PGA of America teaching veteran Dustin Miller and his wife, Brenna Miller, are the founders of Swing Bays, an indoor golf concept that recently launched its franchise program.
Swing Bays, an indoor golf concept owned by PGA of America teaching veteran Dustin Miller and his wife, Brenna Miller, has its sights set on national expansion after announcing its franchise program in July.
“To be honest I wasn’t thinking of franchising the concept, but the feeling now is that we can take this concept national and really grow it with Fransmart’s help,” said Dustin Miller, the head teaching pro at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora, Colorado. He opened Swing Bays in Parker, Colorado, about three years ago and has since capped monthly memberships there at about 200.
It’s working with development firm Fransmart to grow a franchise system.
“I’m not looking to make this like a cookie cutter deal where we want to bring people in here for lessons and not have relationships with the members,” Miller said. “I want to create unbelievable relationships with the members and help them on a fitness track and help them on the instruction side. We want to help them be part of a community and make them feel like they are part of something special.”
Beyond golf simulators, Swing Bays focuses on enhancing golf skills with instruction, fitness, short game improvement and customized club fittings with the goal of attracting golfers of all ages to improve their game and overall health.
Beyond golf simulators, Swing Bays focuses on enhancing golf skills with instruction, fitness, short game improvement and customized club fittings with the goal of attracting golfers of all ages to improve their game and overall health.
Fransmart CEO Dan Rowe described the brand as “the next big sports fitness concept.”
“I’m a prisoner of franchising and I love golf, and let me tell you, Swing Bays has got it figured out,” said Rowe. Fransmart’s range of franchise clients include PayMore Electronics, Schmackary’s and Glo30 Skincare.
“There are a lot of other indoor golf concepts out there, and Swing Bays is the only one that combines golf with fitness training,” he continued. “The fact that it was started by a PGA playing and teaching professional who has measured out everything, that’s where the genius of this is. I’m really excited to see how far we can take this one.”
Fransmart CEO Dan Rowe is working with Swing Bays to grow its franchise system.
Rowe said a Swing Bays base membership will start at $100 a month. The franchise investment range is $400,000 to $500,000, which includes the construction of a 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot indoor location that come with six golf bays equipped with TrackMan, V1 Sports video analysis and other technologies.
Unlike some indoor golf concepts, Swing Bays does not have a kitchen or full-service bar. Instead, it offers a limited snack menu and operators will have the option to serve alcohol. Revenue streams for franchisees include memberships, walk-ins, private lessons, golf fitness sessions, parties, branded merchandise, club repairs and events.
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“I have been searching for a unique golf brand for quite some time, specifically indoor golf with a membership model around playing better golf longer. The beauty of Swing Bays is its low cost,” Rowe said. “It’s far cheaper to build and operate than QSRs. It’s also more profitable. While Five Guys takes six to 10 people per shift, Swing Bays needs just five to six people.”
Rowe said the plan is to grow Swing Bays with two or three more corporate units in the Denver area and aggressively target the largest 150 U.S. golf markets. He said he wants to sell three or four multi-unit deals this year and then one multi-deal deal a month next year.
“Do I know how many locations we can open? No, it’s not my area of expertise. I’ll leave that up Dan and his people. But I look at Denver alone and I believe we can house five to eight locations in the metro area here alone,” Miller said. “There is lot of room for growth.”