The rise of simulator golf: Pebble Beach, USGA enter historic partnerships with GOLFZON

Simulators at Pebble Beach?

For many golf old-timers, that thought is cringeworthy. The whole reason golfers go to Pebble Beach Resorts is to be outside playing real golf in one of Mother Earth's most magical settings.

But there's no stopping the rise of the simulator. They're everywhere - your health club, your mall, your local muni, your garage. As the technology has gotten cheaper and more reliable, simulators have officially entered golf's cultural zeitgeist. Many kids entering their teenage years probably took their first swings on a simulator, not an outdoor driving range.

In that context, it makes perfect sense that two of golf's most iconic institutions - Pebble Beach and the United States Golf Association - have entered into long-term, strategic partnerships with GOLFZON. The future of the game is here. For many golfers, it's indoors because they want to swing day or night, in good weather or bad and it's relatively inexpensive compared to the real thing. It's affordable golf entertainment where many golfers will experience Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first and likely only time.

Indoor and outdoor golf are quite the paradox. They both compete with one another and complement one another as well. The USGA and Pebble Beach see the value in using that synergy for the good of the game.

"There's been a huge amount of growth in off-course golf and simulator golf is a big part of that," USGA Chief Commercial Officer Jon Podany said during a fireside chat at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January. "Thirty seven or 38 million people are participating in that now. That's an important part of people coming to the game. The game is in the healthiest place that it's ever been. We recognize that movement in the game and we felt it was time to have a partner who could help us take advantage of that growth and help stimulate [simulator golfers] to further drive growth [in real golf]."

Pebble Beach's redesign of The Links of Spanish Bay will include the addition of a new 4,000-square-foot GOLFZON lounge featuring four GOLFZON TwoVisionNX simulators powered by 64-directional motion plate technology. The multi-surface hitting mat can produce 56,000 possible lies. The facility will debut next May when the course work by Gil Hanse is completed, just in time for the 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the seventh at the resort.

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Pebble Beach plans to use the simulator lounge much like it does The Hay, the nine-hole par-3 designed by Tiger Woods. It will be a secondary golf experience to the resort's big three - Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill.

"Some people will play The Hay, then go play Pebble-Spyglass-Spanish. Some will do the reverse," said Aaron Flink, the resort's executive vice president & chief strategy officer. "We think the same thing will happen with the GOLFZON Lounge where they are going to play golf during the day, but they want a little more at night. They are going to want to do it in a relaxed setting, and they are going to have fun doing so at the lounge."

The USGA announced its multi-year GOLFZON partnership last fall, making GOLFZON the Official Indoor Golf Simulator of the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally. The partnership will debut at the U.S. Women’s Open, set to be played at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., in June. GOLFZON, which recorded more than 100 million shots at more than 13,000 locations worldwide last year, is an industry leader in the space. The company holds more than 375 patents for its award-winning simulators and continues to file new patents annually to stay ahead of its competition.

Both Pebble Beach and the USGA will lean into interactive simulator experiences at their events and championships and support special GOLFZON competitions open to anybody.

GOLFZON will serve as the official simulator sponsor of Pebble Beach Food & Wine, featuring an immersive simulator activation inside the event’s Tasting Pavilion. It's a perfect fit at an event where golf isn't the star of the show. The food and wine are the draw. I attended in 2024 for a taste of the good life from top chefs and wineries from around the world.

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At the men's and women's U.S. Opens, fans and hospitality guests will be able to swing away while earning prizes at multiple indoor simulators. Pebble Beach hasn't yet announced if simulators will be a part of its other tournaments such as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or the PURE Insurance Championship on the PGA Tour Champions.

For those looking for interactive competition from anywhere, there are two options featured within the new partnerships. The USGA will support the GOLFZON Tour, where teams from major cities compete to qualify for a championship match and a $300,000 grand prize.

A co-branded USGA event will be integrated within the tour, but Sean Pyun, the CEO of GOLFZON America, has even bigger dreams. He's hoping to create a national open for simulator golfers.

"Jon (and the USGA) want to provide a fan experience. I want to create a U.S. simulator Open, so there is a a big gap between what we want to do," Pyun said at the PGA Show. "The point is, there is a lot that could happen in the future. We don't know what's going to happen 5 to 10 years from now. What I do know, based on what I've seen in Korea and Asia, indoor golf is going to continue to grow, and it's going to continue to expand. At some point, indoor golf will be just another form of playing golf and we're all going to be golfers."

Meanwhile, Pebble Beach is launching an international competition that culminates with finalists earning a trip to the resort to compete in a championship round on the resort’s GOLFZON simulators followed by playing the real Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Maybe it's time we all started honing our golf simulator skills. The future of golf has arrived.