Through two decades as a golf professional, Ben Witter never had the chance to play at Bay Harbor Golf Club in Michigan.

At least not in person.

He had, however, played the course without doing any traveling. He’d played it many times on the AboutGolf simulator at his Ben’s Power Golf Learning Center just outside of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. “I‘ve played about eight of the courses that are on there,” says Witter, referring to the two dozen courses—including the likes of Pebble Beach, Troon, and Bay Hill—featured in sparkling 3-D graphics on the AboutGolf simulator. “I’d never played Bay Harbor in person, but I played it on the simulator all the time,” he tells us. “When I finally got to play it in person (in 2005), I felt as if I knew the course like the back of my hand because I’d experienced all the little nuances already on the simulator.”

Witter is a former national collegiate long-driving champion whose dream of playing on the PGA Tour was sidetracked by a rare form of cancer. He is now a teaching professional and trick-shot artist who uses his simulator for year-round instruction; he also rents it out for league and recreational play when the weather outside makes traditional golf impossible.

His simulator is housed in a “performance bay” that measures about 10 feet high, 17 feet wide, and 18 feet long, located in a small building on the edge of the Fairview Golf Course. The system includes a projection unit, a PC, a touchscreen monitor, and—the heart of the unit—a radar-based tracking sensor located behind a screen. For all of the simulator’s capabilities—video and computer-generated swing analysis, weight analysis, and the ability to play on what eventually could be hundreds of courses—it’s not limited to golf learning centers and country clubs.

In fact, AboutGolf has a division dedicated to the home entertainment aspects of the simulator, and CEO Bill Bales even has a name for it: closet golf. “It’s about 15 percent of our sales right now. It’s just a segment, but it’s the fastest growing market segment we’ve got,” says Bales, who got the idea for the simulator when he saw earlier attempts at the technology at a PGA show a few years ago. “My goal for a long time has been to come up with a simulator product that, let’s say, is as robust as the pro model, but at a significantly lower price.” The pro model costs about $40,000. Witter had to take a second mortgage on his home to buy his model, but he says it has paid for itself several times over by enabling him to give lessons year-round, instead of just during the summer.

Some people can afford to spend that kind of money strictly for home entertainment, but Bales wants to open up the market beyond that level. “You have 60 million golfers in the world—7 million or so are what they call core golfers in the U.S.,” he explains. “It’s hard for most of them to pay $40,000 for this...If you get to the point where you can buy a simulator as an alternative to a Jet Ski or a Harley or a trip to Disney World, it becomes more feasible.” He adds, “If you can make it more affordable, maybe let people play in smaller spaces, and provide financing options, all of a sudden, instead of maybe hundreds of home simulators, we’d be looking at thousands.”

Witter knows some golfers who have already gotten on board. “I know of a family in Michigan. They have a family room with a foosball table, pool table, and stuff like that in one area and the simulator in another,” he explains. “He had his two daughters here for lessons. He never intended to put in a simulator; but, when they saw all the neat things you can do, it was a great addition to a new home.”

Besides getting to play the world’s great courses, another of those “neat things” is the ability to step up for a few whacks at a driving range. But, instead of just hitting a bucket of balls and getting in the car to go home, the golfer can get almost endless analysis from a simulator driving session, if he or she wants it.

At first, taking a golf shot on the simulator feels a little strange. After all, even though the computer is simulating a shot of 200 yards, the golfer is really only hitting the ball a few feet into a screen. Sure, the screen offers incredible graphics of some of the world’s great golf courses, but initially you don’t get the feeling that you’ve actually hit the golf ball any significant distance. “The first time, because it’s indoors, some people are afraid to take a full swing, like they’re afraid they’re going to break something,” says Ryan Dunkle, Witter’s assistant. “Some people seem to think the ball’s going to come back and hit them or that they’re going to break the sensor or something.”

The radar unit has about 10,000 sensors picking up information from tee to green. Because of the radar’s placement behind the screen, the proprietary screen material has to be strong enough to stop virtually any shot dead in its tracks, without a rebound threatening to come back and hit the golfer. Just to be safe, the radar unit is also protected by a hard shell, but that didn’t help Witter’s simulator when a club head once came loose and flew into the radar, cracking it. The projector, meanwhile, is placed far enough back and high enough on the other end of the simulator to prevent just about any golfer from hitting it. “You really can’t hit anything with a normal swing,” Witter notes.

Once a golfer gets used to hitting into the screen, a vast array of knowledge and analysis becomes available. The unit measures virtually every aspect of a golf ball’s movement: velocity, spin, lift, launch angles, height, and distance. Most golfers don’t have anywhere near a refined swing and therefore don’t always have control over where the club head goes. However, after taking a shot on the simulator, a golfer can see exactly where the head of the club went, both prior to and at the moment of contact. The simulator will also measure the speed of the shot. It’s fascinating to literally see the path a club head takes on any given shot.

To break down a golfer’s actual swing, a teaching pro like Witter can observe video of the swing and use the tracking programs to plot where it went wrong, and he can store the data, giving the golfer the opportunity to compare the analysis of different swings at different sessions. The information can even be accessed online.

Another interesting feature is WeightTrac, which monitors and then displays a golfer’s center of gravity, providing feedback to help correct any problems. For this, a golfer doesn’t have to have a club in his or her hand or even take a swing. The simulator can measure proper weight distribution on its own. “We do get a lot of data, and that’s definitely a noteworthy selling point for this product,” says Bales. “It’s not only the amount but the quality of the data. Still, our product could be more accurate. Simulators, in general, could be more accurate, and we’re always working on new technology.”

“My clients want something different,” Witter explains, noting that his fee can be almost double that of other instructors in his area. “They are often blown away by all the things they can see on this simulator. They know it’s something unique.” Still, for a casual golfer, it might all seem a bit overwhelming.

Witter believes the simulator has almost unlimited potential beyond its analytical and teaching aspects. “To me, no matter how great a simulator is, it never replaces being outside on the golf course,” he says as he points to the Fairview tenth tee on a balmy morning. “But there are a lot of reasons why the simulator might be an alternative.” He mentions the sun; some people can’t take 18 holes without risking skin cancer or other problems. And there are no gnats, ticks, or other bugs in the simulator…well, not usually.

Dunkle notes that he played a round of golf one weekend day and was on the course for six hours. “On the simulator, you can play at your own pace,” Witter says. “It’s like renting a tennis court or a racquetball court. Outside, you get a 9:15 tee time, and you play 18 holes, no matter how long it takes. Here, you pay for the time and have the course for that time.”

The simulator could also be good for golfers who are a bit shy about their game. “When you’re on the golf course, you’re on stage,” Witter says. “You might not be confident teeing off in front of a group of people you don’t know. Here, you play to your ability and your style.” Golfers from age 20 to 70 are using the simulator, he tells us, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it.

As for the future, Bales hints that “a fairly major announcement by the end of the year” will bring even more advances in tracking technology. But will it bring more units into the home? “A guy in New York I know, he’s an insurance broker,” Witter says. “He has his architect for his new home working with the people from AboutGolf, and they’re pretty much designing the home around the simulator.” Bay Harbor, here they come.

AboutGolf Golf Simulators, aboutgolf.com