[UPDATE: X-Golf Westbury is scheduled to open March 10.]
Nassau County is about to get its first taste of the modern golf and entertainment experience that recently has popped up farther east in places like Holtsville, Patchogue and Commack. And it will arrive in a spot that's no stranger to the metallic echoes of drivers smashing golf balls and the thuds of tee shots crashing into screens.
X-Golf Westbury will open within weeks at Samanea New York, formerly the Mall at the Source, in part of the space once occupied by Golf Galaxy. It will be Long Island's second X-Golf location, following the opening of X-Golf Commack in June 2022. The California-based franchise is known for its combination of technologically advanced golf simulators, on-site instruction and events, and casual food and drink service.
Once the fire marshal signs off on the Westbury site, owner Chris Sciocchetti says the new facility will be ready to open within days. The latest target date is February 27. "I don't care what the actual date is," Sciocchetti says. "I just hope it has a February on it."
It's been a long road from conception and planning to finally preparing eight high-tech hitting bays and a TV-topped bar for use by local golfers. X-Golf Westbury was initially slated to open in November 2021, but with Samanea's rapid resurrection from ghost mall to indoor shopping and immersive-experience destination, X-Golf found itself caught up in an unforeseen morass of municipal red tape. First it was sorting out the allotment of parking spaces, then it was a nine-month wait for approval of a variance for the golf facility itself.
Sciocchetti is confident the pandemic-fueled enthusiasm for both regular golf and the indoor variety will make the long buildup worthwhile. During the pandemic, Sciocchetti spent two or three days each week playing the courses at Eisenhower Park and Bethpage. He had visions of opening an indoor facility somewhere near his Merrick home, and the pandemic only accelerated his plans.
"I've wanted to do this for a really long time," he says.
Visitors at X-Golf Westbury will find a row of hitting bays along a wall to their left, steps away from a bar that will turn out draft beer and light bites from at least one area pizzeria. Other bays, all of which include TVs and tables, are set up in corners and on the opposite side of the bar. Separating the two sides is a wall decorated with colorful golf-course artwork, Bethpage included, that Sciocchetti's wife Kathryn found on Etsy. Also featured are neon and turf-clad X-Golf Westbury signs well-suited for Instagram posts.
X-Golf facilities are known for their state-of-the-art simulators that feature more than 50 golf courses and advanced innovations like automatic ball retrieval, personalized tee heights and adjustable ground slope. The short-game technology also elevates the level of play in X-Golf bays, allowing players to chip and putt on virtual greens with accuracy. Westbury will offer local in-house leagues and a schedule of national and regional competitions that are part of the X-Golf network. (The franchise has locations in 32 states.) Sciocchetti is working out the specifics for instruction and fittings as well.
Hourly rates range from $55 on weekday mornings and early afternoons to $75 on weekends. A full 18-hole round takes about 45 minutes to an hour per player.
After Samanea does its own marketing push to promote its new sites, Sciocchetti says most of his own promotion will be done on social media, much like Commack, Topgolf in Holtsville, Birdies in Patchogue and Simplay in Hauppauge, all of which are active and highly visible on Instagram and Facebook. The Westbury site has already developed a following even while building permits still cover the front door.
"I get calls here every day asking when we are going to open," Sciocchetti says.
