Why golf courses are the smartest location for a standing surf wave.
Somewhere on every golf course, there's a surf spot waiting to be added...
It's not on the fairway. It's in the pond after the 7th hole.
A standing surf wave needs a few things around it to work: water, power, and a customer base.
Most new wave projects have to build all of this from scratch, which drives up the upfront investment.
A golf resort starts somewhere completely different since it already has most of what a wave pool needs.
We'll show you how we at UNIT turn an underutilised lake into a new, highly sought after activation space without intrusive construction work.
What most golf courses come with
- Water
A lake, pond, or irrigation reservoir.
The hardest and most expensive part of any new wave project to build from scratch. - Power
Clubhouses, cart charging stations, and maintenance facilities need a power grid connection. - Sanitation
Showers, locker rooms, and restrooms are standard clubhouse features. - Access
Roads to the facility as well as parking on the property are pre-existing.
The golf course features pathways to walk the course. - F&B
The clubhouse restaurant serves members and guests every day. - Operations
Staff, membership systems, and guest management are already part of the running business.
What that means for adding a surf wave
The existing infrastructure changes the entire scope of the project as around 80 to 90% of the project has already been completed.
Instead of building a new site, the job becomes installing a surf pool into water that already exists.
Most of the civil engineering, the permitting process, and the extra cost that come with building from scratch will be reduced.
The result: a faster, cheaper, and less risky path from decision to opening day than almost any other wave location.
Think next generation
Golf courses have a built-in community including families.
Junior golf programs, family memberships, and weekend club life already bring kids and teenagers onto the property.
While parents are on the course for hours, those kids often look for something else to do (if they are not eager to swing their clubs, that is).
A standing wave isn't a competing amenity.
It's a reason for the whole family to be there at once. While one parent plays a round, the rest of the family surfs around the corner.
Surfing also helps a golf course reach a younger crowd.
The sport has grown into a global movement, with an estimated 53 million participants worldwide and a 145% growth in new young surfers.
In the U.S., junior participation in outdoor sports has been rising fast, and wave pools are a big reason surfing is now reachable for people who don't live near the ocean.
For people under 35, a wave pool is often their first real introduction to the sport.
Golf still relies on an older core membership for a large part of its steady revenue.
That's not a crisis because golf in the U.S. is seeing strong participation right now, too.
But a golf course offering something built for a younger crowd adds a new audience instead of replacing an old one.
It's a second reason to walk through the gate, and a second generation of members who grow up on the property.
Built for a golf pond: the UNIT Floating Wave
Many lakes on golf courses have far greater potential than one might think at first glance.
For example, a new tennis court would have to be built on valuable land.
The lake, however, is already part of the golf estate.
This unused space simply needs to be put to the right use to realise its full potential.
All that is needed is to install a wave-generating machine.
That's why the UNIT wave is the perfect fit!
Other wave systems require a complex substructure to be built before the actual wave machine can be installed.
UNIT works differently: it's a floating platform with the technology built inside.
Furthermore, it means the platform can be removed at any time, without leaving a trace on the property.
Thanks to UNIT’s patented proprietary technology, energy consumption is just one-third of that of competing systems, resulting in lower operating costs.
Since it works directly in the existing pond instead of a separate, sealed water circuit, it doesn't need its own filtration system either.
Once production and shipping are done, the floating wave can be installed on-site within two weeks.
The proof is there
Golf and surfing belong together, and it isn't just a theory.
Two golf locations currently under construction and two more in the planning phase show that golf and a standing wave (floating) work well on the same property.
Three Bridges will feature an 18-meter floating wave and Willow Lakes a 16-meter floating wave. Both are due to open in 2027.
Operators are starting to see golf and surfing as two sides of the same business, not competitors for the same land.
Now is your chance to take your golf course to the next level and diversify for the future.
Reach out to our sales team for further information and get exclusive access to our sales deck for golf courses.
