A recreation business combining simulator golf with a full bar and limited-service kitchen plans to open its first Wisconsin location, in Brookfield, by early September.

X-Golf will feature seven simulators, with courses such as Pebble Beach, Doral and Hazeltine, in 6,000 square feet of space at 12565 W. Feerick St., just south of Capitol Drive.

The operation, a franchise of a California-based chain, will seek to capitalize on growing interest in simulator golf.

The Milwaukee area already has a few golf simulation venues, with more on the way. And taverns here have ventured beyond pool and darts to embrace such forms of recreation as ax throwing, ping pong, mini golf, board games and Jenga.

Such amusements are particularly important in attracting members of the huge millennial generation, said Darren Tristano, CEO and founder of Foodservice Results and a longtime analyst of the hospitality scene.

“You’ve got to have something to get them out to the restaurant or bar … and it has to be social because that’s what this generation enjoys,” Tristano said.

X-Golf franchises — which cost $437,000 to $900,000 to open — are required to hold a license to sell drinks, and part of the idea is to attract casual golfers more interested in partying than in sharpening their short game.

X Golf America Inc., based in Carson, California, is an offshoot of a South Korean company that makes golf simulators. Virtual golf, or “screen golf,” is highly popular in Korea.

In a simulator bay, golfers hit balls into a soft screen depicting the course. As they swing, lasers, high speed cameras and other sensors measure club head speed, ball direction, distance and other factors that determine whether a shot lands in mid fairway or in deep rough.

There are 11 X-Golf locations in the U.S., with the company saying it will double that number this year. The owners of the Brookfield franchise, Shawn DeMain and Luke Larson, are looking at additional sites in the northern Milwaukee suburbs and in the Fox Valley, DeMain said.

“We want to expand actually to three (locations) as quickly as we can,” he said.

Simulators at X-Golf will cost $35 an hour on weekdays and $55 an hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It takes about an hour for one person to play 18 holes. Up to six people can use a simulator at the same time, and groups such as bachelor parties and corporate outings are target markets, along with league play.

One of the simulators at the Brookfield X-Golf will be for instruction, with a teaching pro on-site full time, DeMain said.

There are at least three other simulated golf businesses in the area — Fore Milwaukee, 530 N. Water St.; the Wisconsin Indoor Golf Center, 206 Travis Lane, Waukesha; and Stix Golf Bar, W164 N11271 Squire Dr., Germantown.

Meanwhile, the Potawatomi Casino said this month that it will install two simulator bays this fall.

Contact Rick Romell at (414) 224-2130 or rick.romell@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RickRomell