South Broadway Country Club Set to Tee Off in Early April

County clubs are generally pretty exclusive joints, but a new venture in south Denver will cater to a different kind of crowd. The South Broadway Country Club will open at 2265 South Broadway this spring, with high-tech golf simulators for instruction and entertainment. Owner Kelly Huff promises to add a full bar and menu soon after opening to round out the experience.

The name is intended as irony, says Huff, since the South Broadway Country Club's motto will be "non-members only." Huff is a professional golf instructor who lived, worked and golfed in Atlanta and Portland before coming to Colorado. After teaching more than 1,200 golf lessons in a year, he realized he could reach more golfers with a little technology. So at his club, he's installing Trackman golf simulators that will allow users to hit real balls with real clubs toward a projection screen. The Trackman machine is equipped with radar devices that track the path and speed of the club and the ball, and then extrapolate the ball's path, projecting an image of the ball continuing on to a golf course on the screen.
"It's as high-tech as it gets," Huff explains. "It's what PGA tour pros use."

Since no golf course would be complete without a nineteenth hole (not even a simulated one), Huff will also add a full bar inside the 3,500-square-foot space so customers can enjoy a beer or maybe a boozy Arnold Palmer with their round of golf. The Trackman units can be used as an instructional tool to help analyze and improve a golfer's swing, but Huff will also have famous golf courses from around the country loaded into the machines, so guests can play Pebble Beach, for example, without ever leaving South Broadway, making the Country Club a great destination for office parties or other group outings.
Huff expects to open the South Broadway Country Club on April 1 with the Trackman units ready to go, and will add the bar once he receives final sign-off from the city. Food will come a little later, starting with prepared foods from local vendors — possibly including Maria Empanada, just a few blocks north on Broadway. An outdoor smoker will allow Huff to serve barbecue, too, but he's taking his time with that idea, since he's a native of the South and has high standards for getting it right.

The former garage space is owned and leased by Steven Cook's Broadway Real Estate, which has been responsible for bringing many other food and beverage establishments to Broadway, including the new Post Chicken & Beer (just up the street from Huff's address), the Overland, Euro Crepes and Taste of Thailand, among others.