Back Nine Golf brings year-round indoor play to Wooster

There will no longer be an offseason or even rainouts for golfers in the Wooster area.

The Back Nine Golf indoor facility held its grand opening at 4146 Burbank Road, Ste. C, next to Buffalo Wild Wings, on Aug. 2.

The facility will be open 24/7 for those with memberships. Times can be booked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for nonmembers.

Local investors Ben Maibach, B.J. Thomas, Chad Williams and Mitch Flickinger learned about the fast-growing Back Nine indoor golf simulators and teamed up to become one of Ohio’s first franchise owners.

“When we signed on, we were like the 50th franchise in the country,” said Maibach, a graduate of Wooster High School and The College of Wooster and is the president of Wooster Brush. “Now there's over 250 franchises signed up. It's great.

“I think we were the second location in Ohio. Brunswick opened a couple months before us.”

In recent years the local Back Nine investors set up indoor golf simulators in someone’s garage and got together to hit balls.

“Most of all, we wanted a place where people in Wooster could do this,” Maibach said. “Of course, we're also hoping to make money as a business.

“We know enough golfers — we're all golfers ourselves — and we wanted a place to play in the winter. We've always had it in somebody's garage the last five or six winters, and we wanted to make a business out of it in a nicer location. It’s ended up being a pretty cool space.”

Thomas, a former College of Wooster baseball teammate of Maibach, said the indoor golf facility is in no way looking to replace real golf.

“There's nothing better than being out on a course with your friends on a nice, sunny day, cruising around in a golf cart or whatever,” Thomas said. “But you can't do that in the winter months, and a lot of golf courses have closed or are booked. This is another alternative to come in, work on some of your skills, socialize and have fun.”

What exactly can the Back Nine golf simulator do? Pretty much anything but give golfers real sunlight and grass.

The smartphone Back Nine app allows customers to do everything from booking tee times to gaining keyless entry into the facility 24/7, logging in to golf and recording an array of statistics.

The Back Nine golf simulator uses Full Swing technology to provide precise data on each shot, allowing golfers to practice on realistic virtual courses or grip and rip on a driving range.

The system uses a combination of cameras and radar to track club and ball data, providing metrics like speed, spin and carry distance. This information helps golfers analyze their swing and improve their game, with options for tracking progress and playing various games or full rounds at popular courses.

Golfers can play more than 60 courses around the world including St. Andrews in Scotland, Tournament Players Club courses and Muirfield in Columbus. There also are skill contests and even games for kids. Leagues are being planned for this winter.

“There are all kinds of stats and data,” Maibach said about the Utah-based Back Nine company’s technology. “It tracks distance, spin rates and whether your swing’s inside-out or outside-in. It takes a video of every single swing, and it shows you the club face coming through the ball so you see exactly what you're doing.”

There are three golfing bays at the Burbank Road location and one bay at City News and Brews, 135 S. Market St., Wooster, owned by Flickinger, Thomas and Williams. A Back Nine membership allows people to book tee times at both local locations and play against golfers or at locations at any other sites across the U.S.

After a soft opening in June, the owners say memberships have already exceeded their expectations heading into the fall.

“There's nothing like it in Wooster,” Thomas said. “This was a chance to get in at the ground level (as a Back Nine franchise) and try to get people excited.

“The indoor golf simulator business is booming. They're popping up all over the country. I have a best friend who actually opened one in Florida. He's been doing it for the past eight years. You're seeing a lot more people putting them in their homes, putting them in their garages. With the climate we have here in winter, we think this will be successful.”

Back Nine Wooster memberships start as low as $100 per month. There are TVs to watch games, and members can bring their own food and drinks at the Burbank Road facility.

For more information visit www.thebackninegolf.com/woosteroh or email wooster@thebackninegolf.com.