Golf by Illusion

The weekend golfer faces horrendous frustrations: long queues at public courses; the expense of private clubs; capricious weather that can rain him out or sun him to a cinder before the ninth hole. One way to beat all these hazards is to forget that the Scots intended golf to be an outdoor game. Then the player can use one of the dozens of indoor ranges that employ computers and color slides to give customers the illusion that they are playing real golf on a famous course.

One of the newest and most sophisticated of these fantasy parlors is Golf-O-Rama, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. For $3.75 on weekdays and $5.25 on weekends, a golfer can pretend that he is playing 18 holes on one of five courses (Oahu, Thunderbird, Pebble Beach, Firestone, the Dunes). The illusion of actual play is achieved by projecting an image of the selected fairway on a 9-ft. by 9-ft. screen inside a large booth. When the player drives his ball against this screen, a computer measures its speed and direction, makes adjustments for hooks or slices, and controls the movement of a circular light that mimics the trajectory of the ball in flight.

After each shot, the projected image changes to show the computer's notion of where the ball would have landed. The machine also flashes the yardage gained and the remaining distance to the pin. If the computer decides that the ball has landed in a sand trap or water hazard, there is a one-stroke penalty. Putting, however, is primitive: the player must move to an Astroturf green and aim at a real hole.

Indoor addicts claim that electronic golf helps their game. "I've improved my accuracy and added 20 yards to all my iron shots," boasts Fritz Marchu, who plays at Golf-O-Rama three nights a week. Golf Pro Bob Johnson attributes the improvements to the fact that "a golfer is less ball conscious." The golfer knows he cannot lose his ball and thus concentrates more on his swing.

Golf-O-Rama's owner, Norman Schaut, 40, is convinced that the electronic golf course will become more than a foul-weather substitute for the real thing. Golf's popularity continues to grow, and land scarcity makes construction of new outdoor courses difficult in many areas. Already Schaut has noticed a number of regular customers, including one who brings in a different opponent every time he arrives. One day this regular confided to Schaut that "it's as easy to lose your shirt in here as it is outdoors." He may be the world's first indoor golf hustler.

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