AUBURN — Logan Shank hopes his new business venture will get more people interested in the game of golf.
He opened Shank’s Golf Lounge at 1204 W. 15th St. in September.
“I have always been kind of into golf overall,” Shank said at a Sept. 30 ribbon-cutting ceremony. I’ve never been good at golf, but I’ve always enjoyed playing it, so my main goal is just to get more people into the game of golf, or even just make the game of golf more normalized as just a normal part of life.”
He hopes his indoor golf simulator lounge will offer another entertainment option in the community.
The lounge has four simulator bays with 16-foot-wide screens.
“They are as large as we can go,” Shank said.
As well as offering a golf experience, the screens can be used for video games and movies, Shank said.
“We can do whatever, whatever it seems possible that you can throw up on a screen,” he added. “The options are fairly unlimited and we can do whatever people want to see.
“Everything’s at your disposal here with fresh food, drinks, and you don’t have to worry about the weather, because, rain or shine, we’re perfectly climate-controlled inside,” Shank said.
The simulators offer eight different golf game options — closest to the pin, bullseye, hit it, capture the flag, adventure, miniature golf, scrapyard and cannon bowl.
Players also can choose to play on over 500 courses, with about 95% of them being simulated from real courses from all over the world.
“And so the really, really cool part about Trackman is they’ll go out and actually scan the fields, physically scan the fields with drones and all that, and get as accurate as you possibly can be of what the course actually looks like,” Shank explained.
“If you see tire tracks in there, those were the tire tracks that were in that on that course at that time,” he said of the detailed process used to create the simulated courses.
Shank said the facility also will offer special events and activities, as well as leagues, tournaments and memberships.
Since opening in September, Shank said, business has been consistent.
“Goodness gracious, the beautiful weather has been crazy,” he said. “We are definitely a ‘when weather is terrible sort of place,’ more or less.”
Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Shank said the public can stay updated on events at the lounge by visiting the website, shanksgolflounge.com or its Facebook page.
