Virtual Golf Systems

Hard to believe this place doesn’t have a Unilocal review yet! Here’s my unbiased opinion from a mid-​20s handicap golfer that doesn’t get out nearly as often as he likes to.
Today for my 26^th birthday I treated myself to a pretty amazing golf experience, a full 18-​hole round on what has been billed as one of the most realistic and technologically advanced golf sims in the world, High Definition Golf. I won’t get into the details of how the simulator works, but if you’re curious go to
.
When I got there I was promptly greeted my the company president, Bart Baranco, and taken around back to the simulator, which featured a big projection screen about 10 or 12 feet wide. He explained how the system worked, that there were three cameras with sensors, one near the ball and two at the front corners of the simulator that measure clubhead and ball speed, swing plane, launch angle, etc to give the most realistic ball flight reaction possible. He even purposefully hit a hook and slice to show me how precise the system was and what the clubface was doing at impact.
Bart was very friendly and thorough in his explanations, I was beyond impressed with his service.
After warming up for a bit he had me practice putting, which was quite a challenge because the first six feet or so of the putt is not on the screen, so it is extremely difficult to judge the distance since you’re looking at a virtual hole that is nearly at eye level. With Bart watching, I miraculously holed two consecutive 32-​foot practice putts, and hardly made a putt for the rest of the session… beginner’s luck!
Much like golf video games you can see the break in the green through a grid with sloping lines.
There are also patches of rough and «sand» to hit off of should you ball land there, and just like in real life the rough accentuates any mis-​hit but you can also catch a «flyer» lie… on one hole I hit a 6 iron from the rough 185 yards, far beyond normal for me!
The course selection was phenomenal with many of the most famous courses in the United States like Pinehurst, Harbour Town, Troon North, but I chose to play Pebble Beach, one of my dream courses.
Using ultra-​realistic map data, Bart explained that every visual shot in the simulator is a real photo, true-​to-​life representation of the actual course, not some pixelated model.
Standing up there on the 7^th tee on the ocean, that signature short par 3, it looked like you were right there.
The coolest thing was that after every shot you could look up the exact swing data so you can see what went right (or very wrong). I found it to be a really great teaching tool! This is what that screen looks like:
The only issue I had with the simulator, besides the fact that putting was very inconsistent and difficult to master (blew some putts by 10 – 20 feet, but you are given a 6-​foot gimme zone) was that many times as I would retrieve my ball after a putt or chip, the cameras would pick that up and sense movement and count it as a stroke (which explains most of my mulligans!) so I made sure to pick the ball up by hand each time which alleviated that problem.
Once, I striped a drive only to have it not register at all which was really weird, but I figured that was a one-​time deal.
Finally, it would have been good to have wind incorporated into the simulator… I was playing in a windless environment, which is obviously never the case at Pebble Beach… but it helped my score!
As for my actual around, I ended up with an 84 at Pebble which is far below my actual golf handicap which is in the mid-​to-​upper 20s.
My driving was much better than usual and very representative of my actual distances. I ended up hitting 10 of 14 fairways in regulation, with an average of about 250 yards and a high of 299.7 on the par-​5 6^th (all downhill, I definitely reached back for a little extra).
That hole ended up being my only birdie as I got home in two with a 6-​iron hole high and just missed the eagle putt.
My shot of the day was a pitch on the par-​4 13^th, I hit a horrible approach and had a blind third shot over a big mound from about 20 yards left of the green, I tried a little flop shot from the rough, and saw the ball go over the hump and hoped it would get close since I couldn’t see it, and after I heard a roar from the crowd I looked up to see: «Distance from hole: 1 foot».
As far as sound effects, you get the basic birds chirping, and realistic crowd reactions (polite clap for a green in regulation, a loud roar if you get it really close or make a long putt)
This was an absolute blast — if you ever get a chance to play on one of these, for fun or for a great, informative golf lesson, do it!
Pros:
FANTASTIC customer service
True-​to-​life golf simulator with detailed swing and shot analysis
Great course selection
Would be great for a small party or with friends
Cons:
Simulator sometimes glitches, but you get mulligans
Putting is very difficult