not a lot to the facility other than the range itself, but it is set up kind of like a sports bar that offers golf. While minors aren’t allowed in the bar, obviously, it is still a family-friendly activity. The best recommendation is to make reservations, because when we showed up, we were told it was a 45-minute wait for a hitting bay.

Our wait time was closer to about 10 minutes before we were summoned to our station. There, an attendant helps you get logged in and set up on the computer and away we went.

Topgolf offers a number of target-type games, with flag sticks at distances from 25 yards to 185 yards. But instead of hitting to a green, the “green” around the “hole” is actually a gigantic net that looks like a dart board, with rings extending out from the middle. The closer to the pin you get, the more points you earn.

We decided, however, to “play” nine holes at Spanish Bay on the Monterey Peninsula. There are, apparently, dozens of course from which to choose to play virtually.

At that point, it becomes a real-life video game. Instead of hitting computer-generated balls with a controller, however, you use actual golf balls and golf clubs and shot tracer technology determines your distance and accuracy to give the yardage for your next shot.

You don’t need to have your own golf clubs to participate. There are “house” clubs available for use, but I used the clubs of the people with whom I went. There are no buckets of balls like you would find at a regular driving range. Instead you wave your club over an electronic eye and it automatically releases a ball.

I did have one major issue — but one that was in my own head. I’ve never hit golf shots off a multi-tiered range — Topgolf has three levels. So maybe that’s why I was so worried about the club — which was borrowed, mind you — flying out of my hands and helicoptering out onto the range, even though that has never happened to me in my life. The combination of being up high and using someone else’s clubs definitely got to me.

The biggest difference between Topgolf and regular golf was there was no putting. When you’re on the green, you have to hit a chip shot to one of two targets, one was 56 yards and the other 59. Where the ball first lands is your shot, so you can’t run the ball up to the flag. Again, the closest to the pin would give you best score, the furthest the worse. I can’t remember how many double bogeys I had, but I do know that if I was 7 feet from the cup, I would not three-putt.

Overall, Topgolf was a fun activity and you certainly doesn’t need to be a golfer to enjoy it. I would liken it to bowling — tons of people bowl, many not very well, but sometimes it’s not about the sport or activity, it’s about getting together with friends and family and just having fun.

I wouldn’t use Topgolf to practice for an actual round, there are better ways to do that. But for pure entertainment value, it’s certainly worth it.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.