The internationally recognized sports and entertainment center, Topgolf, opened its first location at El Paso on Friday, Feb. 2, just in time for the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day.
Unlike regular golf courses or driving ranges, Topgolf brands the sport as “a game for everyone” regardless of their age and skill set.
Topgolf offers academies for kids and adults, individually or in a group, which are lessons taught by certified instructors from the Professional Golfers’ Association.
According to Topgolf’s fact sheet, 51 percent of Topgolf guests are non-golfers, and their biggest demographic, at 54 percent, are those between the ages of 18 to 34. There are seven varieties of games, each with a different set of rules and difficulty.
Overall, the games consist of hitting microchipped golf balls—which analyze the speed and distance of each hit—into one of the 10 different circled targets on the 645-square-foot field. A screen displays the scores of each player based on the ball’s distance and where is landed. The further the ball reaches and the closer to the bullseye of the target, the higher the score will be.
Samuel Horstman, a 26-year-old marketing manager of Topgolf, said people can visit Topgolf with a group of friends, on a date or even alone.
“You don’t have to play the game Topgolf, you can just come eat at the restaurant, have a good drink, watch our HD TVs and play other free games,” Horstman said.
The games are pool, shuffleboard and foosball and the restaurant includes a wide selection of drinks, breakfast, lunch, dinner and kids’ meals.
The idea for Topgolf began in 2000 by the Jolliffe brothers, who sought a way to practice golf with a precise analysis of their skills. After developing the proper technology, they decided to share their work with the public by opening three entertainment centers in the U.K. On 2005, Topgolf opened its first U.S. location, in Alexandria, Virginia.
The closest Topgolf to El Paso used to be in Tucson, Ariz., around 235 miles away. Now, El Paso’s Topgolf is located on the west side of town, at 365 Vin Rambla Drive, which can be easily accessed via S. Mesa Hills and driving to the end of Suncrest Drive.
El Paso’s Topgolf is the 41st opened in the world, the 10th in Texas and the first one on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The great thing about El Paso, out of other venues, is that we are so close to the mountains,” Horstman said. “From the restaurant and the stairs you can see three states and two countries–it’s very beautiful.”
Besides the great views, the 65,000-square-foot venue consists of three levels, a rooftop terrace, a sports gift shop, over 200 HD TVs, Wi-Fi and 102 bays with Topgolf’s latest technology.
Heather Campbell, a 28-year-old hospitality manager and bay host, moved to El Paso six months ago from Southern California. Campbell’s biggest impression of El Paso is the radical temperature changes of the desert.
“That’s actually a great thing about this Topgolf, it can work with different weather situations with the climate-controlled bays,” Campbell said.
Campbell is one of the 500 employees on staff and management, who were hired back in November of 2017. They were trained in Arizona for several months to work full and part-time jobs at El Paso’s Topgolf.
“We came back here to unpack everything, got everything suitable,” Campbell said. “(They) kind of wanted us to have everything set up in our own way, which was cool.”
The prices are based on hourly rates per bay, which include a table for six and golf equipment. Guests can bring their own golf clubs and book online for additional guests, such as for company events, fundraisers, birthday parties and more.
The prices are $25 per hour from 9 a.m. to noon, $35 from noon to 5 p.m., and $45 from 5 p.m. to closing, which is at midnight from Sunday through Thursday and at 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
“If you were to come with yourself and five other people (six total) and you split that up, that would be less than $10 per person,” Horstman said. “You can eat and drink in the bay, do whatever you want, is really fun to enjoy a great atmosphere, whether you want to come alone or with your friends.”
Topgolf also offers discounts for people who are in the military (active and veterans), EMS, police and firefighting personnel.
“We are expecting a lot of guests, definitely we are a very popular company, and I think is going to be a really great thing for the community of El Paso,” Campbell said.
For additional information, visit:
https://topgolf.com/us/el-paso/
