High-tech driving range TopGolf coming to Overland Park

TopGolf, a high-tech driving range/bar/restaurant complex, is coming to the metro.

The Dallas-based company wants to build a 70,000-square-foot, three-level center at the northeast corner of 107th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park. If all goes as planned it will open in the second quarter of 2015.

At TopGolf, players line up in one of 102 climate-controlled hitting bays. Their golf balls will contain a “patented protected” computer microchip that will track each shot’s accuracy and distance, and award points for hitting targets. Golf pros also will be on hand to offer tips.

Zach Shor, director of real estate for the Dallas-based company, said it selected Overland Park for its “great demographics.”

“Overland Park, in general, is fast growing with a strong office market,” Shor said. “Where else can you get a great burger and hit some balls on your lunch hour? It also will be a place to go after work.”

TopGolf will open daily at 9 a.m. Menu items could include brisket chili cheese fries, craft beer queso, flatbread pizzas, sliders, Cajun tilapia wraps, specialty burgers and entree salads. The company also likes to add some menu items that will be unique to the location.

TopGolf was founded in 2000 by brothers Steve and Dave Jolliffe. They were practicing their swings on a U.K. course when they began tossing around ideas for a new kind of golf experience, one that would combine competition and entertainment. After spending a couple of years on development, they opened the first TopGolf in London. They later sold the business.

Now based in Dallas, the company has 10 locations — five in Texas, one in the Washington, D.C. area and one in the Chicago area. It also has three centers in the U.K. Several more TopGolf centers are in the development stages in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas.

This story was originally published December 5, 2013 at 12:13 PM with the headline "High-tech driving range TopGolf coming to Overland Park."