Forget Florida: Winter Golf Available in Purchase

For the last three months Paul Bruni has been transforming a small room in the basement of a Purchase office building into what he hopes will become the go-to place for the area's golfers. 

Bruni recently opened a year-round golf training center, complete with state-of-the-art video equipment and a golf simulator that allows golfers to play full rounds of simulated golf at 36 courses around the world. All this in an office complex on Manhattanville Road.

"We are going to create a market—indoor golf—we are going to create a market that doesn't really exist right now," said Bruni.

Golfers strike the ball into a screen that displays a 3D image of a course or driving range. Before taking a swing participants can add weather factors like rain or wind speed and the computer will adjust the final result. After a swing the screen shows the image of the shot flying down the course based the the struck golf ball's spin, location and velocity. There is even a different place to spot the ball if it finds a sand trap.

"The computer is so sophisticated that it is going to take your ball and do with it what it would normally be on a driving range," said Bruni. "It's that intense."

Although the studio will be open year-round, the hope is that the studio will provide full rounds of golf to customers while cold weather and snow halts outdoor play for the season. It is also the only studio of its kind in the area.

Bruni said that the simulator has already been a distraction for employees of nearby offices, who have been running down to the studio to take swings during 15-minute work breaks. 

"It's almost like crack, once you get a taste of it," Bruni said with a laugh. "They got so hooked on it that the building said 'look you guys can't go down there during business hours', so they come after hours and play."

The studio also includes an instruction program headed by PGA professional Chris Caulfield, who has been teaching golf for 26 years. Caulfield said he has worked in the new golf studio since meeting Bruni this July. He uses a computer program to analyze golf swings and compares them to professionals side by side. His camera slows a golfer's motion to find even the smallest flaw in a swing.

"It's definitely something that's on the cutting edge of technology," said Caulfield. "This is without a doubt the best there is."

Caulfield uses a netted area next to the golf simulator to host instructional sessions. He said he added about 30 yards to his own swing since using video to analyze his swing and that the program is helpful for beginners and professionals alike. 

The computer program costs about $5,000 and is used by many golfers on the professional tour, said Caulfield. The simulation machine, meanwhile, costs about $50,000.

Although the golf studio and nearby fitness center operate as a service to employees of the Centre at Purchase building, both are open to the public. Bruni said that the building's owners thought that the golf studio would bring future clients to the building and would provide a connection with nearby communities. Bruni loved the idea.

"What corporate America likes is golf," he said, adding that Purchase, Harrison and Rye are areas with a plethora of serious golfers.

Although business has been relatively slow to this point, Bruni and Caulfield are optimistic that people will flood to the studio once the cold weather months eliminate the alternative of staying outside. 

"We launched it at probably the worst time—the dead of summer," said Bruni, adding that the rest of the summer and early fall will give them time to perfect their studio for what they expect to be a rush of customers this winter. 

Thirty minutes on the simulator will cost golfers $25, but while snow covers outdoor golf courses this winter, it beats the cost of a plane ticket south.

"We are going to be ready and experienced," said Bruni. "When people come in they are going to be wowed."