Ever since Middle Age–d Scots started smacking balls with sticks across their grassy lowlands, people have found golf to be an excellent way to commiserate with friends and enjoy the great outdoors while challenging the body and mind.

Just as concerns grew that younger generations would be too impatient for the slow-moving sport, the pandemic struck, making golf one of the only ways to do anything with anybody. Its soaring popularity across all sorts of demographics was further energized by edgy social media memes, streaming shows about colorful pros, and the headline-snagging politics of dueling leagues.

Today, golf is so popular that people are even lining up to play inside, swinging in front of a massive screen that displays interactive renditions of the world’s best courses as a supersmart camera-computer monitors each move. These golf simulators, as they’re broadly known, are now a $2 billion global business, from extensive at-home setups and modest portable devices to the increasing number of open-to-the-public facilities where people pay per session to practice for the real course or just play for fun.

These businesses — which span from arcade-like affairs to more serious training centers — first proliferated in the big cities of colder, wetter regions where golf can’t be played all year long. But now they’re creeping into smaller towns that are sunny most of the time, including Santa Barbara, where two opened within weeks of each other last fall. I’ve since visited both, and here’s what you can expect.

SwingPath Golf Club

“I’m just a huge golf nut,” Jeff Sturdivan tells me soon after I arrive to SwingPath Golf Club, where he’s built two golf simulator bays in a former gym at the corner of East Haley and Santa Barbara streets. He hit the links a lot as part of his former career in corporate sales, and the UCSB grad was ready to do something different after decades of that. “This is something that can scratch the entrepreneurial itch I’ve had my whole life,” he explained.

An ideal option for golfers trying to improve their game, SwingPath functions like a private club: Members subscribe to gain 24/7 access, which allows them to reserve slots at any time of day and then enter using their own keys. But it also works for just hanging out with buddies or renting the entire space for a party, as there’s shuffleboard, darts, stereos, TVs, and fridges to stash your beverages. Food is also welcome if you need nourishment while exploring the more than 300 courses available to play.

I took my first-ever modern golf simulator swings in front of Sturdivan, and he seemed as fascinated as me by how much information the Trackman device — a slender box that hangs just overhead — is able to capture. “The technology is just so good,” he said of the dozens of data points analyzed in each shot, many of which were obscure to both of us. “You get all that stuff in an instant. Even pros are developing their game based on the feedback they get.”

Membership is steadily growing at SwingPath, and Sturdivan is donating sessions to high school golf teams. Santa Barbara High has already stopped in, and San Marcos and Dos Pueblos are stopping by later this month. “That’s my way of giving back,” said Sturdivan.

Memberships start at $140/month; inquire directly for facility rentals. 417 Santa Barbara St., Ste. B-1; (888) 369-3060; swingpathgolfclub.com

The Golf Lounge

John Baur was living in Sydney, Australia, when he first encountered a golf simulator. That got the grad of Santa Barbara High, where he played on the golf team, wondering, “Why doesn’t something like this exist in Santa Barbara?”

When he finally returned to his hometown in 2023, Baur set about answering that question. In December, he opened The Golf Lounge, whose two Trackman bays are attached to the new Validation Ale location on De la Vina Street. Reservations are recommended, but these are open for all to use, from kids playing cartoonish bowling games to dedicated duffers enduring a round at St. Andrews, TPC Sawgrass, or even the Montecito Club.

“He sees an opportunity, he puts his mind to it, and he gets it done,” said Baur’s longtime friend AJ Bluhm, who is a partner in the company with his wife, speech therapist Morgan Bluhm. The Bluhms witnessed that when Baur went to Australia to open a branch for the Carpinteria-based company ProCore, building the office to more than 100 employees over his seven years there.

Baur spent six months “taking it on the chin” from S.B.’s real estate market while searching for a proper location for his business last year. Then he met Validation’s owner Brian Deignan, who invited him down to his Funk Zone brewery to have a chat about incorporating this idea into the new spot. After two hours of beers, bites, and plotting, Baur recalled, “By the end, I thought, ‘We’re doing this.’ Six months later, here we are!”

Now you can order Validation’s beers, burgers, pizzas, and more right into your private bay, where the casual setting makes golf more accessible and welcoming to all skill levels. We saw that in December, when the Independent hosted our office holiday party at the lounge, and then again at the end of the month, when we threw my son’s 15th birthday party there. I can’t wait to go back with a smaller group and power through some actual holes rather than just playing Closest to the Pin or that dynamite game we did with the young ones. (Both of those are great too, by the way.)

“We just wanted to create a cool place that wasn’t like anything else in Santa Barbara, and for everybody,” said Morgan Bluhm, who’s really enjoying the vibes. “You’re surrounded by endorphins all the time.”

Sessions start at $60/hour. 2840 De la Vina St.; (805) 252-1522; golflounge805.com