Just because you live in a climate where winter weather closes your local courses doesn’t mean you can’t play golf—or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Yes, you can travel to warmer climes with your clubs in tow, but what about between trips?
Thankfully, there’s a smorgasbord of indoor options for keen golfers. Because golf shouldn’t have an off-season, right? Maybe you want to work on your game and be course-ready when spring comes. Or maybe you just want to get in some swings with friends and have a little golf fun while it’s blizzarding outside. Your choices run the gamut from expansive home simulator systems to home practice and exercise options to indoor golf venues that cater to everyone from beginners to pros.
Here are a few options to make your 2026 off-season one to remember.
Home Simulators
Home sims don’t come cheap—if you even have the room to install one. You’ll need a 10-foot ceiling and a footprint of 225–300 square feet for starters, but if you have that space and the coin to create your own in-home system, you’ll have a ton of strong options. A base-level home sim (not including the PC that runs it) will cost you at least $3,500 and can run $50k or more depending on the launch monitor, sim software, and setup you choose. Radar-based and camera-based systems can both generate accurate data that, coupled with sim software, will give you all kinds of feedback on your swing—or feed into programs that let you play thousands of famous courses from all over the world. Last week, I played Norway’s Lofoten Links, Royal County Down, and Bandon Dunes without traveling more than five miles from my home. Brands to explore if you’re thinking about installing a home sim include Garmin, Full Swing, Foresight Sports, SkyTrak, Trackman, and Square Golf. (Note that launch monitors can also go with you to the range during the outdoor golf season and keep providing you with advanced analytics.) If you want to go whole-hog, PLATFORM Golf and Golf VX are two companies that offer indoor sim playing surfaces that can tilt to mimic uneven lies, as does PuttView’s system, which tracks your putts with overhead cameras and displays the correct path to the hole to help you better visualize breaks and make more putts.
Topgolf and Topgolf Swing Suites
While most of Topgolf’s facilities are centered around climate-controlled outdoor bays, the brand’s influence on indoor golf culture can’t be overstated. At its more than 100 locations around the world and 60 across the U.S., Topgolf combines high-tech ball tracking with food, drinks, music, games, and a fun atmosphere that appeals to beginners and experienced golfers alike. Topgolf turns each shot into a point-scoring game, encouraging friendly competition with a party-like atmosphere. For a fully indoor experience, the company created Topgolf Swing Suites, which can be found in hotels, casinos, and airports in dozens of states and Canada. There, you can practice your full swing or short game, play iconic courses from around the world, and even play non-golf games like zombie dodgeball—all in an upscale environment offering elevated 19th hole menus.
X-Golf
For players seeking high-precision simulation coupled with solid skill development options, X-Golf stands out. With over 50 locations nationwide, this chain is a favorite for golf purists who want realistic course simulation, comprehensive shot analytics, and the bonus opportunity to participate in structured leagues. X-Golf’s simulators recreate famous courses like Pebble Beach with incredible detail. Many locations offer lessons with PGA professionals, junior golf programs, and competitive events, making X-Golf a combination of serious training ground and social hub. X-Golf venues are cozy but sophisticated, with lounge spaces and food options that keep the vibe relaxed even when the competition gets intense.
GOLFZON
You’ll find GOLFZON’s simulators in dozens of indoor golf venues from coast to coast, including in GOLFZON Social venues. Its GDR MAX sim offers one of the most advanced indoor golf experiences anywhere. It integrates real-course play, customized practice, and synchronized ball, club, and body data into one powerful indoor performance ecosystem. With it, you can analyze club speed, attack and face angles, face-to-path, spin loft, and a lot more. In 2025, players were able to compete on the GOLFZON Tour, an international tournament offering $300,000 in prize money. Or choose from over 300 courses and just have a good time with your foursome in a facility that feels more like a boutique club than a training center.
Five Iron Golf
Five Iron Golf caters to city dwellers who want to enjoy a premium indoor golf experience without heading out of town. With locations in major markets like New York, Chicago, and Boston, Five Iron blends state-of-the-art Trackman simulators with stylish interiors, cocktail bars, and membership perks. Unlike some larger entertainment complexes, Five Iron prioritizes quality over scale. Its facilities often have fewer but very high-end bays, luxurious lounge spaces, and curated programming, including exclusive events and member leagues. It’s a celebration of golf not just as a sport, but a lifestyle.
Puttshack
You won’t be able to tap into advanced swing analytics at your local Puttshack, but you will be able to have a fun time. Puttshack is indoor mini golf reimagined, with zany holes that are as colorful and entertaining as they are challenging. The “Trackaball” technology they use tracks every stroke and point as you look to avoid hazards and best your buddies. The F&B menu is innovative, too, with shareables and bites reflecting cuisine from around the world, and craft cocktails that’ll either make you a better or worse putter. It’s a great place to introduce kids to the fun of golf when the outdoor mini golf spots are blanketed in snow.
Indoor Golf Training Must-Haves
You don’t need access to a simulator to improve your game off-season—and especially your putting. All you need is a hallway, and the right indoor training aids. There are lots of indoor putting mats to choose from. One of the best is PrimePutt, official putting map of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Available in lengths from 9 to 15 feet, PrimePutt offers synthetic turf that rolls truer than most and emulates the look and feel of real Tour-level putting surfaces. Another good choice is a putting mirror, like EyeLine Golf’s Groove Plus model, which provides instant feedback on your setup, stroke, and alignment, helping you master every fundamental of putting. The mirror shows where your eyes and shoulders are when you stand over the ball, how your putter face is aligned, and gives you a bird’s-eye view of your swing path along the mirror’s groove lines. Another good putting trainer is WhyGolf’s Putting Thing, which is a putting mirror, putting gate, and stroke trainer all rolled up into one. The adjustable putter and ball gates help you dial in center-face contact and groove a stroke that’s on your intended line. You can practice your chipping at home, too, with products like the Spornia Auto Return XL Golf Chipping Net. Its 3-by-3-foot net has a target that you can practice hitting with various clubs from various distances and angles to help you fine-tune your chips and pitches and produce cleaner strikes before your next round in the great outdoors.
Golf Fitness Options
Winter’s a great time to work on your fitness, strengthen your core, and build the muscle tone you’ll want when you take back to the links. The Titleist Performance Institute is a great place to start. It’s the world’s leading educational organization dedicated to the study of how the human body functions in relation to the golf swing, with golf-specific health, swing, and fitness advice from experts in 63 countries. The Institute’s Drills & Exercises web page has dozens of short videos for improving flexibility, form, and strength. And if you’re really interested in achieving optimal fitness, you have the option of mastering the Body-Swing Connection through TPI certification. Another great at-home fitness choice is the GolfForever golf fitness training system, a program that uses an asymmetrical resistance training bar, the Swing Trainer+, and supporting video instructional content to help you get into ideal fighting form. It’s worked pretty well for Scottie Scheffler—it could be just what you need, too.
