The Social Swing looks to enhance events with its mobile golf simulator
Tim Harty, The Business Times
Nic and Tegan Hansen started their side business, The Social Swing, with a soft launch in November at WestCo Brewing. They expect most of their events will be in the Grand Junction service area, but most of the Western Slope is fair game for them to take their mobile golf simulator. Photo courtesy of The Social Swing.
For those who think any large social gathering would be better with a golf simulator, Nic and Tegan Hansen understand.
The former college athletes – Tegan played softball at Colorado Mesa University, and Nic played baseball at Metro State University – love the game of golf, calling it a passion.
They made that clear at their wedding reception, when they included a driving range (an open field, not a simulator), and they said it was a huge hit. It also was the impetus for their Grand Junction-based side business, The Social Swing, which they started in November.
“We have a passion for the game and so does the community,” Nic said, figuring those two elements are a good base for starting the business.
“We were thinking, ‘Well, this would be a really cool thing to have at other events if you could just bring it in a box, essentially,’” Nic said. “So, we did some research, looked into it and then kind of started the idea.
“There’s no other business like this in Western Colorado. And with the golfing community here, we figured it’d be a great thing to make events unique and to have us out for whatever people would like.”
The social-gathering possibilities are numerous, as Tegan rattled off events such as wedding receptions, corporate events, fundraisers, birthday parties, graduation parties, “really any type of social gathering and celebration.”
The Social Swing has two events under its belt already, having a soft launch at WestCo Brewing, 905 Struthers Ave., and CMU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes Christmas party.
Each time they set up the golf simulator – the inflatable structure is 12 feet high, 15 feet wide and 16 feet long, and there’s an impact screen, projector, laptop computer, etc. – they get a little quicker. When Nic and Tegan set it up on Dec. 13 for The Business Times to get an up-close look, they said they did it in 45 minutes, which was their fastest time yet.
Now that they’re getting a feel for events, it’s: Have golf simulator, will travel. Pretty much anywhere on the Western Slope is viable for them.
A golfer follows through on his swing inside The Social Swing’s mobile golf simulator at a recent event while others wait their turn or mill around. Photo courtesy of The Social Swing.
On the business website, thesocialswing.com, the Hansens list a dozen communities they serve, going as far as Aspen and Telluride, but they add: “If your location isn’t listed, reach out – there’s a good chance I serve your area, too.” They just probably will add a travel charge for anything outside of the Grand Junction service area.
The Social Swing charges by the hour, and Nic said the base rate is $175 per hour, “and then we can kind of adjust it based on what the needs are.”
He added, “We can do some custom packages, too, with prizes if they want to run contests. We can do custom branding, different stuff like that to make it more catered to whatever the event is going on.”
What the customer then gets is the option to play any of 1,600 courses.
Augusta National, home of The Masters? Yep, it’s available. TPC Sawgrass? Yep.
“Any of the famous courses you can think of, we pretty much have access to all of those,” Nic said.
And get this: There are local courses such as The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa or Devil’s Thumb Golf Course in Delta.
If people want to play an entire course, they can. More likely, though, in order to accommodate a larger gathering, competitions will be challenges such as longest drive or closest to the pin.
“Usually with bigger events, we try to do something that’s gonna keep many guests engaged, so that’s why we’ll do some of those different competitions at a par-three or something like that,” Nic said.
He added the most popular thing at events so far “is people love taking the driver out and trying to hit it as far as they can.”
The Social Swing will provide right-handed and left-handed clubs.
While participants may be competitive, the Hansens emphasized The Social Swing is for anyone who wants to take a few (or a lot of) hacks.
“This is for fun and for engagement, and you don’t have to be a golfer to have fun with this,” Nic said. “We really want this to be open for everyone, no matter the age, no matter your skill level of golf. This is just a really fun thing to have … and it’s not just for golfers.”
To learn more about The Social Swing or book it for an event, visit its website, thesocialswing.com, or send an email to info@thesocialswing.com.
Nic and Tegan Hansen said they love golf, and after seeing the popularity of a driving range (hitting into a field, not a golf simulator) at their wedding, they did their research and decided to start The Social Swing, taking their mobile golf simulator to events around the Western Slope. They describe The Social Swing on their website as “Grand Junction’s premier mobile golf simulator experience, bringing a full-size inflatable hitting bay, tour-level tracking technology, and immersive golf entertainment directly to your event.” Photo by Tim Harty.
What they do besides golf
Owners Nic and Tegan Hansen started The Social Swing as a side business.
For their full-time jobs: Nic is wealth adviser for Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, which partners with Timberline Bank; and Tegan is a contracts manager at Community Hospital.
Night golf, anyone?
A few things don’t play nice with The Social Swing’s golf simulator. Inclement weather, of course, be it precipitation or high winds, is one. And while a sunny day is usually great for playing on a real golf course, it poses challenges for the golf simulator’s projector.
The large opening of the structure lets a lot of light in, causing faded images on the impact screen, so the opening needs to be positioned during the day to lessen the amount of light as much as possible.
What that also means is the evening or nighttime is a better time to use the golf simulator. Then the screen’s images are vibrant.
Yes, you can putt
The golf simulator’s radar technology accommodates putting as well as ball striking.
“It’ll actually read the putt,” Nic said. “So, you’ll putt it, and it’ll just go up there and stop wherever, but it’ll read it and simulate it on the screen … based on how the green works.”
While some people in real life don’t allow for “gimme” putts, they are encouraged by The Social Swing.
“There’s like a radius on the hole around the pin that if you get it in that radius, then it just gives you that,” Nic said. “We try and not make people putt if we don’t have to.”
That’s just as well, as he said the putting is “not the most exciting part of the game.”
