New simulator bays ready to open at Bryan Park

Bryan Park will soon have simulators open to the public under a business model unique to the Greensboro area.

Kyle Kolls, the general manager of the Bryan Park golf facility, told TriadGolf.com that a new outside, but covered facility with 20 bays equipped with Toptracer simulators, is expected to open in the next week or two. Construction, begun earlier in the fall, has been completed, leaving only a few “touchups.”

The bays occupy about two-thirds of the public driving range at the Ernie Edwards Learning Center and Practice Facility, located a few hundred yards from the Bryan Park clubhouse.

“We hope it opens us up to a whole new user base,” Kolls told TriadGolf.

Customers will not pay for time in the bays. Instead, the bays will be open to purchasers of practice balls. Though Kolls said the prices for buckets of balls will be raised from current rates, he said those prices had not yet been set.

The Toptracer equipment will provide data for swings and shots and also will give users the options to simulate play on famous courses and play other games. Golf options will include closest-to-the-hole and long driving contests.

Kolls said a new short-game area with bunkers and a putting-quality green should be ready by the spring in an open field behind the simulator area.

Kolls said construction and equipment would be paid for by Pinnacle Golf Properties of Charlotte, which manages Bryan Park’s golf facilities for the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation.

The remainder of the teeing area on the Toptracer end of the range — Precision Golf School occupies the end closest to the golf clubhouse — will remain open with natural grass. Customers not using the bays can use Toptracer technology for their shots by downloading apps on their phones.

Though the covered bays have no heating, Kolls said heaters — as well as lighting — are future options.

Kolls said he expects winter hours to be around 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with expanded morning and evening hours during warmer seasons.

The Toptracer bays are accessible by car. The public side of the range has a parking lot. Players at the course are not allowed to drive golf carts to the Edwards facilities.

Bryan Park has a separate practice range and putting green near the pro shop for players warming up to play the Champions and Players courses.