There are few things more frustrating for a golfer than watching the rain ruin a planned round or practice session.
Except, perhaps, putting in hours of practise and discovering that your swing is no better than when you started.
A new golf development studio in Billinudgel is offering local golfers a solution to both challenges.
Golf 365 is a private, membership-only facility where golfers can practise around the clock, regardless of the weather, while sophisticated TrackMan technology provides detailed feedback on what the ball, club and swing are doing.
For co-founder and long-time local PGA golf professional Chris Graham, the idea grew naturally out of over two decades of coaching golfers in the Northern Rivers.
‘I’ve always wanted to have some kind of facility where you can practise and improve your golf where you’re actually using the data,’ Chris says.
‘When you’re improving your golf swing, what you think you’re doing and what you’re actually doing are never the same.’
Practise with purpose
At the heart of the studio are TrackMan simulators, technology regularly seen beside professional golfers on the PGA Tour.
The system measures what is happening through each shot, allowing players to move beyond feel and guesswork, and see what their swing is actually producing.
‘You can track every session,’ Chris says. ‘You can see what you’re doing. It’s huge.’
There is even an AI coaching tool, Tracy, which analyses a player’s shots and highlights the areas most in need of attention.
For Chris and wife Evie Graham, who co-own the business, that is the point of difference.
‘It’s a private indoor golf studio for golf development, with our objective of seeing the results on the course,’ Evie says.
Golf 365 is not designed primarily as a social indoor-golf venue. The emphasis is on purposeful practice and taking improvements back onto the course.
‘It’s very much about performance and enjoying improving your golf,’ Chris says.
‘The goal isn’t to replace the golf course, it’s to help golfers get more out of their time on it.’
And for Chris, the payoff is seeing members take that work outside.
‘I’ve had a few members who’ve joined down there and are using it, and then they come into the shop after playing at Ocean and they’re like, “Oh my God, my golf’s improving so much!”’ he says.
Golf whenever it suits you
The other key ingredient is access.
Members book online and use remote entry to access the studio 24/7.
Chris says that might mean a tradie practising before work, a shift worker dropping in late at night or a parent squeezing in an hour when family life allows.
‘It’s so convenient to be able to go when you want to go, at any time and in any weather,’ he says.
The studio is also family friendly, with members able to bring children along, while juniors attend with an adult.
At the other end of the age spectrum, some older golfers who struggle to walk wet courses have found another way to stay connected with the game.
Growing the game
Chris began playing at Mullumbimby Golf Club as a junior, later worked at Byron and has been based at Ocean Shores since 2006.
Evie says growing golf locally has been a constant thread through his career.
‘Golf 365 is really an extension of what Chris has always been trying to do, help more people play better golf and stay engaged with the game,’ she says.
For the Grahams, Golf 365 is another way of making golf more accessible while complementing, rather than replacing, the traditional club experience.
‘It’s about offering something that allows people to keep improving their golf and then get them back on the golf course,’ Chris says.
Anyone interested in seeing the studio and learning more can book a free walkthrough at www.golf365.com.au.
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