The world of golf simulators moves forward quickly. Just when you think Golf VX has advanced simulation to a point that's as good as it gets, the company drops its new Quantum tech and blows everything else I've ever tried out of the water.
I went to the company's flagship location in Arlington Heights, IL (just outside of Chicago) and played a popular semi-private course called The Glen Club. Then, we went to the course and played the real thing to see how well the simulator holds up compared with the course.
What better way to test a virtual experience than by comparing it to the place it's designed to emulate?
Golf VX's new Quantum sim tech
I was at Golf VX's flagship location to check out its latest and greatest simulator technology, and I have to say, it is a noticeable improvement over the company's T2 sim I played in the past.
For example, the 15-axis swing plate allows the ground to shift to create the most realistic lies I've ever had the chance to play in a simulator. In real golf, you rarely hit off a completely flat lie (unless you're on the tee box), so being able to practice shots with the ball above and below your feet is critical to improving your game.
Another improvement related to the hitting area is the Q-Mat, which uses a ceiling-mounted projector to display data about your swing path, distance and other key information right on the floor, keeping you focused on your swing without looking around to see if you were outside-to-inside or inside-to-outside on your most recent shot. This can help you fix that slice or hook, which are issues that plague many golfers (hello, my name is Dave and I'm a slicer).
I think the most impressive aspect of Golf VX's tech, compared to other commercial and home launch monitors, is how quickly you see your ball fly on the projector. There's a 15ms delay between you making contact with the ball and the ball flying on the screen. That's fast enough that by the time I finished my follow-through, the ball was in the air. This helps to fix the disconnect between hitting the ball into a screen and playing on the course.
Real vs. Simulator
I'm not going to sit here and pretend you can't tell the difference between the real-world course and the Golf VX rendered version. Obviously, the real version of the course is, well, real.
But Golf VX did an incredible job rendering the course with the key details in place, so you can practice before playing and get a sense of where the hazards will be. This is true for all 380 courses available in the software, though we'll focus on The Glen specifically.
One hole that stood out was number 3, which featured water to the left of the tee box that you can clearly see in both real and simulator photos. The tree-line in the distance also matches up well, as do the bunker locations.
When I stepped back and took it all in, I could definitely remember what the simulated version of the course looked and felt like while standing on the real tee box.
For hole 12, I pulled out the Meta glasses to record a first-person version of the hole in the real world and on the sim. Since I'm not the most skilled golfer, my path to finish the hole was very different between the two, with me scoring a par on the simulated hole and a six in real life, but the idea stands: the hole plays almost exactly the same.
After going back and watching both holes to edit together a TikTok video, I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of care that went into rendering the courses in Golf VX.
Golf VX Quantum availability
Golf VX's Quantum simulators are available now, but they're prohibitively expensive for most home users, with systems starting at around $50,000 and going up to $100,000 for a full room buildout. If money is no object and you want the best-of-the-best in golf sim tech, though, you should 100% have Golf VX Quantum on your radar, as it's the best golf sim hardware and software I've ever used.
Sadly, since the technology is so new to the U.S., it's not available at many Golf VX locations yet, but the company plans to expand with more franchises, so even if you're nowhere near Chicago, you can still play Quantum in the future.
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