An indoor training center meant to help golfers improve their game year-round is under construction inside an office building near Ballston.
The Golf Yards, a membership-only training facility with golfing simulators, a sand bunker and “elite-level coaching” for golfers of all experience levels is aiming for an early April opening at Three Ballston Plaza (1100 N. Glebe Road).
Founder David Stillman wants the space, which will be open 24/7, to become a part of members’ weekly routines — with offices, a lounge and a gym in addition to a 600-square-foot cutting mat and a 2,000-square-foot short gaming area.
“Our focus is literally just on the performance aspect and the improvement aspect of golf,” Stillman told ARLnow.
At just under 13,000 square feet, Stillman hopes The Golf Yards will attract members wanting to improve their game throughout the year, even in bad weather. Offering individual plans for $299 per month (plus a $1000 initiation fee) and family plans for $349 per month (plus a $1,500 initiation fee), the center will have “a very high-end, sort of indoor country club vibe,” he said.
“[If] it’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s raining, it’s snowing, it’s too windy, you name it, you’re going to come here and get better,” Stillman said.
Unlike some other centers, which serve food and drinks alongside golfing, The Golf Yards’ focus will be on people who are serious about improvement — whether they’re experienced golfers or first-timers.
“Any of those people are going to be welcome and excited to be here, because there’s going to be programs and facilities for essentially any level of golfer,” he said.
The facility is partnering with Peak Golf Institute and will also offer members Technogym and OxeFit gym equipment “to improve how their body moves, how their swing functions, and how their game holds up long-term,” a press release says.
Stillman is hoping to attract interest from families as well as individual golfers, all with the goal of creating “a community environment where beginning, never-before golfs and the best golfers can hang out, get to know each other, learn from each other, and have fun.”
While this is The Golf Yards’ first location, Stillman has ambitions of someday expanding throughout the D.C. area. The facility already has 150 people on the waitlist — a number that he takes as a sign of significant local demand.
“There is a need and interest and excitement in year-round, 24/7, 365 golf,” Stillman said.