CityGolf USA Nashville: America’s First Indoor 18-Hole Course

CityGolf USA announced yesterday that it’s opening the first full 18-hole indoor golf course in the United States, and they’re putting it in Nashville.

This isn’t another “come hit balls at a screen in a strip mall” operation. This is a proper indoor golf course — sequential 18-hole play with Golfzon simulators for the approach shots, real putting greens, a dedicated short-game area, and an indoor driving range with its own simulator bays. All in one building. All in the middle of a city.

It’s the kind of thing that makes you realize how weird it is that nobody has done this in America yet. For context on the broader indoor golf franchise boom, see our indoor golf franchise comparison and sim venue venue boom coverage.

Here’s what’s happening, why it matters, and why Nashville was the pick.

What CityGolf USA Actually Is

CityGolf USA is a joint venture between Golfzon America and Nessie Capital — a boutique investment firm that specializes in bringing proven concepts to the US market. They’re backed by Parlay Capital Holdings and the Tennessee Golf Foundation, which tells you this isn’t some speculator throwing money at a trend. The Tennessee Golf Foundation doesn’t lend its name to things that look dumb on a balance sheet.

The concept itself is Golfzon’s CityGolf model, which they launched in China in 2024. Think of it as taking the best parts of a traditional 18-hole round — the walk, the strategy, the variety of shots — and compressing it into a footprint that fits in a city center. You hit tee shots and approach shots into Golfzon simulators (using the TwoVisionNX units with the Motion Plate that replicates 56,000 distinct lies), then you walk to real putting surfaces and short-game areas to finish the hole. It’s a hybrid. Digital where the fairway would be, real where the green would be. For a deeper look at Golfzon’s commercial strategy, see our Golfzon commercial dominance analysis.

The venue will also have:

• A chef-driven restaurant and full bar
• A retail pro shop
• Private event spaces and corporate bays
• PGA-certified professionals running lessons, leagues, clinics, and player development programs
• A founding membership program for early access

It’s not a driving range with a bar attached. It’s a golf course that happens to be indoors.

Why Nashville

The question you’re asking is “why Nashville and not New York or Chicago or LA?” And the answer is a combination of things that actually make sense when you hear them.

First, the business environment. Tennessee is friendly to new concepts. Nashville’s city government has been aggressive about attracting entertainment-adjacent development, and CityGolf fits that brief perfectly. Second, demand. Golf is booming in Tennessee — the state has more golfers per capita than almost anywhere in the South, and Music City draws tourists who are looking for something to do that isn’t just Broadway bars and hot chicken. Third, the Tennessee Golf Foundation is based in Franklin, about 20 minutes down the road. They’re plugged into the local golf ecosystem in a way that an out-of-state operator couldn’t replicate in year one.

AJ Zahn, COO of CityGolf USA, put it bluntly in the announcement: “Based on a business-friendly environment, rising demand for golf, and tourism infrastructure, Nashville was selected as the first location.”

Fair enough.

The Bigger Picture

This is the part I actually care about.

Indoor golf in America has followed two models so far: the simulator bay (Topgolf, Five Iron, the 47 Trackman lounges that opened last year) and the covered driving range (TopTracer, about 80 of those). Both are fine. Neither is a golf course.

CityGolf USA is trying to be something different — a venue where you play a real round of golf, with real putting and real short-game work, without needing 150 acres of land and a maintenance crew. If it works, it changes the math on where you can put a golf course. City centers. Dense urban neighborhoods. Second-tier office parks that got hollowed out by remote work. Anywhere there’s a big building and a population that wants to play.

Golfzon Chairman Kim Young-chan said it pretty directly: “It gives golfers who don’t have the time, space, or access to a traditional course the opportunity to enjoy the full experience of an 18-hole round.”

That’s the thesis. And it’s a good one.

What Comes Next

CityGolf USA hasn’t announced an opening date for the Nashville location yet. They’ve said it’s “upcoming” and they’re launching a founding membership program soon. They’ve also teased “additional announcements — including a design partnership and course architecture by a world-renowned golf architect.” That’s the kind of name-drop that means they’re going big or going home.

And they’re not stopping at Nashville. The press release explicitly says this is “the first of many CityGolf USA locations on track to open across the country in the near future.” They showed off a model hole at the 2026 PGA Show. They’ve got partnership agreements with US and Canadian companies. They’re building a pipeline.

What This Means If You’re Building a Home Sim

You might read this and think “cool, but I’m building in my garage, not going to Nashville.” That’s fair. But here’s why you should care:

Every dollar that flows into commercial indoor golf is a dollar that flows into R&D that eventually lands in consumer products. Golfzon’s TwoVisionNX Motion Plate tech started in their commercial units before trickling down. The AI spin sensor they just announced for the TWOVISION NX PLUS? Commercial first, consumer later. That’s the pattern. For more on the commercial-to-consumer trickle-down, see our sim venue startup playbook and commercial simulator guide.

The more places like CityGolf USA succeed, the more capital flows into sim technology, the more competition heats up, and the better the products get for the guy hitting balls in his garage at 10 PM. The rising tide lifts the launch monitor.

CityGolf USA is the first real attempt to bring a proper indoor golf course to America. It might work. It might not. But the fact that it’s happening at all tells you the industry has crossed a threshold. Indoor golf isn’t a backup plan anymore. It’s the plan.

Check out CityGolf USA’s website for founding member details when they drop.