September 05, 2025 // Triangle Business Journal // Raleigh, NC – Indoor golf venue swings into Wake Forest // by Kate Tracey
The Swing Bays, an indoor golf franchise based in Colorado, has landed its first out-of-state location in Wake Forest.
For Phil and Nancy Gugliotta, the local Swing Bays franchisees, it’s the first of multiple locations they intend to bring to the Triangle and to Pinehurst.
Located at 3615 Rogers Branch Road in a 5,000-square-foot building that’s part of a future retail development, Phil Gugliotta plans to open the venue by May of next year.
Gugliotta liked the location near the Heritage Station shopping center for its high traffic and demographics. “I’ve been in Raleigh for 18 years, and we’ve just seen it grow to crazy numbers. And we actually own some office space on Rogers Road, so we’ve seen the growth there as well,” he said.
Indoor golf is a growing market in the Triangle, with large venues such as Pin Point in Raleigh and smaller spaces like Albatross in downtown Cary opening in recent years. In Wake Forest, Brookfields Indoor Golf & Lounge has been a popular spot for years.
The Swing Bays location is near Heritage High School and Heritage Golf Course, which Gugliotta thinks will be strategic for working with high school golfers or partnering with the golf course in some way.
The venue will have six golf bays, five of which will be open to members and the public, while a PGA pro will teach lessons at the sixth bay. There will also be a chipping area and putting green, in addition to a gym with an on-site fitness trainer and a bar serving beverages and snacks.
“We’re going to make people feel accepted regardless of how good of a golfer you are. So if you’re literally going in and picking up a club for the first time, or if you’re a scratch golfer that wants to try to get on the tour, we’re going to help everyone and anyone,” he said.
The Swing Bays franchise fee is $40,000 while the weekly royalty fee is 6 percent of gross revenue, according to its website. Each Trackman golf simulator costs approximately $30,000. Memberships at The Swing Bays vary from $35 to $595 per month, according to its website.
Gugliotta, a franchise consultant and passionate golfer, liked The Swing Bays because he and Nancy wanted to own something that their son, currently an assistant golf pro, could help run. They went out to the Denver metro area to meet with The Swing Bays leadership and decided to sign on as franchisees.
“We just loved the customer service. We loved the white glove service that they give to their customers and we decided it was a good fit, and we went for it,” Gugliotta said.
The Swing Bays will employ about three people — including Gugliotta’s son as general manager — in addition to the contract PGA instructor and the fitness trainer.
Gugliotta is self-funding the venture but declined to share the overall budget. In the future, he’s eyeing Downtown Raleigh, Brier Creek, Durham and Pinehurst for additional locations.
With initiation fees at Triangle country clubs climbing fast in recent years, The Swing Bays offers an alternative for golfers.
“It’s never going to replace outdoor golf, but it’s somewhere where you can go and get better at the game and at the same time have fun,” he said.