Topgolf’s two new, local sites will make it very easy for Chester County golfers to practice short pitches and monster tee-shots, all while enjoying beverages and snacks. Natalie Kostelni for the Philadelphia Business Journal reports on the brand’s extension into both Northeast Philadelphia and King of Prussia. 

The Northeast Topgolf is being built on 27 acres of the former Nabisco and Mondelez International factories on Roosevelt Boulevard. The Montgomery County edition will tee off from the 50-acre former American Baptist Churches USA headquarters on Gulph Road. 

Infrastructure improvements preparing both sites were slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic like a ball on a wet green. But they’re now picking up momentum. 

In the Northeast, that work included road-widening efforts to ease traffic flow. Signal lights and a turn lane were added as safety measures. Price tag thus far? $2 million. The Montgomery County pad, which sold for $24 million last year, is looking at a summer restart of construction prep. 

Topgolf originated from the timeless golf question, “Who hit it closer?” Originally called “Target Oriented Practice Golf,” the founders of Topgolf used proprietary radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and dartboard-style targets to answer this question, and the first Topgolf venue was created in Watford, U.K. in 2000. It now has 58 venues across the U.S. 

For more on Topgolf’s swing into the local sports entertainment landscape, read the Philadelphia Business Journal.