UnderPar Life, a startup looking to take on Topgolf, is building what it hopes will be the first of dozens of locations around the U.S. in Fort Worth, Texas.
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The 16K SF venue, located on Hawks Creek Golf Club in a suburb of Fort Worth, will include a 500-yard driving range, fitness area, 42 hitting bays, three bars, a PGA Tour-level short-game practice area and an instruction academy. Construction is expected to break ground later this year and top off within 18 months, D Magazine reported. Some aspects, like the practice area and driving range, are expected to open early.
The company, co-founded by David Deering and pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau, is looking to expand quickly from there and reach 30 locations across the country.
UnderPar Life plans to move into cities where Topgolf isn't likely to go and has prepared multiple models of varying sizes to accommodate accordingly. It is in discussions with Sam Houston State University's Bearkat Course and private landowners in Tyler, Texas; Aiken, South Carolina; Oklahoma; and Louisiana.
The growth model is expected to involve leasing land from cities — it signed a 99-year ground lease for its Fort Worth location — and partnering with municipal golf courses, which Deering said allows the company to operate with less capital.
UnderPar Life plans to execute a "Silicon Valley-type, high-growth, high-gross margin model," Deering told D Magazine.
Deering is looking toward a preferred equity raise next year, and he said he expects UnderPar Life’s valuation to eventually exceed the $2.6B Callaway paid for Topgolf in 2021.
DeChambeau is part of the LIV Golf tour. He just won a championship in Chicago and has eight PGA Tour wins. Deering's background includes Adams Golf and Silicon Valley startups.
Golf has experienced a boom after a pandemic lull. The National Golf Foundation reports that 41.1 million people played golf on and off courses in 2022, a record high. About 15.5 million people played exclusively at entertainment venues like Topgolf.
There were nearly 16,000 golf courses and 14,000 facilities at the end of last year, according to the NGF. The supply of courses may have stabilized after a number of years where closures outnumbered openings.
However, sports entertainment venues are growing in popularity, with pickleball chains in particular springing up across the country. UnderPar Life is just one of many amenity-focused experiential retailers cashing in on the 386% increase in these concepts between 2021 and this year.
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