Since its grand opening five days ago, Topgolf Las Vegas located behind MGM Grand, might just be the hottest attraction on the Strip at the moment.
Crowds are swarming to the Las Vegas, Nevada attraction and according to an estimate from Johnny McMahon, Director of Operations, 70 percent of them don’t golf or have any knowledge of the intricacies of Topgolf as a game. Right now, there’s a wow factor going on, said McMahon. “A lot of people come in and it’s eye-opening for them because they’re expecting a driving range with maybe a little something extra,” according to the Las Vegas Sun.
However, that comparison would be highly inaccurate because there is so much more going on before even factoring in the concert venue, sports book, two pools and all of the other amenities that can be found on the four-level, 105,000-square-foot property. Everything centers on the seven variations of the game, which some may describe as golf meets bowling. The comparison is a legitamite one because both bowing and Topgolf are contested in scoring frames and Topgolf rates are charged by the hour, which start at $30 and gets you and five of your friends a hitting bay for 60 minutes.
The “top” in the games name stands for “target oriented practice,” and there are 11 differently sized targets that are spread across a 215-yeard outfield that players attempt to hit into. That may just make it more like a golf and darts hybrid and a more accurate comparison than the former. Topgolf balls can be tracked to exactly where they fall thanks to a microchip which is embedded in each ball. The landing spot of each ball is charted on a screen in the bay, which then reveals a score. McMahon said, “The easy way to explain it is, the further the target is away and the closer you get to the middle, the more points you get,” McMahon said. Just like the bullseye scoring in a traditional game of darts.
An example is, receiving 10 points for a shot that lands directly in the middle at the end of the course, versus the three points awarded for a chip shot that floats 25 yards from the tee. A double-point activator is triggered for the next ball in play when a player scores in any of the three farthest targets on the course. A score of 400 is the highest possible, not taking holes-in-one into consideration, and the average score is 95. That’s how the classic Topgolf game works, but there are also six other modes, including Topscore, Topscramble, Topchip, Toppressure, Topshot, and Topdrive each with its own unique scoring and object of the game.
Topgolf Entertainment Group has 24 locations and is a global sports entertainment company that serves 8 million guests annually. Each of the 24 Topgolf locations offers food and beverages, games, music, hundreds of HDTVs and climate-controlled hitting bays. Topgolf also offers leagues, Topgolf U lessons, KidZone parties, tournaments, and social and corporate events