Page 27 - BusinessWest April 4, 2022

Dave DiRico says his simulators are used for everything from playing courses like Pebble Beach to getting fitted for new clubs.
Dave DiRico, owner of Dave DiRico’s Golf Shop in West Springfield, agreed.
“We have a mixed bag — we have guys who just want to practice, so we sell a practice session for the year, where they’ll come in for half-hours at a time; they’ll hit their whole bag of clubs and get their yardages,” he said. “And we have guys who come in who like to play 18 holes with their buddies. We have college teams that rent them all the time; some of their bigger schools have their own, but the smaller ones do not, so they come in and rent ours.
“They’re booked pretty solid — Fridays, Sat- urdays, and Sundays, you need a week to 10 days out to book them,” he went on. “But we noticed this winter that our simulators have been sold every day, every hour, almost every minute. All
winter long ... we don’t lay anyone off because we generate enough revenue with the simulators to cover our payroll.”
DiRico’s store has several simulators, used for practice, playing any of 18 different courses, and also for the fitting of clubs, an additional use that puts the simulators to work for more of the year, which makes his operation different from most others.
This advantage is important, he said, because simulators, while an important addition to the game and the business, have their limitations, especially when it comes to the calendar.
Indeed, whenever they have the choice, golf- ers will prefer to practice and play outdoors, which means Nomakeo and others are heading into what is definitely their slow season.
“Some people will still use them during the warmer months, but, for the most part, once April 1 hits and you can see green grass on the golf course, people are going outdoors; they’re not staying indoors,” DiRico said. “The business dries up very quickly.”
Still, despite these obvious limitations, Nomakeo and others are seeing solid opportuni-
“All winter long ... we don’t lay anyone off because we generate enough revenue with the simulators to cover our payroll.”
ties and enough months of business to warrant additional investments.
Indeed, Nomakeo is partnering with others to bring four new simulators to the MCU Cen- ter, a multi-sport facility in Agawam located in a old department store. There are two there now, which will be sold, with new models to arrive by the start of the next simulation season.
“We’re hoping to open November 1,” he said, adding that he fully anticipates this emerging business within the golf sector to continue grow- ing and enable this investment to pay for itself in just a few years. “Just a few years ago, golf was declining, but since COVID ... I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s absolutely crazy, and simu- lation is growing at an even greater rate.” u
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APRIL 4, 2022 27
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