An example of a Back Nine location. (Courtesy Back Nine)
Another new national player is set to join the competitive local indoor golf market.
Back Nine, a franchised chain of self-serve golf simulator venues, plans to open its first two locations in the Richmond area this year.
In deals involving separate local franchisees, Back Nine has facilities in the works at the Shops at Stonehenge in Chesterfield and at West Broad Marketplace in Henrico.
Like other such concepts, Back Nine locations offer indoor hitting bays equipped with high-tech simulators that allow customers to hit a ball into a screen showing a virtual version of well-known, real-life golf courses around the world.
The Chesterfield franchise was purchased by married couple and Powhatan residents Chris and Kelly Johannsen. Chris also owns CreativeScapes, which designs pools and outdoor living spaces. Kelly owns bus tour company Long Long Weekend.
The Johannsens were looking for a new business investment when they found out about Back Nine, Chris said. He said his family has gotten into golf in recent years, with his son now playing on the Powhatan Middle School team.
“I was looking for a new adventure that wouldn’t require all my time and would be somewhat passive. And we’re a big golf family, so this sort of checked all of the boxes,” Johannsen said.
That passive element, Johannsen said, is that Back Nine venues are essentially self-serve, allowing customers to schedule their tee time and enter the facility on their own using an app that unlocks the door.
Players can also bring their own food and alcohol to Back Nine, whereas some of its competitors have in-house bars and restaurants.
“This can kind of run by itself and you can give it the attention it requires,” Johannsen said.
Chris and Kelly Johannsen
The Johannsens leased a 2,700-square-foot storefront at 2013 Walmart Way off of Midlothian Turnpike behind Walmart and Sam’s Club. Work on the space is set to begin any day, with the goal of opening this spring, Johannsen said.
The Chesterfield location will have three simulator bays and room for potentially a fourth, Johannsen said.
He said they’ll also have a local golf pro offering lessons from the facility, along with golf club fittings.
Johannsen said he’ll man the facility while also continuing to run CreativeScapes.
Up in Short Pump, the Henrico Back Nine location will open in a 2,200-square-foot space at 12120 in the Wegmans- and Cabela’s-anchored West Broad Marketplace.
The franchisee for that location is Tom Rawlyk, who works full-time in cyber security and, like the Johannsens, was looking for a side gig business venture.
Rawlyk said he was drawn to the idea of indoor golf due to the increasing popularity of the TGL, a televised pro simulator league created by golf legends Tiger Woods and Rory McElroy. Back Nine also uses Full Swing simulators, the same as those used by TGL.
He said simulator franchises like Back Nine and others are starting to develop leagues and tournaments, in which players in one location can play against those at the chain’s other locations.
“This is going to take the idea of indoor golf into a whole other realm,” Rawlyk said of the competitions. “We’re taking golf from not only being able to play against your friends but to hook up with your frat brothers 200 miles away and play against them on a February night when there’s snow outside.”
Rawlyk, who was previously the longtime girls varsity basketball coach at Deep Run High School, said he lives on the Federal Club in Hanover, though he doesn’t get to play as much golf as he’d like.
He bought in as a Back Nine franchisee last April and hopes to open his location in April or May of this year. He said he’s currently going through the county permitting process and that his space will have three hitting bays.
Thalhimer’s David Crawford and James Ashby handled the lease negotiations with Rawlyk on behalf of West Broad Marketplace.
Tom Rawlyk
Like the Johannsens in Chesterfield, Rawlyk said he plans to keep his day job and will run his Back Nine location with the help of his wife and family members and may consider hiring an employee.
Back Nine was founded in 2021 with its original location in Utah. It currently has dozens of locations open and in the works nationwide, according to its website. Its four other Virginia locations in the works in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Leesburg and Lynchburg.
Startups costs for a Back Nine franchise average around $325,000, according to online listings.
The two local Back Nine locations will join a competitive field of indoor golf simulator venues around the region. In Midlothian there’s Green Club at 6109 Harbourside Centre Loop and X-Golf at 15800 WC Main St.
Hanover has Anytime Golf, while the city has two locations of Indoor Golf RVA. Golf courses and country clubs in the area have also added simulators of their own for members to use.
Rawlyk said there’s room for multiple venues in the region, particularly if the leagues and tournaments that are on the rise begin to gain some traction.
“Instead of now and just going and hitting golf balls, it’s putting a competitive and even monetary potential on indoor golf,” he said. “If the appetite for competition grows there’s going to be a need for facilities to house it.”
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