Toptracer by Topgolf: Coming to Topeka
Photos by John Burns
GreatLIFE has several locations in Topeka and each location has its own personality. Some locations offer a full golf course with driving ranges, some have swimming pools and fitness centers, while others, like GreatPLAY, are a family entertainment center offering an array of activities for the whole family that includes paintball, trampolines, arcade rooms, two story laser tag, FootGolf, disc golf, bike trails, swimming, fitness classes and miniature golf.
Always looking for ways to provide opportunities and activities for their members, the GreatLIFE North facility, located at 350 HWY-24, will be adding another fun activity for the whole family to do together: Toptracer.
Toptracer is a golf computer game that allows the player to experience golf like the pros by using a ball tracking mechanism that displays the flight of your golf ball on a computer screen. Players can see how far or how fast the ball traveled and how high of a curve the ball had. With this real-time data, players can compete
in a variety of games, such as Angry Birds, or longest drive, or hitting targets. Toptracer can also be used to help improve skills and even let people play golf virtually on courses all over the world.
GreatLIFE owner Rick Farrant wanted to add a new golf experience to his club and was leaning toward bringing in golf simulators when he heard about a Toptracer facility in Springfield, Missouri. Farrant has three locations there, so he decided to visit and give it a try.
“After experiencing Toptracer, I was just ecstatic because it was just like being at Topgolf. The experience was the same, the games were the same, it’s the same software, only it’s a version you can easily take to any existing range,” Farrant said. “I signed up on the way home.”Farrant plans to have several bays that can serve up to 10 people. Each bay will have its own Toptracer gaming computer that tracks the balls hit from each bay out to visible targets on the range. In addition to Toptracer Range games, players can order food and drinks from the onsite kitchen while they play.
Toptracer is for all ages and all skill levels, and does not require knowledge of how to play golf, so Farrant sees it as a great way to bring in new golfers.
“You can be really self-conscious going out on the golf course as a beginner, but this is just the opposite. Toptracer is not the foursome of guys that you see at the golf course. It’s more diverse, and everybody has a good time,” Farrant said. “I took my grandsons, who aren’t big golfers, and even they had a good time. It’s for everybody.”
People wanting to play Toptracer will pay an additional fee, but all GreatLIFE members will get to play at a discounted rate.
“We are always adding something new to get people engaged with our facilities,” Farrant said. “We want to involve our members as much as we can and try not to classify a person as a golfer or fitness person. We aim more for lifestyle so everyone feels included. The more the member is interacting with us, the happier they will be.”
When Toptracer Range opens Memorial Day Weekend at GreatLIFE North, it will be the first one to open in Kansas. Farrant could have brought Toptracer to any of its current golf ranges, but he chose Topeka because that is where he was born and raised.
“We are trying to be pro-Topeka right now and I think this will bring people to town,” Farrant said. “Everybody goes to Kansas City on a regular basis to play Topgolf, and we are excited to bring this experience to Topeka. It will be worth your time to stay here and play instead of driving to Kansas City.”
Toptracer will be offered seven days a week, year round.
TK
