golfoclock
Allocate 5–8% of annual equipment cost as a maintenance reserve.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| maintenanceReserveAnnualPct | 0.05 – 0.08 |
Methodology
The model behind thecommercial facility calculator holds 48 constants drawn from 26 sources. 7 of those sources are published third-party figures, 5 are our decompositions of published totals, and 14 are our own assumptions. The last number is the largest, and that is worth knowing before you rely on any of it.
Every figure is an interval — a low and a high — not a point, because every published input it is calibrated against is a band. Intervals add, subtract, multiply and divide the ordinary way, with two consequences worth stating plainly.
The worst case for profit pairs the lowest revenue with the highest cost. Writing it the intuitive way — low minus low — describes no world that can occur, and it fails optimistically, which is the one direction a cost model must not fail in.
Payback divides two intervals, and monthly profit is allowed to straddle zero. When it does there is a best case and no worst case, so the model reports the best case and says so, rather than printing an average of “sixteen months” and “never”.
Break-even utilization is solved at the midpoint of every band rather than as an interval. An interval version is computable, but “somewhere between 21% and 41%” is not a number anyone can act on. The band across our cost range is reported as a secondary figure instead.
Profit is piecewise-linear in utilization with one downward step, where staffing coverage increases above 45%. The model solves each piece separately and keeps only a root falling inside its own piece. A simple search would converge on a root the step has already invalidated.
Debt service is reported on its own line and deliberately excluded from operating cost, so that operating profit stays comparable to how operators talk and break-even utilization stays comparable to the published benchmarks it is checked against.
4 bays at $50 per bay-hour, 12 hours a day, 30 days a month, at the published first-year utilization of 33%, suburban rent, mid-tier equipment, packaged food and beverage, owner on the floor, 2,100 sq ft, no financing.
| Capacity | 1,440 bay-hours |
| Billed at 33% | 475.2 bay-hours |
| Revenue | $21,384 – $26,374 |
| Operating cost | $17,559 – $31,434 |
| Operating profit | −$10,050 to $8,815 |
| Break-even utilization | 33.8% |
| Break-even billed hours | 486 |
| Break-even rate | $51 per bay-hour |
| Revenue per bay per year | $71,636 |
| Build cost | $145,000 – $335,000 |
At the published first-year utilization this venue is roughly break-even with a range that straddles zero. It is not a story about a facility that prints money, and it is not a story about one that cannot work. It is a knife-edge, and which side it lands on depends on decisions — the lease, the manager, the rate — that are usually still open when someone runs a calculator.
Where a published figure exists only as a total, the model's decomposition is chosen so the reference venue reproduces that total exactly. These are checks, not coincidences.
| Model output | Computed | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Four-bay build-out | $50,000 – $150,000 | $50,000 – $150,000 |
| Four-bay total build, mid tier | $145,000 – $335,000 | $200,000 – $300,000 typical |
| Four-bay footprint | 2,100 sq ft | 2,000 – 4,000 sq ft |
| Break-even billed hours | 486 | 210 – 640 |
| Revenue per bay per year | $71,636 | $45,000 – $90,000 |
One reconciliation is worth spelling out, because it is why the interface defines utilization every time it uses the word. At $50 per bay-hour, the published $45,000–$90,000 per bay per year works out to 75–150 billed hours a month against 360 available on a twelve-hour day — 21% to 42% of total open hours. The published first-year average of 33% sits comfortably inside it. But the published mature range of 50–65%, applied to a full twelve-hour day, implies about $119,000 per bay per year, a third above the published ceiling. The likeliest explanation is that mature utilization is quoted against a prime window rather than the whole open day. The calculator therefore states which one it means, and flags any configuration drifting outside the published revenue band — including configurations that look good.
Grouped by what kind of figure each source is. Retrieved 7 August 2026.
Reproduced as published by a third party. Every one has a URL you can check.
Break-even is described at $75–$100 per bay-hour, requiring 210–640 billed hours per month for a four-bay venue.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| benchBreakEvenHours | 210 – 640 |
| benchBreakEvenRate | 75 – 100 |
Per-bay commercial equipment: entry $10,000–$18,000; mid-range $20,000–$35,000 (described as the sweet spot for most commercial facilities); premium $40,000–$70,000; radar-based tour systems $45,000–$90,000.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| equipmentPerBay.entry | 10000 – 18000 |
| equipmentPerBay.mid | 20000 – 35000 |
| equipmentPerBay.premium | 40000 – 70000 |
| equipmentPerBay.tour | 45000 – 90000 |
Allocate 5–8% of annual equipment cost as a maintenance reserve.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| maintenanceReserveAnnualPct | 0.05 – 0.08 |
A core four-bay venue needs to cover roughly $21,000–$48,000 per month to stay neutral.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| benchMonthlyCost4Bay | 21000 – 48000 |
Commercial simulator installations report estimated annual revenue of $45,000–$90,000 per bay, depending on location, pricing model and utilization.
https://www.birdiegrow.com/resources/golf-simulator-business-revenue
| benchRevPerBayYear | 45000 – 90000 |
Year-two and year-three performance at well-run venues routinely reaches 50–65% utilization.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/golf-simulator-profitability
| benchUtilMature | 0.5 – 0.65 |
First-year bay utilization averages approximately 33%; a 28–41% range is described as achievable but not guaranteed for a four-bay venue.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/golf-simulator-profitability
| benchUtilYear1 | 0.28 – 0.41 |
| benchUtilYear1Avg | 0.33 |
Our decomposition or unit conversion of a published total. The total each was fitted to is named in the description — we published the split, not the source.
Split into a fixed base of $26,000–$62,000 plus $6,000–$22,000 per bay, chosen so that a four-bay venue reproduces the published $50,000–$150,000 build-out band exactly. The split itself is not published; only the four-bay total is.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| buildOutBase | 26000 – 62000 |
| buildOutPerBay | 6000 – 22000 |
The published $500–$1,200 per month for a four-bay venue, divided by four to give $125–$300 per bay per month. Assumes consumables scale linearly with bay count.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| consumablesPerBay | 125 – 300 |
The published $1,000–$3,000 per bay per year, divided by twelve to give $83–$250 per bay per month.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| courseLicensePerBayMo | 83 – 250 |
Pioneer Golf's calculator defaults to $2,000/month of food and beverage at 3 bays, 45% utilization, 12 hours and 30 days — 583 billed bay-hours, or $3.43 per billed bay-hour. Our packaged tier floor of $4 is calibrated just above that.
https://www.pioneergolfco.com/facility-revenue-calculator
| fbAttachPerHour.packaged | 4 – 8 |
Default footprint is 300 sq ft per bay plus 900 sq ft of shared space (back-of-house, restrooms, bar, circulation). At four bays this gives 2,100 sq ft, inside the published 2,000–4,000 sq ft four-bay band. The published 250–400 sq ft per bay evidently excludes shared space, since four bays at that rate would give only 1,000–1,600 sq ft.
https://golfoclock.com/blog/indoor-golf-business-cost
| sqFtPerBay | 300 |
| sqFtShared | 900 |
Our own judgement. No external source. There are more of these than of the other two kinds combined, which is precisely why they are labelled.
Booking, point-of-sale, door access and CRM software assumed at $150–$400 per month for a single venue.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| bookingPosCrm | 150 – 400 |
Staffing coverage multiplier: 1.3 staff-equivalents during staffed hours at baseline, rising to 1.7 above 45% utilization, plus 0.6 when a kitchen is operating. Two hours per day are added for open and close. Our judgement, not a published staffing model.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| coverageBase | 1.3 |
| coverageBusy | 1.7 |
| coverageKitchenAdd | 0.6 |
| coverageBusyThreshold | 0.45 |
| openCloseHours | 2 |
Food and beverage revenue per billed bay-hour: packaged $4–$8, full bar $10–$18, bar and kitchen $16–$30. Modelled per billed hour rather than as a flat monthly figure so that it scales with the traffic that generates it, and per hour rather than as a percentage of simulator revenue because attach is driven by people in the bay, not by the bay rate.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| fbAttachPerHour.none | 0 |
| fbAttachPerHour.bar | 10 – 18 |
| fbAttachPerHour.bar_kitchen | 16 – 30 |
Food and beverage cost of goods: packaged 35–50%, full bar 22–30%, bar and kitchen 28–36%. Packaged carries the worst margin because retail canned and pre-made goods are bought at near-retail cost, which is counter-intuitive and therefore surfaced in the interface.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| fbCogsRate.none | 0 |
| fbCogsRate.packaged | 0.35 – 0.5 |
| fbCogsRate.bar | 0.22 – 0.3 |
| fbCogsRate.bar_kitchen | 0.28 – 0.36 |
A hired general manager is assumed to cost $4,500–$7,500 per month fully loaded. Applied only when staffing is set to managed.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| gmSalary | 4500 – 7500 |
Liquor licence capital cost of $3,000–$25,000 where a bar is operated. The true range across US jurisdictions is far wider than this — some quota states run into six figures — so this band understates the tail.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| liquorLicense | 3000 – 25000 |
Fully loaded hourly wage of $19–$27, being roughly $15–$21 base plus a 1.25 payroll load for taxes, workers compensation and benefits. Varies widely by state.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| loadedWage | 19 – 27 |
Ongoing marketing assumed at $1,200–$3,500 per month for a single venue. Modelled as flat rather than per-bay because it is driven by the trade area, not the bay count.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| marketing | 1200 – 3500 |
Card processing assumed at 2.6–3.2% of gross revenue, the usual small-merchant range. Applied to all revenue, since a venue of this type takes almost nothing in cash.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| merchantFeeRate | 0.026 – 0.032 |
General liability and property insurance $350–$900 per month; accounting and legal $200–$600 per month.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| insurance | 350 – 900 |
| accountingLegal | 200 – 600 |
Realized revenue per billed hour is assumed to be 82–95% of rack rate, absorbing leagues, memberships, off-peak pricing and comps. No published figure was found for this discount; it is our judgement and it moves every revenue number on the page.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| realizedRateFactor | 0.82 – 0.95 |
Triple-net-inclusive rent per square foot per year by market type: rural $14–$22, suburban $20–$32, urban $28–$45, prime $40–$65. Commercial rent is intensely local and these bands are indicative only — a real lease quote should replace them.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| rentPerSqFtYr.rural | 14 – 22 |
| rentPerSqFtYr.suburban | 20 – 32 |
| rentPerSqFtYr.urban | 28 – 45 |
| rentPerSqFtYr.prime | 40 – 65 |
Pre-opening soft costs of $15,000–$45,000: permits, architectural and design fees, lease deposits, opening inventory and signage. Distinct from build-out, which is the physical work.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| softCosts | 15000 – 45000 |
Utilities modelled as $90–$180 per bay per month (projectors, computers, conditioned air over a tall volume) plus a $400–$900 base for HVAC, water and trash, plus $120–$300 for internet and phone.
No external source. This is our assumption.
| utilitiesPerBay | 90 – 180 |
| utilitiesBase | 400 – 900 |
| internetPhone | 120 – 300 |
The model tracks 8 cost segments and folds them into 5 bands for the stacked bar. Not a simplification for its own sake: 8 categorical colours cannot hold the contrast separations this design system requires on an eight-pixel bar, and 5 measured swatches already exist. The itemised list below the bar still shows all 8.
| Band | Model segments | Reference venue |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | Rent and occupancy | $4,550 |
| Labour | Labour | $10,764 |
| F&B cost | F&B cost of goods | $1,283 |
| Systems | Utilities, Software and licensing, Maintenance and consumables | $3,824 |
| Overhead | Marketing, Insurance, admin and card fees | $4,075 |