When Ajit Padda decided to branch out from his 23-year career in investment banking, he wasn’t exactly setting out to reorient a community’s relationship with the sport of golf. Honestly, he was just looking for a place to hit balls with his friends. His Trackman simulator didn’t quite fit into his new house, so he and a partner leased space near a train station in Fairfield, Connecticut, opened the doors in 2018, and called it Golf Lounge 18.
Seven years later, Padda and growing team oversee 10 thriving locations across the Northeast, with three more under construction and a freshly minted franchise model gaining traction. What began as a side project has become one of the most thriving indoor golf businesses in the northeastern United States — at a moment when indoor golf is exploding.
“Back then, you had to convince people indoor golf was real,” Padda says. “Today, people really embrace the concept. They’ve tried it, they understand it, and many actually prefer it because so few of us have six hours anymore to play a full round of golf. People today love an in-and-out fun experience that still feels like real golf.”
Riding the Indoor Golf Boom
The numbers back him up. According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), 2024 marked the first year that indoor rounds outpaced outdoor rounds in the U.S. Industry revenue, pegged at $1.3 billion in 2020, is projected to top $3.2 billion by 2030 with 8.14 million participants playing golf indoors.
Timing has been on Golf Lounge 18’s side. The NGF further reports that simulator and screen usership has grown 126 percent since 2019 and the already-thriving golf entertainment space grew by another 78 percent in that same time period.
COVID accelerated the trend, but Padda points out that lifestyle changes are the real driver. Leagues that start at 8 p.m. and run past 11, kids’ clinics after school, retirees in weekday “early bird” slots indoor golf simply fits modern schedules.
“Our core customer is between 35 and 50, younger than your local country club membership’s average age,” Padda says. “That was never the green-grass golf demographic. But here, it works because we have a little something for everyone. Guys finish dinner, put the kids to bed, and then come play league night with their buddies. It’s a new rhythm for the game.”
A Different Kind of Clubhouse
Golf Lounge 18 leans heavily on the “clubhouse” concept — a more elevated, cozy feel and aesthetic than a warehouse simulator joint, more accessible than a country club.
Padda knew early that balance was critical. “You have to fight the temptation to just build this like your dream basement and think it will click with all of your clientele,” he says. “It’s a business. And if you don’t run it with discipline—payroll ratios, rent ratios, ROI targets — you run the risk that you won’t last.”
Plenty haven’t. Indoor golf is capital-intensive, and Padda has watched poorly planned competitors flame out. Golf Lounge 18’s formula is a hybrid: upscale but approachable, tech-driven but social.
Food and beverage offerings (which now consist of a simple elevated pub menu that varies based on local tastes and preferences), for instance, was a bit of a reluctant addition. “Early on, if I had my choice, I wouldn’t touch food,” he admits. “It’s another welcoming touch that makes people stay a little longer and enjoy themselves more. Now they stay two and a half hours, order a fresh grill item, and the experience is complete. It’s not overly fancy, but it makes the experience richer.”
NGF data suggests offering an attractive food and beverage menu can potentially boost the average customer’s spend per visit by about 73 percent.
Golf Lounge 18’s programming evolved organically. Leagues dominate specific nights. Kids’ camps are blocked after school. No lessons during peak weekend hours when beers are flowing and families gather. “It’s about knowing who’s in the building and when,” says Padda. “You don’t mix kids’ clinics with bachelor parties.”
A Tech Business Disguised as a Fun Business
If the clubhouse vibe drives retention, technology fuels consistency. With a background in tech, Padda’s team built a proprietary in-house operations system that links all ten locations.
“We have 110-plus Trackman bays, and every system is interconnected,” he says. “A member in Boston can play league night with his partner in Connecticut in real time. Our employees can move between locations seamlessly because everything — from TVs to music to booking systems — runs the same way.”
This backbone allowed Golf Lounge 18 to scale without losing its personalized, local touch. Each site feels familiar but incorporates regional quirks: Boston locations serve local craft beer, New York spots add Yankees-themed murals, menus shift by market. If roughly 70 percent of the design is templated and built off of a ‘best practices’ model, the other 30 percent thrives on local flavor.
A Strategic Partner: The Indoor Golf Shop
Critical to that rollout has been Golf Lounge 18’s partnership with The Indoor Golf Shop (ShopIndoorGolf.com), one of the industry’s leading suppliers and manufacturers of indoor golf equipment, providing comprehensive design and installation expertise.
Padda initially worked with multiple vendors but says meeting Indoor Golf Shop founder Rene Delgado changed everything. “It felt different,” he recalls. “His team loves what they do. They’re passionate, they’re on the ground, sleeves rolled up. It wasn’t just a transaction — it was collaborative.”
That alignment mirrored Padda’s own values. “Success has to be mutual,” he says. “With other vendors, it felt one-sided. With The Indoor Golf Shop, it feels like home.”
Together, Golf Lounge 18 has become one of the largest Trackman customers in the world. Each new location benefits from the standardized systems and seamless installation expertise that The Indoor Golf Shop brings. “They help us scale without compromising the customer experience,” Padda notes.
Disciplined Growth in a Hot Market
The temptation, of course, is to sprint. With demand surging, investors circling, and competitors ever-present, Golf Lounge 18 could easily chase rapid expansion. Padda resists.
“In my view, growing too fast is a recipe for disaster,” he says. “But going too slow is a problem too. Striking that balance is hard.”
Since 2018, Golf Lounge 18 has averaged just over one new location per year. All are 100 percent equity-owned by Padda and his partner — no outside capital. “We’re still walking before we run,” he says. “I believe in that.”
That said, the next 24 months will mark a shift. With franchising legalized six months ago, Golf Lounge 18 expects to double its footprint by supporting franchisees alongside corporate locations.
“We’re built to support it,” Padda says. “Our corporate locations already operate like franchisees, paying into a central system for marketing, ops, and tech. The goal now is to share what we’ve learned with others and help them succeed.”
The Road Ahead
Looking forward, Padda sees opportunity — and inevitable shakeout. He predicts consolidation as the industry matures, with weaker players exiting and stronger brands scaling. But he insists indoor golf, even with room to grow, isn’t ready for faceless corporate management just yet.
“This industry still needs local engagement,” he says. “You can’t run it entirely from a corporate level. Somebody has to be on the floor, knowing the customers, running the leagues. That’s what keeps it sticky.”
And for Padda personally? The inspiration comes less from numbers and more from the clubhouse culture he’s helping foster. “At the end of the day, it’s about building community,” he says. “It’s about giving people who love golf — or who just want to try it — a place to belong. If we can keep doing that, and do it well, the business will take care of itself.”