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The much-anticipated opening of Birdies, a golf simulation bar and beer garden, happens this Sunday, Feb. 20, in downtown Patchogue.
The two-story shrine to golf and good times is already booking tee times online.
(GreaterPatchogue got a sneak peek; scroll down for photos.)
“I think people are going to dig it,” Lance Holloway, a Birdies partner, said from inside the massive first floor cocktail lounge, which has a look that spans the 1920s to the midcentury. “It’s an old-school cocktail bar, but kind of new school.”
The idea is to “attract normal people who don’t care about golf, but we also want golf nuts because we’re huge golf nerds.”
Rounding out this partnership of self-described golf nerds is Brendan Kost and Andy Kovacs.
“You can come down here and never golf, never touch a club and still have a good time,” Kost said. “We have a beautiful bar, cocktails, great beer section, wine, everything you could want.”
There’s also a golf simulator on the first floor which could be used to screen sporting events.
To the immediate north of the bar is the Birdies beer garden where, once the weather breaks, the Birdies team will be booking food trucks and setting up lawn games and dozens of picnic tables.
Bartenders inside can also serve outdoor patrons through windows behind the bar that open to the garden.
The food inside is being supplied by the neighboring RHUM through a rear door. Click here for the full Birdies menu.
The trio is especially excited about the upstairs, where there are five more golf simulators. There, the indoor golfers get to choose from over 160 top courses from around the world. Each simulator has its own seating area and a 60-inch screen TV for hanging out between swings.
All the golfers have to do is grab some clubs (their own or rented) and blast balls into a 4K-resolution screen that uses data to calculate the ball’s speed and direction. Birdies has even brought in a golf pro for lessons.
Also upstairs is a Golden Tee machine, classic arcade games, putting green and other options on the simulation machines for kids, such as ski ball and a family fun game called Zombie golf, where you fire balls into killer zombies.
“We really hope people like it,” Holloway said. “We’re super excited and we’re really excited to be in Patchogue; we couldn’t be in a better spot. We’re thrilled with the whole situation.”
The grand opening is set to start at 3 p.m. Sunday and they’ll stay open to midnight.
From there, Birdies will be open Monday through Thursday at noon and close at midnight, then open at noon on Fridays and close at 2 a.m., and 9 a.m. to 2 a .m. on Sundays. The idea is to start opening earlier on weekends soon.
Click here to book reservations ahead of time.
photos by Andrew Theodorakis
