You can take on TPC Sawgrass or play dodgeball at this new Durham bar

Drew Jackson
·2 min read

Soon you can grip it and rip it at a new bar heading to downtown Durham.

The golf-simulator bar State of Golf will open this spring in Durham’s American Tobacco Campus. This grown-up version of Wii Golf is a growing bar trend, where customers can play famous virtual courses while swinging actual clubs and drinking beers.

State of Golf will have three simulator bays and a 10-seat bar when it opens on Blackwell Street in Durham, across from Moe’s and QueenBurger. Owned by Brandon Baker, the CEO of golf nonprofit First Tee Triangle, State of Golf is expected to open by mid-May.

The golf-simulator bar has been a growing trend nationally for the last few years, and several are already open in the Triangle, notably Dogwood Country Club, Iron Oaks and Inside Golf in Raleigh and the Albatross in Cary.

State of Golf will be the first simulator bar in Durham. It will give guests virtual access to some of the golf world’s most iconic courses, including Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass and the Old Course at St. Andrews. Beyond golf there are 29 other games, including baseball where you can pitch against a radar gun or try to hit a home run, soccer and even dodgeball.

“We want this to be part of the fabric of downtown Durham and everything that’s happening down there,” Baker said. “It’s the kind of place you could go out with friends on Thursday, have a date night on Friday and want to bring your kids on Saturday.”

Baker said construction is slated to begin next week and wrap up in a couple of months.

State of Golf will have a full bar, with cocktails and draft beer, and guests will be able to bring in food from neighboring restaurants.

“We’ll have snacks, but we expect people will take advantage of the great local dining options, like QueenBurger, Moe’s or Press across the street,” Baker said.

The American Tobacco Campus has added numerous new dining and nightlife options in the last few years, most recently Seraphine and Ekhaya from the owners of Zweli’s. The short-lived Durham expansion of the Raleigh restaurant Five Star closed earlier this year.