One of downtown St. Petersburg’s most iconic and historically significant buildings will soon be home to an upscale indoor golf lounge and high-end restaurant featuring seating for over 300 guests.

GolfSuites, Inc., based in Brandon, Florida, has signed a lease to bring the first and flagship GolfSuites City Club to the 17,000-square-foot historic Tramor Cafeteria building at 123 4th Street South in downtown St. Pete.

“With GolfSuites City Club, we are bringing the country club into the city,” said Jerry Ellenburg, Chairman and CEO of GolfSuites, Inc., in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “Not only will we have hyper-realistic, state-of-the-art golf simulators, but we will have a high-end dining experience with a menu featuring scallops, short rib, prime rib, and more.” 

The golf club will be partially membership-based with members getting priority on simulator and restaurant reservations. A membership office will open in downtown St. Pete in the coming months where prospective members may meet with Membership Director Megan Storm and view the simulator technology.

From 6 a.m. to 11 a.m., City Club will offer Morning Pro, where golfers can perfect their game through practice, coaching, and training. The restaurant will open mid-afternoon for lunch and stay open as late as 2 a.m. for dinner and drinks.

GolfSuites is supported by an all-star team, including Scott McCurry, President and COO of GolfSuites, who joined the company in 2019 after overseeing TopGolf’s growth from 7 to 38 outdoor driving range facilities nationwide.

Kevin Harrington, an original Investor Shark on the hit TV series “Shark Tank”, recently joined the company as Board Director and Brand Ambassador for the GolfSuites City Club brand nationwide. Harrington will also advise GolfSuites on marketing, financial, and several other aspects of this new concept.

David Leadbetter, world renowned professional golf instructor, will be advising on golf instruction, simulator design, and equipment offerings.

“We have very high hopes for GolfSuites City Club in downtown St. Pete. We are considering this the national brand launch and believe this product would do well in areas like Buckhead in Atlanta; Fashion Island in Newport Beach; and Miracle Mile in Chicago. There are so many people who want a touch of class at these ‘eatertainment’ concepts because most of them are extremely casual.”

GolfSuite City Club will be equipped with eight Golfzon TwoVision simulators, widely considered the world’s best and most realistic golf simulator due to its high-speed cameras, incredible graphics, and connected network allowing golfers to compete with players across the globe.

The simulator also features a swing plate that can move in 24 different directions, allowing the hitting area to move up, down, left, right, and even sloped depending on where you are on the course.

Automatic ball retrieval and auto-tee means you won’t have to go pick up your golf ball after each swing or even reach down to tee up your ball. 

There are also different turfs, such as a fairway mat, light rough, heavy rough, green side bunker, and fairway bunker.

GolfSuite CityClub’s simulators will encompass everything you want in golf while not actually having to be out on the golf course.

“I think simulator golf is a wonderful way to play and learn the game,” said David Leadbetter on his website. “It is incredible how realistic simulator golf is now, to the point where Golfzon, in particular, has the ability to change lies where in the past it was hitting balls off a mat.”

GolfSuites City Club will be situated inside the historic Tramor Cafeteria, constructed in 1929 and a perfect example of Mediterranean Revival-style architecture. The building opened for business as Bob’s Cafeteria in 1930 by original owner Robert Ely, and was known as the Holsum Cafeteria between 1931 and 1938. It became the Tramor Cafeteria in 1939 after the property was purchased by the Haige Corporation.

Most recently, the building housed Hofbräuhaus, modeled after the iconic beer hall in Munich, Germany. The restaurant opened to much fanfare in 2015, however shuttered in 2020 after failing to pay their rent. 

Although the building has sat vacant since 2020, the interior maintains its original character which was designed to create the illusion of dining on the patio of a Spanish hacienda.

GolfSuites has hired Clearwater-based Robert P. Resch, III, as the project’s architect and designer. Resch plans to marry the old historic elements of the building with a new, modern buildout for GolfSuites City Club. 

Although downtown St. Pete’s City Club will be the first for GolfSuites, the company currently operates three outdoor driving range entertainment facilities in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lubbock, Texas; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A fourth facility is coming soon to Auburn University in Alabama. 

Additionally, GolfSuites plans to open a more casual indoor golf simulator lounge concept in suburban areas around the US.

“We’re a Tampa Bay-based company operating locations operating in Tulsa, Lubbock, Baton and Rouge,” said Ellenburg. “With GolfSuites City Club in downtown St. Pete we get a chance to debut this brand right in our own backyard. We couldn’t be more excited.”

GolfSuites City Club plans to open at 123 4th Street South in downtown St. Pete in the summer of 2024. Follow GolfSuites City Club on Instagram to stay up-to-date on grand opening plans.

ABOUT GOLFSUITES:
GolfSuites is based in Brandon, Florida, and currently operates three traditional golf driving range entertainment facilities in Tulsa, Lubbock, and Baton Rouge, and has just broken ground on its fourth driving range facility near Auburn University. The company also owns land in Madison (suburban Jackson, MS) where it provisionally plans to build a more casual indoor golf simulator venue. Over time, the company business plan is to proliferate three distinct venues –

• GolfSuites – outdoor driving range entertainment facilities.
• GolfSuites City Club – upper scale partially membership-based indoor golf simulator lounges offering higher end dining planned for urban centers around the US.
• GolfSuites Lounge – a more casual indoor golf simulator lounge concept planned for suburban areas around the US.

The GolfSuites President / COO is Scott McCurry, who came to GolfSuites in 2019 after more than 24 years of experience in this sector, first with Macaroni Grill and then with TopGolf, where he helped oversee their growth from 7 to 38 outdoor driving range facilities nationwide. McCurry oversees operations of all three venues.

SPONSORSHIPS:
GolfSuites is pleased to announce that Kevin Harrington, an original Investor Shark on the hit TV series “Shark Tank” and Infomercial Inventor, has joined the company as Board Director and will be the “Brand Ambassador” for the GolfSuites City Club brand nationwide. Harrington’s involvement in this new brand is widespread as he is advising the company on marketing, financial, and several other aspects of this new concept.

Harrington has introduced the company to David Leadbetter, world renowned professional golf instructor, having coached 23 players to major tournament wins and 7 World Number 1’s. Leadbetter will be advising on golf instruction, simulator design, and equipment offerings. Leadbetter is working with the company in development of its Morning Pro offering, wherein members and guests can arrive in the early hours for various levels of coaching and training.

THE TRANSACTION:
This initial GolfSuites City Club is situated in an approximate 17,000 square foot building on an approximate half acre of land at 123 4th Street South in downtown St. Petersburg. GolfSuites has leased the building with options for up to 20 years of occupancy.

The transaction was managed by Christine Walker of Realty One Group Sunshine in St. Petersburg.

The architect and design team is the Robert P. Resch, III, Architect firm from Clearwater, Florida. Planned opening is Summer 2024.

PLANNED OPERATION:
Food and beverage offerings are planned to be indoor and outdoor all day long. Simulator hours will range from 6 AM until 11 AM for golf practice and instruction under the company’s Morning Pro offering, then noon to mid-afternoon for lunch, and then 4 or 5 PM until as late as 2 AM for dinner and after hours.

MEMBERSHIPS:
Preliminary membership inquiries may be made to:
⦁    Megan Storm – Membership Director – ⦁    megan.storm@golfsuites.com
A membership office will be located near the site, where prospective members may meet with Ms. Storm and view the simulator technology.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, contact:
⦁    Gerald Ellenburg – GolfSuites Chairman / CEO – ⦁    365948@email4pr.com
www.golfsuites.com 813.621.5000

Theo Prodromitis, 8139069910, 365948@email4pr.com

According to the company, a 6,400-square-foot indoor facility there will include a restaurant and bar, 40 hitting bays, a large outdoor covered patio with stage, a putting green and meeting rooms for events and parties.

Co-founder and Chief Development Officer Ryan Koenig said in an announcement the venue will be located at The Landing, at Interstate 85 and Gateway Drive.

It is currently slated for an opening late in the second quarter of 2024, according to Scott McCurry, the company’s COO.

“We are pleased to become part of this growing community,” McCurry said. “GolfSuites was founded on the real passion for the game of golf; it’s this authentic spirit and enthusiasm for the game, combined with the element of fun, food, drinks, and entertainment, that fuel everything the company stands for.”

GolfSuites operates in Tulsa, Lubbock, and Baton Rouge.

By WLBT.com Staff

Published: Jul. 1, 2022 at 5:28 PM EDT

MADISON, Miss. (WLBT) – Topgolf competitor GolfSuites has set its sights on the City of Madison.

The year-round entertainment facility is said to be opening early next year, with their ground breaking taking place “soon.” It will be located near I-55 and Parkway East.

According to their website, GolfSuites venues feature “high-tech gamified golf, outdoor climate-controlled suites, handcrafted cocktail and dining menus, live entertainment, and spaces for both social and corporate functions.”

GolfSuites Chairman and CEO Jerry Ellenburg says GolfSuites differentiates itself from other competitors, like Topgolf, by being “more golf-centric,” explaining that the company uses real golf balls, longer ranges and users have the ability to take golf lessons at their locations.

GolfSuites, he says, is better for “serious golfers.”

GolfSuites currently has locations in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The Madison site will be their fourth location.

For more information on GolfSuites, click here.

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