A warehouse that once housed an electrical contracting business on S. Hope Street in El Centro now holds a pool table, a dartboard and two high-tech golf simulators. Valley Drive Golf celebrated its soft opening on Saturday, offering locals a way to swing a club indoors no matter how brutal the summer heat gets outside.
Owner William Wilkerson gave a tour of the 2,800-square-foot space at 1151 S. Hope St., according to The Desert Review. The venue is built around two ProTee VX simulators, machines that use cameras to track the golf ball and a golfer's swing while measuring ball speed, direction, launch angle and spin. Those simulators can project hundreds of golf courses, the paper reports, ranging from realistic fairways to imaginative settings like outer space and Candyland.
Wilkerson said he spent a couple of years living in San Diego, where golf could be played comfortably through the hottest months, and he wanted to bring that same year-round accessibility to El Centro. As the Desert Review's report notes, he pointed out that golf simply cannot be played outside here in summer, which helped drive the idea behind the new business. Valley Drive Golf is pitched as a place for individual and team golf regardless of season.
A Family Project Built From the Ground Up
The warehouse itself has history. Wilkerson created Valley Drive Golf inside the building formerly used by his father Paul Wilkerson's business, where Paul had worked as an electrical contractor. William Wilkerson thanked his brother Ryan and his father Paul for helping prepare the warehouse for its new life as an indoor course, per the same outlet's report.
Beyond the simulators, the venue also offers something called bucket golf, which Wilkerson described as beer pong mixed with golf. It is one more option alongside the darts and pool table for visitors who want a mix of games during their visit. Wilkerson has invited golfers to come in groups, playing together or against each other on a simulator, and the business's own site advertises that booth rentals carry no player limit, so friends can pile into one bay together.
Opening-Day Deals and What Comes Next
For its opening day, Valley Drive Golf advertised a Closest to the Pin shootout with prizes on the line for $5 a shot, according to the company's website. The site also listed $10 club-set rentals, good for the whole day a customer is there, lowering the barrier for anyone who wants to try simulator golf without owning their own clubs.
Wilkerson said he plans to start leagues and tournaments at the venue and would like to bring in instructors to offer golf lessons down the line. He described Valley Drive Golf as a third space, separate from home or work, and he said golf is a sport that can still be played at a high level later in life. Golfers interested in trying it out can book a tee time directly at valleydrivegolf.com.
How It Fits Into a Growing National Trend
Valley Drive Golf arrives as indoor simulator golf has become a bigger business across the country. MyGolfSpy describes the format as having grown from a niche training tool for pros into a mainstream way to practice and play year-round, estimating it as an almost $2-billion annual market in the United States. The outlet reports that most venues nationally charge between $20 and $80 an hour for a simulator bay, typically billing by the bay rather than per golfer so groups can split the cost, with memberships at some locations running from $100 to $500 or more.
El Centro golfers who prefer grass under their feet still have Rio Bend RV & Golf Resort, located at 1589 Drew Road, as a traditional option. Rio Bend lists in-season hours of 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, though its course closes for one month each fall for overseeding, a seasonal gap that an indoor venue like Valley Drive Golf would not face.
