Anytime Golf will open in a former dance studio space at 11147 Air Park Road. (BizSense file)
The Richmond region is getting yet another indoor golf simulator venue, this time from a golfer whose career took him from Canada to VCU to pro tours and eventually to coaching at local country clubs.
Ryan Zylstra is opening Anytime Golf, a facility that will house hitting bays with TrackMan golf simulators and a putting green, at 11147 Air Park Road in Hanover County.
It’s a second location for Anytime Golf, which has its current lone, original location in Charlottesville. It was started there five years ago by a friend of Zylstra’s.
Zylstra, 43, grew up in Cambridge, Ontario, and graduated from VCU in 2002 after playing on the school’s golf team. He then set off to try to hit his way into the big leagues, playing pro on some lower level tours.
“I toiled with that for over 10 years and tried to chase the dream,” he said.
Ryan Zylstra, holding his trophy after winning PGA Assistants Championship in 2017 while working as a pro at The Federal Club.
He eventually moved into instruction, taking a job at The Federal Club in Hanover in 2017.
“I converted my passion for playing into teaching and coaching,” he said.
After a move from Federal Club to Lakeside Park Club, he’s now an instructor at Richmond Country Club in Goochland.
He said his friend in Charlottesville had for several years been looking to expand Anytime Golf into the Richmond market and Zylstra was looking for a way to weather-proof his coaching sessions.
“If your income is based on teaching and coaching you kind of need to be doing it year-round,” he said.
In Hanover, he’ll have 2,200 square feet to work with. The facility will house three hitting bays with simulators that allow players to virtually play famous golf courses all over the world, while monitoring and analyzing their swings with feedback from the machines.
In addition to the TrackMan machines, he also plans to install a putting green that uses PuttView technology that helps analyze putting motions.
Anytime Golf will have plenty of competition around town. There are at least four other such indoor simulator venues in the region: Indoor Golf RVA, which opened last year near Willow Lawn, Tee It Up on the Southside, X-Golf in Midlothian and The Edge Golf Academy across from Scott’s Addition.
Zylstra said he sees an opening for such a facility for Hanover and the northern part of the region.
“It’s for the avid golfer that just wants to get better,” he said. “We really are looking to solve three crucial parts that we feel are missing in my side of town: one is just having a location here; solving the time issue by being open 24 hours; and the affordability part.”
Anytime Golf will allow members to access the facility on their own 24 hours a day, while also offering lessons with Zylstra.
Zylstra said he’s also aiming to capitalize on his contacts around the region, which he said got a major boost in 2017 when he won the Virginia Open, a state tournament open to pros and amateurs.
“My colleague base really expanded after that so I think I have good rapport with the Richmond golf community,” he said.
Renovations are underway on the space, which was previously a dance studio. Zylstra hopes to be open by late May or early June. Glenn Johnson Construction is the contractor on the project.
Porter Realty’s Wilson Flohr represented the landlord in Anytime Golf’s lease deal.
Once Anytime Golf opens, Zylstra said he’ll continue to work as an independent contractor at Richmond Country Club to have an outdoor option for his coaching clients.
Zylstra’s venue will be around the corner from wife Sarah’s dance studio. The couple also work together in another side business, teaching golf to preschoolers through their company Jump Start Kids Golf.
Anytime Golf will open in a former dance studio space at 11147 Air Park Road. (BizSense file)
The Richmond region is getting yet another indoor golf simulator venue, this time from a golfer whose career took him from Canada to VCU to pro tours and eventually to coaching at local country clubs.
Ryan Zylstra is opening Anytime Golf, a facility that will house hitting bays with TrackMan golf simulators and a putting green, at 11147 Air Park Road in Hanover County.
It’s a second location for Anytime Golf, which has its current lone, original location in Charlottesville. It was started there five years ago by a friend of Zylstra’s.
Zylstra, 43, grew up in Cambridge, Ontario, and graduated from VCU in 2002 after playing on the school’s golf team. He then set off to try to hit his way into the big leagues, playing pro on some lower level tours.
“I toiled with that for over 10 years and tried to chase the dream,” he said.
Ryan Zylstra, holding his trophy after winning PGA Assistants Championship in 2017 while working as a pro at The Federal Club.
He eventually moved into instruction, taking a job at The Federal Club in Hanover in 2017.
“I converted my passion for playing into teaching and coaching,” he said.
After a move from Federal Club to Lakeside Park Club, he’s now an instructor at Richmond Country Club in Goochland.
He said his friend in Charlottesville had for several years been looking to expand Anytime Golf into the Richmond market and Zylstra was looking for a way to weather-proof his coaching sessions.
“If your income is based on teaching and coaching you kind of need to be doing it year-round,” he said.
In Hanover, he’ll have 2,200 square feet to work with. The facility will house three hitting bays with simulators that allow players to virtually play famous golf courses all over the world, while monitoring and analyzing their swings with feedback from the machines.
In addition to the TrackMan machines, he also plans to install a putting green that uses PuttView technology that helps analyze putting motions.
Anytime Golf will have plenty of competition around town. There are at least four other such indoor simulator venues in the region: Indoor Golf RVA, which opened last year near Willow Lawn, Tee It Up on the Southside, X-Golf in Midlothian and The Edge Golf Academy across from Scott’s Addition.
Zylstra said he sees an opening for such a facility for Hanover and the northern part of the region.
“It’s for the avid golfer that just wants to get better,” he said. “We really are looking to solve three crucial parts that we feel are missing in my side of town: one is just having a location here; solving the time issue by being open 24 hours; and the affordability part.”
Anytime Golf will allow members to access the facility on their own 24 hours a day, while also offering lessons with Zylstra.
Zylstra said he’s also aiming to capitalize on his contacts around the region, which he said got a major boost in 2017 when he won the Virginia Open, a state tournament open to pros and amateurs.
“My colleague base really expanded after that so I think I have good rapport with the Richmond golf community,” he said.
Renovations are underway on the space, which was previously a dance studio. Zylstra hopes to be open by late May or early June. Glenn Johnson Construction is the contractor on the project.
Porter Realty’s Wilson Flohr represented the landlord in Anytime Golf’s lease deal.
Once Anytime Golf opens, Zylstra said he’ll continue to work as an independent contractor at Richmond Country Club to have an outdoor option for his coaching clients.
Zylstra’s venue will be around the corner from wife Sarah’s dance studio. The couple also work together in another side business, teaching golf to preschoolers through their company Jump Start Kids Golf.