Topgolf Las Vegas Is a Winner

Two things are in great abundance Friday night at the new Topgolf Las Vegas at the MGM Grand: bad swings and broad smiles.

MGM’s new golf driving range and events venue on the southwest corner of Koval Lane and Harmon Avenue opened about a month ago and already is highly popular from open to close.

Topgolf is four stories tall with golf bays on every level. The building is situated in an arc, with the driving bays generally facing northward toward Harmon Avenue and overlooking the driving range.

No matter the outdoor temperature, it never gets hot at Topgolf, thanks to its highly efficient climate-control system. The building’s orientation has the added advantage of shielding patrons from the sun and prevailing westerly winds, ensuring great golfing conditions, no matter the weather.

While it is a golf-based property, patrons don’t need even a remote interest in golf to have a lot of fun at Topgolf. Plenty of people who likely never held a golf club clearly were in attendance and having a lot of fun.

Judging from the proliferation of bad swings, it’s quite likely many people are giving golf a try for the first time upon visiting. Most likely, they visit with friends who are golfer, have a drink or two while their friends practice, get loosened up, and give it a try in a party-like atmosphere.

For Topgolf and Callaway, that means more potential golfers well into the future.

Over time, the number of new golfers would be significantly large if only a fraction of a percentage of first-time golfers enjoy the experience at Topgolf enough to order a custom set of their own clubs on the premises. Callaway can custom fit a set of golf clubs for visitors at Topgolf and have it delivered to their homes within 48 hours.

Experienced golfers looking for more serious practice to perfect their various swings likely will find daylight hours more to their liking, due to the party-like atmosphere that develops during the early evening hours and lasting until the late-morning close.



Each of the 108 climate-controlled hitting bays has comfortable couch seating, a television, touch-screen pay station, and a complimentary set of clubs – but players can bring their own. The driving range includes a variety of shorter holes with respective flags, so that golfers can practice their short game, as well as driving.

All ages are welcome on the first two floors, where anyone can play free giant Jenga, bag-toss, and shuffleboard, as well as practice their swings. Levels three and four only are for ages 21 and up.

The first level also contains a flexible meeting space, which can be configured into three separate meeting rooms or combined into one. Callaway has a fitting studio on the ground level, where it also offers private instruction with the help of its virtual reality golf simulator.

Another event space is located on the rooftop, and other areas can be reserved for private events. On Friday, an InfoComm trade show group had a reserved spaced cordoned off with one of Topgolf’s five bars and food service dedicated for the private event.

As a business school professor at Michigan State University once opined: If you want to do well in business, learn how to golf. Topgolf is a good example of that, and the ability to conduct business, practice golf games, and enjoy good food and drinks means it’s a great place to do business.

Topgolf’s location is very close to virtually all convention centers on the Las Vegas Strip. That means various business organizations attending large trade shows, conventions, and expositions, much like the InfoComm group, can reserve private space at Topgolf for business meetings and satellite events.

If they want to generate excitement and buzz among trade show attendees, giving away a free custom-made set of Callaway golf clubs, along with a complimentary driving bay rental, food, and beverage at Topgolf would be a good way to do to so, particularly among the business set. And most trade show attendees, buyers in particular, are business people with money to spend.

From a strictly recreational standpoint, Topgolf is an obvious hit.

There’s no cover charge. Food and drinks aren’t cheap, but they are good and not overly priced. A Budweiser costs $7, which is about average for a location near the Las Vegas Strip. Craft beers and cocktails cost more.

Wait staff were very busy all evening and said Topgolf has been very popular since it opened about a month ago. One server said a lot of people like to stop by and watch the big game, as evidenced by its near-capacity crowd that evening.

Friday night was game four of the NBA Finals. With favored Golden State holding a 2-1 series lead against the host Cleveland Cavaliers, the five bars and hitting bays at Topgolf were at or near capacity throughout the game.



Prior to the game, Topgolf stayed busy, as golfers worked on their game and the InfoComm group conducted its private affair. The early business gradually transitioned into a diverse group of sports fans as game time approached around 6 p.m. Several watched the game while lounging poolside and in the pool.

As the game concluded, those who showed up to watch the NBA Finals before heading out onto the Las Vegas Strip and other destinations began leaving, and were replaced by those arriving for the 9 p.m. concert.

From open to close, Topgolf Las Vegas offers a variety of entertainment that keeps new groups of people coming and going from open to close. That means the about 850 workers and staff hired on at Topgolf have secure jobs that likely pay well when factoring in tip income.

Topgolf also has many of the elements that appeal to millennial-generation visitors: An immersive and interactive environment that enables social interaction, while creating a unique experience. It even has social media video boards displaying vistors’ various posts on their respective Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pintererst, and other social media accounts.

Topgolf’s off-strip location also appeals to Las Vegas locals, who can park at Topgolf, or at the nearby MGM Grand parking garage. When it’s busy, there likely will be a short wait to get into the Topgolf parking lot off Koval Lane, and traffic will come to a stop in the far right lane on Koval.

Those willing to walk a short distance might find it more convenient to park at the MGM Grand parking structure about a block south on Koval and avoid the line getting into Topgolf during busy hours. If there’s a big event at the Grand Garden Arena, though, parking could become an issue at Topgolf, and MGM might find it wise and profitable to eventually erect a parking structure next to Topgolf.

For now, locals can park at the MGM Grand without paying. Those who don’t have a Nevada license will have to pay, unless riding a motorcycle. Motorcycle parking is free at the MGM Grand, and a parking attendant said there are no plans to charge for motorcycle parking there.

Topgolf also operates a free shuttle that takes people to and from the MGM Grand several times per hour.

While Topgolf has much going in its favor, it could make some improvements to its performance area. Despite having televisions at every golf bay and in many other locations, the evening concert was not shown on closed circuit television.

Topgolf’s performance space on the second level is listed as holding 900, but it is  relatively small area, with a sizeable stage and an impressive video screen that also is used to show sports events.

Unfortunately, the stage area lacks depth, has a glass wall bordering the east side, and projects much of its sound into the façade for levels three and four. The poor acoustics cause the sound to bounce off the walls and numerous metal columns in the stage area.



The narrow performance area also forces most patrons to stand, and that cuts off the view for those seated in the nearby hitting bays.

A solution would be to improve the PA system to deliver the sound more evenly throughout the venue, or at least on the performance level, and rely less on stage amplifiers and speakers to deliver the sound, much of which is played directly into impassible objects incapable of absorbing sound waves.

In its current configuration and given the acoustic limitations of its performance area, Topgolf would be wise to stick to more intimate performances and try less to create an event capable of being heard in every golf bay. The sound mostly echoes on the other levels.

Many patrons also only showed for the golfing, food, drinks, and fun, and aren’t interested in attending or hearing the concert. While at the box office, a small and diverse group of males in their late 20s to early 30s made sure they did not have to buy concert tickets to golf.

Wisely, Topgolf allows patrons to only golf, but they can watch the show from the third- and fourth-level balconies overlooking the stage area. Entering the second-level’s performance area required a wrist band once the concert began.

In addition to live performances and all the other entertainment at Topgolf, patrons can gamble. At least one bar has video gaming terminals, and a daytime sportsbook takes action on the games, although it only has one betting window. The betting lines likely are the same as offered at the MGM Grand sportsbook.

That makes Topgolf a likely great place for sports fans to gather on football weekends, watch games, work on their swings, and have a great time. With the proliferation of mobile sports betting in Las Vegas and its own dedicated sportsbook, Topgolf already is one of the best places in Las Vegas to wager and watch a game.

Clearly, Topgolf has much going for it.

It’s a place where serious golfers can go to work on their game before hitting the links at one of the area’s many golf courses.

It’s a place where fans of sports and music can watch and wager on the big game and take in a performance afterward.

It’s a place where millennials can gather with friends, have fun, interact, and enjoy a unique experience that they can share via social media as it happens.

It’s also a place where business can be done in an intimate setting.

And, it’s a place where locals can go to have fun, without getting jammed up in traffic on the Las Vegas Strip.

All that it has going for it and more ensure one thing: Topgolf Las Vegas is a definite winner.