A new indoor golf concept is teeing up in La Porte, with plans for a 2,060-square-foot simulator facility at 3525 Canada Road, Suite B2 B. The location will let golfers book bays around the clock using smartphone-based digital entry, with no membership required to play a round.
Franchise owner Brendon Lee is hoping to have the doors open by the end of 2026, according to WhatNow, which first reported on the project. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has listed the buildout as a golf training facility franchise, and the tenant improvement project covers just over 2,000 square feet of retail space, per the same filing cited by the outlet.
Back Nine Golf, the brand behind the concept, bills itself as an indoor golf training and simulator facility that supports everything from casual practice to competitive tournaments and golf leagues. Beyond solo practice sessions, the company hosts private gatherings, corporate events, golf camps and clinics, and its memberships offer additional benefits that vary by location, per the WhatNow report.
A Utah Law Student's Late-Night Idea Goes National
The concept traces back to St. George, Utah, in 2020, when attorney and former Brigham Young University law student Wil Bangerter launched the business to give himself somewhere to practice late at night during law school, according to TechBuzz News. Bangerter initially ran the operation with partners before opening it up to franchise investors in 2022, the outlet reports. The low-staffing model has been central to that growth: franchise materials note that owners typically oversee operations just 10 to 15 hours per week, since the app-based entry system removes the need for a front-desk presence.
That efficiency has helped fuel rapid expansion. Entrepreneur Magazine ranked The Back Nine Golf No. 42 on its list of Top New and Emerging Franchises and No. 88 among the Fastest-Growing Franchises nationwide in 2026, with the brand growing from 35 open locations in mid-2025 to more than 170 units sold across the country. Back Nine Golf now counts more than 250 open or announced locations across 29 states, including sites opening in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Where La Porte Fits on Back Nine's Texas Map
La Porte would join an already sizable Texas footprint for the brand, with existing locations in Allen, McKinney, Frisco, Flower Mound and Denton, plus additional sites in League City, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa. The company also operates in Arlington, Grand Prairie, Austin, Houston and Katy, rounding out a statewide presence that stretches from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
Opening a Back Nine Golf franchise is not cheap: it requires a $50,000 initial franchise fee, liquid capital of $100,000 to $150,000, and a total estimated startup investment ranging between $208,000 and $438,000 depending on location size, according to franchise disclosure data compiled by BizBuySell. That fee reportedly buys access to proprietary booking software, standardized facility layouts and wholesale equipment discounts for owners like Lee.
Full Swing Technology Behind the Bays
Back Nine Golf uses Full Swing indoor golf simulator technology, the officially licensed simulator software of the PGA TOUR and TGL, per the company. The systems use dual-tracking high-speed cameras and infrared light sensors to record club and ball impact with zero latency, and the platform includes licensed virtual recreations of championship courses such as TPC Sawgrass and Pebble Beach.
The timing lines up with a broader boom in the sport. A record 48.1 million Americans participated in golf in 2025, including 19 million who played exclusively at off-course venues like simulators and tech-enabled driving ranges, according to the National Golf Foundation. Overall U.S. golf participation surged 41% between 2019 and 2025, adding nearly 14 million total on-course and off-course participants, with annual increases averaging roughly 6% a year over that span.
An Alternative to La Porte's Municipal Course
La Porte already has an established golf option in Bay Forest Golf Course, an 18-hole municipal course built in 1988 along bayou-fed waterways that the Dallas Morning News has ranked among the top 20 municipal courses in Texas, according to the City of La Porte. Bay Forest offers traditional outdoor grass driving ranges and chipping greens alongside competitive municipal play, giving local golfers a very different experience from the climate-controlled, unstaffed bays Back Nine Golf plans to bring to Canada Road.
The La Porte project also fits a wider regional pattern of indoor golf simulator venues expanding across Houston and the broader Texas market. Similar concepts have recently opened or broken ground in nearby communities, including Another Nine in Oak Ridge North and 21Fore Golf in Richardson, part of a statewide push to build year-round, weather-proof golf spaces.
