After surveying all of California, executives at Topgolf headquarters decided to build their 29th facility in Roseville, which officially opened last Friday, September 2. This is the only Topgolf venue in California, and it’s less than two miles from the campus.

Marketing manager Ms. Bobbi Park explained why the franchise decided to build a new facility in Roseville. “There’s a lot of interested people in this area and it is a great family town,” Park said.

After nearly a year of construction, the facility started to hire people in the area, including nearly 200 high school students.

“[Topgolf] has opened tons of jobs. We have 550 associates from bartenders, bay hosts, chefs, servers and greeters,” Park said.

The facility is not meant for just the golf community, but for everyone.

“We’re hoping to appeal to anybody and everybody who wants to have a good time. We have all kinds of special events specifically catered to certain age groups, so everyone will find something they’re interested in. It’s a great place to start the sport; you can learn and be introduced to golf in a comfortable setting and grow your confidence before going to the driving range which can be really intimidating,” Park said.

With free access to three lounges and the restaurant, teens are invited to come and simply hang out if they are not interested in the golf aspect of the venue.

“I will definitely go there to hang out with friends. It’ll be a chill spot to just hit some balls and relax, too,” Matthew Willis said.

Sunday through Thursday, Topgolf is open from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. The facilities are open from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday. In order to play, golfers must first pay $5 for a lifetime membership. Then, they can rent a bay for up to six people which includes the choice of nine games, and access to clubs as well as unlimited range balls. Regardless of how many people are in a bay, the prices increase depending on the time of day. From opening to noon, bays are $25 per hour, noon to 5 a.m. they cost $35 per hour and 5 p.m. to closing costs $45 to play.

With the facility being the only one in California, varsity golf coach Mr. Timothy Farnan predicts that the presence of tourists should increase in the next year.

“[Topgolf] provides an entertainment option for our area since we need more of those. It will bring in people from all over, which could possibly lead to more crime and traffic to the already busy I-65,” Timothy Farnan said.

The facility is more youth-driven and during the spring, they will be introducing practice days for high school golf teams in the area to go and play as well.

Farnan said “If the facility is more youth-based, it could really help get more children interested in the sport. Then we’ll hopefully have more incoming freshmen playing golf to increase our program.”

Topgolf opened all to the public on Sept. 2.

by DEANNA PAYAN, EMMA THOMAS, AND DANICA TRAN