24/7 Golf Simulator Trend: Unmanned Bays Opening Near
What is a 24/7 unmanned golf simulator facility? It’s a self-serve indoor golf venue with no staff on site. You book online, receive a door code via text, walk in, play your session, and leave — all automated. The model uses smart locks, interior cameras, and automated booking systems to replace front-desk staff. Rates are typically $18-$50/hour depending on time of day, with memberships that unlock off-peak access. There are now at least a dozen such facilities operating across the US and Canada, and more open every month.
There’s a new kind of golf facility opening near you, and it doesn’t have a front desk. It doesn’t have an employee handing you a bucket of balls. It doesn’t even have someone to unlock the door when you show up. For the full picture of the facility trend, see our commercial sim business guide.
You book online. You get a text with a door code. You walk in, hit balls in a private bay, and leave. The whole transaction happens with zero human interaction, and the facility never closes — not at midnight, not at 3 AM, not ever.
This is the 24/7 unmanned golf simulator model, and it’s the most interesting development in the indoor golf business since Five Iron Golf proved that sim golf could be a real estate category. For context on the broader franchise landscape, see our Back Nine Golf expansion coverage and indoor golf franchise comparison.
The Economics of Never Closing
The math behind the 24/7 model is so simple it’s almost embarrassing that more people haven’t done it sooner.
A traditional simulator venue operates 10 to 14 hours per day. That means its bays sit empty for 10 to 14 hours every night. Those empty hours still cost rent, insurance, and equipment depreciation — they just don’t generate any revenue to cover them.
The 24/7 model flips this. The marginal cost of keeping the lights on from midnight to 6 AM is basically zero. No additional staff, no additional rent, just a few dollars in electricity and a smart lock subscription. Every booking during those off-peak hours is pure margin.
The numbers from real operators back this up. TeeBox 24/7 in Chicago, a six-bay facility with Uneekor launch monitors, is run by a single owner-operator. He saved 10 to 20 hours per week on back-office admin by automating bookings, payments, and access control. His facility is profitable enough that he evaluated 29 different booking platforms before choosing one, because the software stack is the business model when you don’t have staff.
The revenue math works even at low utilization. If a 24/7 facility generates $100 to $200 per night during the formerly dead hours between 10 PM and 6 AM, that’s $3,000 to $6,000 per month in incremental revenue with zero labor cost. Over a year, that’s $36,000 to $72,000. For a small facility, that’s the difference between breaking even and being profitable.
Who’s Actually Doing This
This isn’t theoretical. Here are real facilities, real names, real pricing:
TeeTime Indoor Golf (Glenview, IL) — $18/hour for premium bays, $25/hour for TrackMan iO pro bays. Keyless entry through an app. You book online, the app becomes your key. Launched with Impact Vision technology and has been operating since mid-2025.
24 Golf Club (Lynnwood, WA) — Membership-based model at $169/month for 24/7 access. Early-bird pricing before it goes up to $199. Book online, self-check-in, walk to your bay. No staff, no fuss.
Tempo Golf (Mississauga, Ontario) — GOLFJOY’s first unattended venue in North America, opened March 2026. Four bays including two VIP private rooms. Uses the Rigel Lite overhead launch monitor with an auto tee-up system and intelligent putting platform. Fully unattended, 24/7 operation.
PureShot Indoor Golf (San Diego, CA) — Three bays, $44/hour off-peak, $59/hour peak. Open 24/7 for members. Digital access via link sent with booking confirmation. Climate-controlled, 4K projection.
Williamsburg Golf Simulator (Williamsburg, VA) — $20/hour off-peak, $50/hour peak. TrackMan technology. Contactless self-service. Secure keyless entry.
Suite Spot Golf Express — 24/7 unmanned model alongside their staffed flagship location. TrackMan IO in oversized private suites. Keyless entry via Openpath pin and lock screen codes.
Scratx Golf (Miami Brickell) — 24/7 golf studio in Miami’s Brickell Key neighborhood. Peak pricing ($50-60/hr) weekdays 5-11 PM and weekends 10 AM-11 PM. Off-peak discounts. App-based door access.
Le Birdie (Montreal) — 24/7 automated model with over 90% app adoption and 3,000+ bookings. The owners built the entire customer journey — booking, payment, access, and follow-up — to run without any staff intervention. Six months in, they’d sent over 12,000 automated messages to customers and built a community that uses the facility year-round.
That’s eight facilities across five states and two provinces. And these are just the ones I found with a couple hours of searching. The actual number is almost certainly higher.
The Tech Stack That Makes It Possible
The 24/7 model wouldn’t work without a specific set of technologies that have only matured in the last couple of years.
Smart locks and access control. Kisi Terminal Pro readers are the gold standard. Each booking generates a unique QR code or PIN that’s valid only during the reservation window. No key, no fob, no membership card. The same system handles time-limited access, so a customer from the 8 PM session can’t walk back in at 10 PM.
Automated booking platforms. Companies like Golf O’Clock, AllBooked, Birdie Grow, and Sports Carnival have built software specifically for the unstaffed model. They handle the full flow: discovery, availability check, bay selection, payment capture, confirmation, and access code delivery. If any step requires manual action, the model breaks down.
Camera coverage. Every unstaffed facility has interior cameras covering every bay and common area. This serves triple duty: liability protection, theft prevention, and remote operational monitoring.
Tiered pricing. The 24/7 model uses dynamic pricing in a way traditional facilities don’t. Peak hours (4-10 PM) command standard rates. Late night (10 PM-2 AM) actually gets a premium — $5-$10 more per hour — because golfers who want to play at 11 PM have no other options and will pay for the convenience. Early morning and overnight slots get discounts to fill the quietest hours.
Digital waivers. Every customer signs a waiver during the booking flow, before they get their access code. No waiver, no code, no entry. It’s all automated.
What This Means for the Home Sim Buyer
If you’re reading this site, you’re probably here because you’re considering a home simulator — or you already have one. The 24/7 facility trend matters to you more than you might think.
First, these facilities are a viable alternative to building your own. If you live in a city with a 24/7 sim facility, you can get TrackMan-level practice for $20-$50/hour without spending $5,000+ on equipment or converting your garage. The membership model at places like 24 Golf Club ($169/month) or TeeBox ($135-$400/month) starts to look very attractive compared to the all-in cost of a home setup.
Second, the existence of these facilities validates the entire thesis of home golf. The more people experience sim golf in a commercial setting, the more likely they are to want it at home. Five Iron Golf proved this with its “gateway drug” effect — people try sim golf at a facility, then buy their own. The 24/7 model extends that dynamic to a broader demographic, including people who can’t afford a home setup or don’t have the space.
Third, the technology that powers these facilities — automated booking, access control, remote monitoring — is the same technology that home sim enthusiasts are starting to use. Smart garage door openers, automated climate control, and remote bay monitoring are all natural extensions of the 24/7 facility model, adapted for residential use.
The Catch: This Model Isn’t for Everyone
The 24/7 model works best when the customer journey is simple and the product is self-contained. Single-bay studios and small multi-bay venues (two to six bays) are the sweet spot. Larger venues with food and beverage, event hosting, or group sessions need staff during peak hours.
The model also requires a specific type of customer. The golfers who book at 2 AM are serious about practice. They’re not looking for beer and wings and a social night out. They want to hit balls, look at their data, and leave. The 24/7 model attracts grinders, not partiers.
And there’s the security question. Every operator I talked to said cameras are non-negotiable. One incident without footage creates a liability nightmare. But the operators also said the self-policing nature of membership communities is surprisingly effective. When access is limited to members during off-peak hours, and every booking is tied to a specific person with payment info on file, bad behavior drops dramatically.
Where This Is Going
The 24/7 model is still in its early innings. The software ecosystem is maturing fast — Golf O’Clock, AllBooked, and Birdie Grow are all building specifically for this use case. The hardware is getting cheaper and more reliable. The NGF reports that 8.1 million people used simulators in 2024, up from 3.6 million five years ago. That’s a 126% increase. The addressable market for sim golf is growing faster than the supply of facilities.
I expect to see three things happen over the next 12 to 18 months:
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Franchise models emerge. Someone will figure out a standardized 24/7 facility format and start franchising it. The software stack is already standardized. The hardware requirements are well understood. The unit economics work. It’s a matter of time before a brand packages this into a turnkey franchise.
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Hybrid models become the norm. Most facilities will run staffed during peak hours and automated overnight. This maximizes revenue while maintaining the premium experience when it matters most. The technology supports both modes seamlessly.
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Home sim buyers get more options. The 24/7 model will create a new tier of “sim club” membership that competes directly with home ownership. If you can get unlimited access to a TrackMan-equipped private bay for $200/month, the calculus of building a home sim changes. Not for everyone — the convenience of walking to your garage in your underwear is hard to beat. But for city dwellers and apartment residents, the 24/7 facility model is the best path to regular sim golf.
The golf industry is going through a structural shift. Sim golf is no longer a niche. It’s a $2 billion market growing at 9-10% annually. The 24/7 unmanned facility is one of the most interesting business model innovations in that growth story. It’s simple, it’s elegant, and it works.
Of course, if you’re reading this at 2 AM and wondering where you can hit balls right now, the answer is getting easier to find every month.