Back Nine Golf has passed a milestone that would have seemed implausible three years ago: 200+ operating locations, 560 franchise territories sold, and coverage in 44 states. The company is opening 15-20 new venues every month — a pace that makes it one of the fastest-growing indoor golf franchise operations in the world.
And this month in Texas alone, three new venues are coming online.
The Big Picture: By the Numbers
200+ operating locations — Up from roughly 50 just two years ago. Back Nine has added more venues in 2026 alone than many competitors have in their entire existence.
560 franchise territories sold — Territories are typically larger than a single location, meaning the pipeline extends well beyond the current 200.
44 states covered — The continental map is nearly filled. Remaining gaps are primarily in the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, both of which have active development deals.
74 full-time HQ employees — Up from 5 employees a year ago. A 15x headcount increase that reflects the operational complexity of managing a 200+ location network.
15-20 new locations/month — This is the sustained opening cadence. For context, that’s roughly one new venue every 36-48 hours.
International expansion active: Canada is open. New Zealand has a master franchise agreement. UK and Australia are in advanced planning stages.
This Month’s Texas Trifecta
Texas is Back Nine’s most active state, with three venues opening within weeks of each other:
✅ Completed: Dallas Preston Rd (Opened Aug 1)
4,009 square feet at 11909 Preston Rd in Dallas. Estimated completion landed at Aug 1. Third DFW metro location after Plano/Allen/McKinney — showing the density strategy at work. Back Nine is clustering venues in metro areas where the data supports multiple locations, rather than spreading thinly.
🔜 This Saturday: New Caney TX Grand Opening (Aug 8)
Grand Opening event this Saturday at the New Caney location. This will be the first Back Nine article on Home Golf Hero covering Texas specifically. Located at 1920 N. Coit Rd, Ste. 220 (at the Richardson border), this venue serves the fast-growing northeast Houston exurb market.
🔜 Mid-August: Arlington (Target Aug 14)
The Arlington venue targets the entertainment district corridor near AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field — a high-traffic area that draws from both Arlington residents and the DFW visitor market.
🔜 Late October: Richardson (Construction Starting This Month)
At 1920 N. Coit Rd, Ste. 220, construction begins in August. This fills in the Richardson/Plano corridor, further densifying Back Nine’s DFW presence to five-plus locations in a single metro area.
What the Back Nine Growth Means for the Industry
The density strategy is working. Back Nine isn’t trying to put one venue in every city. It’s saturating high-potential metros — DFW, Houston, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte — with multiple locations, creating a network effect where members can play at any location in a metro area.
The franchise model is winning. Back Nine’s 15-20/month pace stands in contrast to the independent venue model (see Valley Golf Lounge’s $15K Kickstarter-built 3-bay venue in Winchester VA). Both models work, but the franchise approach scales faster. The 74 HQ employees provide centralized real estate, marketing, and operations support that individual operators don’t have.
International is the next frontier. With Canada live, NZ master franchised, and UK/Australia in planning, Back Nine is following the same playbook Five Iron Golf is running — take the proven domestic model global while the indoor golf boom is still accelerating.
For home sim buyers: More venues = more on-ramps. Every new Back Nine location exposes 50-200 regular customers per week to sim golf. A fraction of those go on to buy home setups. The venue boom is a leading indicator for home sim market growth.
The Other Side: TruGolf Links Is Running a Parallel Play
While Back Nine focuses on open-format Trackman-based social venues, TruGolf Links (the franchise arm of TruGolf) is building a parallel network focused on the E6 software ecosystem and a more traditional golf simulator experience.
TruGolf Links Long Island Trifecta: Three locations signed for 2026 in Westbury (opened Apr 28), Farmingdale (opened May 5), and Miller Place (opened Jun 4). All three are within 40 miles of each other on Long Island — the same density strategy Back Nine is running in DFW.
TruGolf Cherry Hill: Events this weekend (Aug 7-8) include a PXG fitting van, the “Closest to the Pin” contest with Ed Sheeran concert ticket prizes, and a live SOJO 104.9 broadcast. The franchise activation playbook is becoming visible: grand opening events designed to generate local media, fill bays for weeks, and build recurring membership.
The franchise model battle: Two approaches, same conclusion. Whether it’s Back Nine’s open-format Trackman approach or TruGolf’s E6-centric model, the franchise indoor golf playbook is proving out at scale. The question isn’t whether indoor golf venues work — it’s which operational model generates better unit economics.
What’s Next
| Date | Event | Beat |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 8 | Back Nine New Caney TX Grand Opening | Brand Watch |
| Aug 14 | Back Nine Arlington TX opening | Brand Watch |
| Aug 14 | Topgolf Madison WI Grand Opening | Industry Intel |
| Aug 28-30 | Elev8 Golf Club North Liberty IA | Sim Business |
| Late Oct | Back Nine Richardson TX completion | Brand Watch |
| Fall 2026 | Fore & Pour West Babylon NY | Sim Business |
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