Atomic Golf Las Vegas – Too HOT To Handle

Key Points:

• The time to visit Atomic Golf is after the sun sets, as the range is visually boring during the day.

• Atomic Golf struggled with mid-afternoon climate control – It was HOT throughout the facility mid-summer.

• Because of Atomic’s westward orientation, the Sun blasts golfers throughout the afternoon.

• Topgolf remains the more enjoyable, better thought-out concept in my opinion.

Atomic Golf is the second enhanced driving range experience to hit the Las Vegas Strip, and is a concept similar to Topgolf (at MGM Grand).

Located on the far north reaches of the Strip at STRAT, Atomic Golf offers 4 levels of hitting bays with interactive games that have you aiming for targets, a putting district, bars, an atrium with massive video boards, and a full chef-inspired menu.

I finally had the opportunity to stop by, and thought it would be fun to share my experience.

My Atomic Golf Experience

Atomic Golf is connected to STRAT by a long hallway that empties into Atomic’s parking lot.

Note: If you’re on Fremont Street, use the free Downtown Loop shuttle to get to STRAT from downtown!

Once inside, a super-friendly employee greeted me, gave me the “lay of the land”, and explained pricing, which is $60 per bay, per hour, from Sunday – Thursday and $80 on Friday and Saturday.

My first impression of Atomic Golf was the atrium, home to two impressive video walls broadcasting sporting events.

They host a Super Bowl watch party, and it could be an intriguing option in the future.

I stopped in during the late-afternoon hours, and there weren’t many customers, so only the 3rd-floor hitting bays were in use.

Golfers can pick from several easy-to-understand games that task you with hitting targets out on the range to score points, make “21”, etc. The games are social in nature and don’t require you to be an avid golfer to enjoy.

The golf balls are equipped with chips that track your ball flight, which is shown on the screen in your hitting bay.

Now, I’ve seen videos of Atomic Golf at night, and the range looks amazing. It’s essentially a massive screen in and of itself that’s illuminated and has a much more “cosmic” feel than it does in the day…

To say I was underwhelmed by the daytime appearance of Atomic’s range is an understatement. It resembled a concrete parking lot with circles.

Another thing worth mentioning is how HOT the facility was.

Now, it was a 110-degree day, but there was nearly no relief once insid,e aside from the shade provided by the facility.

I was dying.

Because of the range’s westward orientation, golfers can expect to be blasted by the sun from mid-afternoon until sunset. Maybe not a huge deal in December, but it was taxing on this particular late-June day.

The heat and sun situation will assuredly be “daytime customer repellent” throughout the hotter summer months.

Employees appear to be aware that it’s uncomfortable, as several industrial fans were set up and pointed at the golfers in addition to misters scattered throughout the bays.

A temporary solution to a very permanent problem. That is, unless there are changes to Earth’s orbital path around the sun.

Each hitting bay comes equipped with screens to select your game, track your shots, and score whatever contest you choose.

Clubs for men, women, and kids are provided.

In addition to golf, Atomic Golf has several bars and a full menu.

The bar on the 3rd level even has “pour your own” beer on tap, featuring 15 locally brewed beers. At the time I’m writing this, a 16oz. beer costs $9, and a 20oz costs $11 – Honestly, not bad.

To use the self-pour stations, you first need to pre-load a card with money. You then tap the card on the self-serve station, place your glass on the bottom fill mechanism, and select your size.

Pretty easy… But I’ll never understand why people would want to go to the bar, preload a card, and pour their own beer. Why not just go to the bar, and order the damn beer? Wouldn’t that be more efficient?

Anyway. I digress.

My favorite part of Atomic Golf was their “Putting District”, which is a collection of putting lanes, which were free when I first visited, but now carry a cost.

There are 3 social putting games that you can select – “Around the World”, “Bocce”, and “Territory”.

After you select a game, it’s projected onto the putting surface.

I enjoyed “Territory”, which is a 1 vs 1 game that has you putting a ball onto a map. The goal is for your putt to end on your opponent’s territory, which then becomes yours, along with the points assigned to the “plot of land”.

Of course, there’s seating and places to set your drink. I could see myself coming back to play this with some buddies.

I saw two “Cannons” on the first level, and an employee explained to me that they fire golf balls down range.

My follow-up question was, “Are there any targets? Or are we just “Sprayin’ and prayin’?”. Turns out, there aren’t targets. They just shoot balls.

Kind of fun, but also kind of pointless. I’m sure kids will get a kick out of it however.

The Verdict: Is Atomic Golf Worth Visting?

Yes, but only after sunset.

I plan to stop back at night as I feel the experience would be vastly improved from what I experienced during the day.

The night visuals, as seen in Show Me Vegas’ YouTube video, look legitimately cool and the gameplay is similar to Topgolf, which I’ve enjoyed historically.

Social golf games like those at Atomic Golf are a blast, and you don’t need to be an avid golfer to enjoy them.

The free putting district was my favorite part of the facility, offering 3 fun, and easy-to-understand games. I can see myself spending hours with my buddies drinking beer and going head-to-head (likely with side bets :).

That said, I would never come back in the afternoon/early evening. That sun was no joke, and you’re going to be blasted by it until sunset.

The heat wasn’t pleasant in the mid-afternoon… And not just in the hitting bays. Even the shaded areas of the facility were pretty uncomfortable.

Temperature aside, the driving range looks downright depressing during the day without the lighting elements that come alive at night.

This is a nighttime attraction. Period.

Topgolf is Still the Superior Option (IMO)

Topgolf has a free 2-level swimming pool, bartop gaming, no sun issues, better climate control, a driving range that looks appealing both day and night, and TV’s everywhere (in hitting bays, at the end of the range, etc.) – Atomic has the giant video boards in the atrium and a guest-controlled TV in the bay. Still, I’d deem it comparatively “under TV’d”.

Both have several bars and a food menu.

Atomic differentiates itself from Topgolf in 2 main ways – Cosmic lighting at night, which looks amazing, and the free putting district, which I enjoyed.

My final thought when leaving Atomic Golf was that they built a second, “not fully thought out” version of Topgolf that:

• Is ugly during the day.
• Is in a terrible location.
• Is hotter than the 6th circle of Hell during summer afternoons.
• Is facing the wrong direction, “sun in eyes wise”.

Not exactly what I deem a recipe for success, but I sincerely hope to be proven wrong.

I expect there will be some major changes to their facility in the future to address some of the issues I noticed.

That being said, Atomic looks amazing (and tolerable, heat-wise) at night – I look forward to coming back!

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