A First for Golf at Second Life

by C&RB Staff (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
January 2007
 

 
Since it opened, The Holly Kai Golf Club has attracted more than 130 members who can enjoy nine holes of golf, browse and buy in the club’s pro shop, and participate in yachting competitions and other club events. This facility may sound similar to one you operate, but it’s truly one of a kind. Holly Kai is the first club and golf course to exist only in the three-dimensional, online digital world of Second Life (www.secondlife.com ).

Second Life, created by Linden Lab in 2003, now has over two million members representing “a tech-savvy user base with an average age of 32,” according to USA Today. That’s an attractive but hard-to-reach demographic, so more and more real-world entities have set up virtual businesses on the site, including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which recently held a virtual launch party to promote its new Aloft hotel chain.
While real people won’t be able to stay in an Aloft hotel until sometime in 2008, a virtual rendition is already open on the site.

While basic membership is free, a premium Second Life account starts at $9.95 a month. That allows the user to own land where new developments can be built and operated. So even in this virtual world, club and resort competition for the Holly Kai is likely to heat up soon, too.