A new indoor golf facility, Divots Indoor Golf, will open by the end of March or early April on West Broadway Avenue in Moses Lake.

The new indoor facility will feature six golf simulator stations that can accommodate groups of six people each. Golfers can tee off at more than 90 courses from around the world, or just spend some time working on their chipping, putting or drives.

The new indoor facility will be for ages 21 and older because of alcohol sales and will include rows of flat screen televisions broadcasting all major sporting events. Snacks available will resemble a traditional golf course concession or snack cart, with bags of chips, beef jerky and other items.

Divots Indoor Golf is a part of parent company ai Sports, based out of Walla Walla, where another indoor golf facility opened in fall 2020. Jordan Schilling is the general manager with ai Sports and discussed expanding the business into the Columbia Basin.

“Things in Walla Walla have definitely had a great response even given the restrictions and everything going on with that,” Schilling said. “We decided to branch out and start on the next location and start working that way toward expansion.”

Schilling said the company has been fortunate to have limited groups and participants at its facility in Walla Walla and said the new business has been popular. She said restrictions from the pandemic on groups and spacing didn’t affect groups keeping their distance between simulators.

The golf simulators used at the Divot Golf locations are state-of-the-art technology and give golfers the chance to play courses they might never visit in person.

“You can come and drive for 20 minutes and then play nine holes at Pebble Beach, or work on your putting game, or play courses you’d never really get to play in real life,” Schilling said.

Competitive leagues have been really popular at the Walla Walla location so far, with two-person teams competing each week on a different 9-hole course for prizes, Schilling said. She said the plan is to incorporate leagues in Walla Walla and Moses Lake together for multi-location competitions.

“You can play whenever, anytime throughout the week,” Schilling said. “We have a lot of EMTs that play down here and their schedule is all over the place.”

Another plan after the restrictions from the pandemic ease is offering group packaging for companies or organizations to rent the facility for parties. Schilling said it had soft openings at the Walla Walla location, where it invited first responders to test the facility and allow employees more time to work out final bugs.

“We’ll definitely look to do that up in Moses Lake as well,” Schilling said.

Getting a new business off the ground is never easy, especially during a global pandemic. Schilling said she feels extremely fortunate to find ways to stay open in the past months.

She said she’s considered the Walla Walla location a huge success so far and is excited to see where things go.