Indoor Golf's Simulator Boom: Is the Virtual Game About to Overtake the Real Thing?

Posted : 21 March 2026

Indoor golf is no longer a rainy-day substitute. It is fast becoming the preferred way millions of people around the world experience the sport.

Trackman, one of the industry's leading technology providers, has projected that 80% of all golf rounds played globally will be virtual by 2028. In the UK alone, the company predicts simulator rounds will outnumber outdoor rounds before the decade is out.

The global golf simulator market was valued at $1.92 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $4.7 billion by 2034. That trajectory reflects a sport quietly transforming itself from the inside out.

South Korea offers the clearest preview of where things are headed. With limited outdoor space and a deeply embedded golf culture, 87% of South Korean golfers prefer the off-course simulator experience, supported by around 6,000 indoor venues across the country. The tipping point there arrived nearly a decade ago.

In the United States, the shift is already underway. More off-course players (32.9 million) than on-course players (26.6 million) were recorded in the US for the first time in 2023. The National Golf Foundation has confirmed the trend is continuing upward.

Globally, data from the R&A shows that 60% of the world's 108 million golfers outside the US and Mexico are now playing formats other than nine or 18-hole on-course golf. That figure rises to 80% among teenagers; a clear signal of where the sport's future lies.

Still, outdoor golf is not collapsing. In Great Britain, 2025 delivered the highest number of on-course rounds in five years, with an estimated 90 million full rounds played. And 82% of traditional on-course golfers in Britain and Ireland have also played an alternative format, meaning many are simply embracing both.

The format is also opening doors for newcomers. In England, 36% of players tried simulator or alternative golf before ever stepping onto a course. England Golf's development director Matt Draper called it a gateway: "Indoor golf is playing a huge role in driving more people to the game."

Companies like Toptracer, Trackman, and Golfzon are powering this shift. Golfzon alone recorded more than 100 million rounds played globally using its technology in 2024. Its professional indoor league in South Korea posted a total prize fund of 1.9 billion South Korean won (approximately £1 million) last year.

Even the PGA Tour has leaned in. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL venture plays on a screen measuring 64 feet by 53 feet; roughly 24 times the size of a standard simulator. It is pushing the ceiling of what indoor golf can look and feel like.

Putting remains the most obvious limitation. Around 40% of all outdoor shots are hit on the green, but most commercial simulator venues skip it entirely. As Toptracer's head of product Oskar Asgard explains: "It's the least realistic part of simulator golf. In an indoor setting, we don't give you the opportunity because it slows the game down."

For most recreational players booking an hour slot, that trade-off is more than acceptable. The point is no longer simply to practice. It is to play, socialise, and enjoy the game on their own terms.

Indoor Golf's Simulator Boom: Is the Virtual Game About to Overtake the Real Thing?

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