Groove your golf swing indoors at Greenhouse Golf in Waldwick

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

BY BRIAN A. GIUFFRA

STAFF WRITER

THE RECORD

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WALDWICK – As dozens of young kids hit golf balls into the PGA Tour simulators in front of him, and their instructors stepped in to give them tips and tweak their swings, Rich DiMartino stood in the background smiling.

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George Cultraro, left, hitting a shot while using a simulator as his friend Kyle Roberts looks on at Greenhouse Golf.

His vision has come to life. His desire to create an indoor golf teaching facility is now a reality. And as the afternoon campers on this day enjoyed the finished product, DiMartino couldn’t help but think he’s helped create something special at Greenhouse Golf.
"What we tried to do was make a facility that was built by golfers for golfers," said DiMartino, the co-owner and general manager of the facility. "This is nothing like any other simulator facility in the nation because it’s not just about the simulators. It’s a training center where children and adults can come and learn the game or improve their game."
Greenhouse Golf, located on Hopper Avenue, is certainly a golfers paradise.
They have 10 PGA Tour simulators, a 575-square foot putting green and an outdoor-themed, 18-hole mini golf course all inside the 21,000-square foot, two-level facility.
But what makes Greenhouse Golf unique from most other simulator facilities is its focus on professional instruction.
"Everything here is designed to help teach people how to play and improve their game," Greenhouse Golf instructor Ozzie Carlson said. "We like to say we can help anyone 4 to 84."
In addition to having three professional instructors on staff, Greenhouse Golf also has slow motion cameras used to break down a player’s swing and a balance plate simulator, which measures a player’s center of gravity as he hits the ball.
When you combine those two instruments with an instructor’s knowledge and the information the simulator provides — club head speed, ball speed, ball flight, launch angle, ball compression, etc. — you have a powerful teaching tool.
"It’s a dynamic way to learn," Carlson said. "It’s exciting to me as a teacher to see how fast people can improve here."
Two players who can attest to that are Franklin Lakes resident Jay Iturralde and Woodcliff Lake’s Jared Mactas.
Iturralde, a 14 handicap, has taken a handful of lessons with professional instructor and former college All-American Cory Stelick and already has noticed a difference in his game.
"It’s amazing how quick you can see what you’re doing wrong with your swing when you work with an instructor in a simulator," Iturralde said.
Mactas, meanwhile, is a rising senior at Pascack Hills and a scratch golfer. He has been working with Carlson for four years but has learned even more about his swing since working on the balance plate simulator.
"It’s given me more of an edge on how to get better," Mactas said. "The foot sensors tell you how your weight distribution is divided on each foot and that’s helped my game because I’ve learned new kinds of angles that I come in at. It’s definitely helped me become a more consistent golfer."
Greenhouse Golf is still in the process of building a café on the first floor, installing Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the facility, bringing in more TV’s and staying true to its name, building a solar-paneled parking lot before its official grand opening in September. But as the grade school kids on this day could attest, it’s already open for business and ready to help golfers improve their game.
"We make people better golfers here because of the delivery of feedback from the simulators and the world-class instruction," DiMartino said. "I don’t think anyone else can say that."
They don’t have to. The results speak for themselves.