A new sports bar in Leyland has opened with high-tech golf simulators.
Fairway Fusion on Chapel Brow offers drinks, pool, darts and live music performances alongside the three golf sims, with a fourth on the way.
The sims, located in what used to be Rimmers Music, include different surfaces as well as a moving platform to simulate the real golfing experience.
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There are four directors in charge of running the bar: Timothy Duxbury, Joshua Jones, Jack Thornton and Michael Thornton.
Micheal Thornton has put his retirement on hold to help out at Fairway Fusion.
He said: “I love the fact that people can come in and drink, play golf and not get muddy and there’s pool and darts.
“It’s an ideal location. A bar is a bar, and pool is pool, and darts is darts, but a golf simulator allows you to play courses that would cost an absolute fortune as well as travelling to them.”
All the golf sim equipment is made by company Golfzon and its modern features like the moving platform, live feedback and golf club recommendations are what Joshua Jones would argue sets the bar apart from other local golfing facilities.
He said: “The feedback from the simulators as they all have cameras fitted to record your swing path.
“The Golfzon app is brilliant because the feedback in terms of clubhead speed, where you hit the ball and even your feet positioning.
“You don’t get that feedback from a driving range.
“It’s fun hitting a hundred balls as hard as you can but you’re not really learning are you?”
Settings in the simulator allow for people of all abilities to have fun by compensating for beginners with extra yardage.
To pay homage to Rimmers Music School, live music acts will play every Saturday.
Timothy Duxbury may consider himself a ‘non-golfer’, but that didn’t stop his dreams of owning a business with his friends.
He said: “We’ve all put our heart and soul into making sure this is the right stuff.
“We’re going to make sure you’ve got high end furniture, a comfortable experience and we haven’t cheaped out.
“We thought, if we were the customer what would we want? And that’s what we’ve gone for.”
Both Joshua and Timothy are ex-forces and director Jack Thornton is still currently serving.
Jack believes that the golf simulators have a level of technology that can’t be found anywhere else.
He said: “The simulator tech is the best tech going in the world and especially in the Northwest.
“The analytics and insights that the sims provide is second to none.
“The ability to play over 300 courses from the same building and the cost saving from not having to go to the courses is magnificent.”
The top-tier sim in a private room is set to be built and opened soon and will feature a live caddy function to teach players on the go.
The bar is currently open, but an official opening day will be announced in the coming weeks.
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