Golf Crypt: Private 24/7 Sim Clubs at $300K
There’s a new indoor golf franchise model emerging, and it’s built on scarcity.
The Golf Crypt is a private membership-based 24/7 indoor golf franchise using Trackman. 1-2 bay facilities with a members-only model. Startup costs: $142K-$299K — the cheapest in the category by a wide margin. For context on the broader 24/7 unmanned facility trend and how commercial sim businesses compare, see our full franchise comparisons.
The Model
While Another Nine and Back Nine are building pay-per-play facilities with 3-5 bays, Golf Crypt is going in the opposite direction:
- 1-2 bays per location — intentionally small
- Private membership model — not public pay-per-play
- 24/7 keycard access — no staff needed
- Tiered memberships — from limited access to full unlimited
- $142K-$299K startup — cheapest indoor golf franchise available
Founder Frank Drago started with a single location in Jupiter, FL (the company HQ), then expanded to Palm Beach Gardens (Jan 2026) and Port St. Lucie (May 2026).
Why It Works
The private club model has advantages the pay-per-play competitors don’t:
- Higher per-member revenue — membership fees are recurring, not transactional
- Lower operating costs — 1-2 bays in a small footprint, no bar/restaurant staffing
- Waitlist dynamics — scarcity creates demand. When there are only 50 memberships available, people join faster
- No price sensitivity — members aren’t comparing your $40/hr to the range down the street
The Risk
The downside is total addressable market. A 1-bay private club can support maybe 50-100 members before it’s overbooked. The unit economics work at the micro level, but the total revenue per location is capped.
Compare that to a 5-bay Back Nine doing $30-50K/month in membership + pay-per-play revenue, and the scale difference is clear.
The Verdict
Golf Crypt is worth watching because it’s proving there’s demand for the private club model in indoor golf. It won’t have the explosion of Back Nine (475 franchises), but it may find a profitable niche in dense suburban markets where space is expensive and members want exclusivity over volume.
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