I've been asking TopGolf to expand to St. Louis for some time and it appears there's new movement on their front. The @topgolfstl Twitter account has a Coming Soon sign and has started engaging users by replying to tweets and liking tweets. They keep telling me via email that they're working on it. Now with the Twitter activity it seems like maybe Hampton/44, Chesterfield, or Des Peres. Any leads on this?

What exactly is it?

Kudos to you for pinging them frequently to get them to establish a business in the STL area. I too have done that with other restaurants or retail stores to get movement on this front.

Chesterfield Valley next to the Hardees Ice Rink I'm hearing....Also hearing Hardees Ice Rink maybe demolished and a bigger,better rink built somewhere else in the Valley...

sirshankalot wrote:Chesterfield Valley next to the Hardees Ice Rink I'm hearing....Also hearing Hardees Ice Rink maybe demolished and a bigger,better rink built somewhere else in the Valley...

Wasn't there a TopGolf type place that was in the Valley that failed?

^I believe you are thinking of Tees, which is video golf. TopGolf is something different entirely. It's basically a driving range with objectives and a bar atmosphere.

survivor147 wrote:What exactly is it?

Kudos to you for pinging them frequently to get them to establish a business in the STL area. I too have done that with other restaurants or retail stores to get movement on this front.

TopGolf is a multi story driving range that uses golf balls with chips in them to track where they land. The holes are large targets with multiple segmented rings like dart boards. The closer to the hole you get, and the farther the hole, the more points. They have several styles of games you can play. And they serve food and drinks to your bay, which has lounge tables and seating. They also have a big indoor bar and some locations have lawn games and roof bars. I first played in Texas, then one opened in OKC, where I lived before moving here last fall. So I'm excited we may get one!

Thanks for the updates on the potential Chesterfield location to everyone too!

I saw one of these places under construction in Las Vegas a few weeks ago behind the MGM Grand area. I had never seen anything like it before.

I don't get it; I guess the beer helps.

I went to the one in Oklahoma City last year. It is multi-story driving range, but set up more like bowling. Several computer screens and auto ball delivery makes it high tech. Each station has a high table and a server comes around often to take food and drink orders. You score points by hitting large target circles that are lit up like Las Vegas. Your score updates automatically. Many TVs around showing sports channels.

Lots of people doing it don't play golf. It's like kids going bowling. It is pretty fun for a group outing.

Here are some pics of the OKC venue:






Yelp + Top Golf by Yelp Inc., on Flickr
Yelp + Top Golf by Yelp Inc., on Flickr

In AustinTX, every week I think, the liquor commission posts sales of the top alcohol selling establishments in the market. TopGolf is often the number 1 selling establishment which is simply amazing considering what they're up against there. TopGolf is a blast and can't wait to go there here in StLouis.

They are going out to Chesterfield Valley. I'll let them announce where specifically but someone in this thread was very close to being correct.

Wish they did something around CORTEX/CWE instead since TopGolf has a large technology component and focus is on the younger crowd. But finding 8-10 acres in that area is not feasible especially from a land and site work cost basis.

iFly will also be announcing a location in Chesterfield soon as well. Another amazing venue.

^ Did the Ifly a few times out here in the Bay Area. It was fun but after a couple times not really interested anymore but can see where they would have a loyal following from area jumpers. My wife's aunt was a skilled jumper with quite a few leaps from a plane under her built and she would use the place on a regular place to train instead of paying the dollars to get up in a plane. Ifly can be anywhere and think it would be kinda cool if it was in the atrium of one of the downtown buildings or even alongside building with sidewalk views instead of Chesterfield in a stand alone silo as some of their places

Full blown golf courses must cringe when a topgolf opens nearby. Must be easier and cheaper in some respects just to go to topgolf then trying hit 18 on a regular basis.

I mean, I guess a driving range and playing 18 holes are more similar than tennis and ping pong, but I still don't think of them as exchangeable activities. But maybe TopGolf is more fun than I'm giving it credit for.

^ I guess my line of thought is that the driving range used to be the place you go practice during the weekday, after work, go for lunch for the time you go play 9 or 18. Topgolf makes it a quasi recreation slash entertainment.

The Hardee's Ice Plex in Chesterfield has officially been sold to Top Golf, a Dallas based company. The rink remains open for 16-17 season

Andy Strickland is reporting that the Hardees Iceplex is being replaced with TopGolf, instead of it going near the Iceplex. The rink is in need of some major upgrades, so it is probably cheaper to replace it, while utilizing or selling anything from the Iceplex that can be repurposed.

DogtownBnR wrote:Now the rumors will really heat up regarding the new 6 sheet facility that will be partially financed by the Blues. Let the speculation begin! Its too bad the City will not likely be considered for this facility....

yeah, that has west county written all over it...or earth city...maybe rams park

^ Or Westport.....

DogtownBnR wrote:Now the rumors will really heat up regarding the new 6 sheet facility that will be partially financed by the Blues. Let the speculation begin! Its too bad the City will not likely be considered for this facility....

I personally don't think the city needs a 6-sheet complex, but it'd be great if the Blues would finance a 2-sheet complex somewhere nearish downtown. (I'd say try to squeeze it near the location of the old Arena, but I don't think there's enough space left—and that's a good thing.)

In my view they'd still be a part of growing the game out west by helping to finance a larger complex, but they'd also be putting their practice facility near their home rink and doing their part to help grow the game with a population that doesn't get much exposure to it.