Joe Vrankin has seen the development and increased interest of the Arena Football League for almost a decade. So when he saw the opportunity and potential of TopGolf, he knew it was a chance to embark on a new journey. TopGolf has been thriving in the United Kingdom since 1999 and the recently opened, year-round facility in Wood Dale is just the third in the United States. Vrankin, who lived in Downers Grove for 12 years and Lombard for about 18 months, said the goal is to open 150 facilities in the future.

TopGolf is a revolutionary interactive golf game for the whole family. Golfers hit to 11 dartboard-like greens, measuring up to 20 yards in diameter, that range in distance from 25 to 250 yards. Top Flite golf balls are imbedded with micro chips, which has the golfer’s individual information on them. They travel past a reader underground, which transmits a distance and score back to a computer screen. There are several different games golfers can choose from. But like Vrankin said, it is something that can be explained but better understood while playing in person.

I’ve seen a lot of businesses and I’ve seen a lot of opportunities over the year and I’ve almost never seen an opportunity with so much potential like I did with TopGolf. It is virtually impossible to span the spectrum and you will find no other golf experience like it. It is a product that is for the avid golfer, a novice golfer and everyone in between.

It appeals to kids, seniors and everyone in between.

My wife has never golfed. I took her there one time and she’s like, ‘This is great. I’m going to have a girls night out here.’ And my friend is a 7 handicap and loved it. That’s what the appeal is. I absolutely believe this is a positive impact on the golf industry.

What is your role?

When they opened the facility in (Washington) D.C. we said let’s make sure it works. There are three locations outside London that worked well. We ran (the D.C. location) for a year and found out it actually worked better than the locations in London, so we decided to move forward and developed the projects for Wood Dale and Dallas (which opened last month). They needed to hire a CEO to build it, grow it and run it and establish ourselves as a U.S. company. My responsibility is to grow and operate those facilities and develop it into a corporate industry. We want to develop 150 facilities.

Where could some of those be located?

Right now we could have places next in Houston, South Florida, Cincinnati, Arizona, North Carolina and potentially New York. Ideally we could probably have about three in Dallas and Chicago has the marketability that we certainly could have more than one. We are looking to add more. And it is something that could fit well in Memphis, which is not necessarily a top-25 golf location.

What makes TopGolf unique?

There is a good marketplace out there that transcends past the golfer. There is a bar and restaurant, there will be a minigolf course at Wood Dale we are planning on opening in the spring and we can do corporate outings. There is a teaching academy (PGA teaching professional Mitchell Spearman serves as director of instruction) for kids to receive group or individual lessons. We are partnered together with Salt Creek Golf Club, so people can come out and play TopGolf and then go and play nine or 18 over at Salt Creek. ... We can put things together in a way that nobody else can do.

In the spring we will open our third level rooftop hitting bays. We have designed it to market it like a Wrigley Field rooftop experience. It’s something that’s perfect for people in their 20s to late 30s where they get up there and think OK, this would be a fun place to play.

What is the biggest challenge?

It’s amazing just how much technology there is that goes into TopGolf, but how simple it is for the consumer to play. The one challenge I find is explaining TopGolf to people.

You have to see it to believe it. I thought I knew what it was, but when I first played I was like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ Almost to a person it has exceeded what they thought. The challenge is to get people to come in and try it. And once they do, I have not seen one person that has left and not enjoyed it.

Why Wood Dale?

The key to bringing it to Wood Dale was the partnership we had with the Park District. The Wood Dale Park District is the ideal model for TopGolf. We invested and developed an $8 million facility and it’s a great amenity — there’s only six in the world.

What a lot of people don’t know is it cost zero tax-payer dollars. ... We wanted to create something for the residents, now they have this $8 million facility and they don’t have to pay taxes on it. It truly was a win-win situation.