Another Nine, a Covington-based indoor golf simulator franchise, strives to make golf a year-round game.
Co-founders Ethan Grob and Brett Jewell launched Another Nine in 2024 to make golf more accessible by offering a convenient, affordable alternative to traditional courses. Through private indoor golf simulators, customers can play and practice year-round without the time commitment or weather limitations of traditional golf.
Headquartered at SparkHaus in Covington, Another Nine has expanded rapidly since its founding. The company currently operates nine locations, with 16 additional locations coming soon. It has also signed more than 85 franchise agreements across 16 states.
Grob and Jewell joined Middle Tech’s Logan Jones to discuss the origins of Another Nine and the company’s rapid growth since its founding.
“We're building something that is this living, breathing thing that goes beyond just us,” Jewell said. “There's a mission and a vision behind it with what we want to do to grow access to the game.”
Golf is a notoriously guarded sport, with etiquette and traditions shaped by more than 100 years of play. Historically, these hurdles have kept people out, as the upfront costs associated with equipment, greens fees and dress codes created socioeconomic barriers to entry.
Those barriers have started to fade with the popularization of golf content on social media and the rise of additional ways to play, such as golf simulators and social entertainment venues like Topgolf. Golf participation rose 41% from 2019 to 2025, with the total number of players reaching approximately 50 million, according to the National Golf Foundation.
The increase in golf participation has coincided with rising costs, with public fees for an 18-hole round climbing 29% over the same period.
Grob and Jewell opened their first brick-and-mortar Another Nine location in Cincinnati’s Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood in March 2024. The business hit the ground running, Jewell said, with customers showing strong interest during its first few months. Foot traffic stalled as summer began, with more players returning to outdoor courses as the weather improved.
As fall rolled around, customers began frequenting Another Nine again, signaling to Grob and Jewell that the business could fit well into the fall, winter and early spring offseason calendar for many golfers. Occupancy at the Columbia-Tusculum location tripled from October to November 2024.
Part of Another Nine’s appeal is the privacy it offers golfers. Although golf is an individual sport, players often share courses and practice areas with others, which can be intimidating for beginners and less experienced golfers. Another Nine’s private simulator suites eliminate that pressure, allowing customers to play and practice without feeling judged or watched by others.
“What if I could play without someone else watching me swing, and how much more comfortable I would feel to enjoy all the great parts of golf that you forget about when you're not playing very well and you feel like you're being judged constantly,” Grob said. “It turns out that not only does that feel much more approachable for someone new to the game or someone that hasn't been playing as much as they'd like, but even people that are super serious that are chasing scratch still would prefer to play in an environment where they get their own space.”
A core aspect of Another Nine’s business is its proprietary operating system, A9 OS, which is designed to manage its golf simulator suites remotely. The software integrates reservations, membership management, security cameras and other operational functions into a single platform.
Essentially, the operating system enables franchisees and company leadership to monitor locations, adjust reservations, manage memberships and troubleshoot technical issues without visiting a facility.
From Grob and Jewell’s perspective, the operating system allows them to streamline operations, giving customers a more consistent experience.
“I think having total control, but being able to do that from your phone, wherever you are, is a really interesting piece of technology that gives you this full operational control,” Grob said.
The company has received support from several Kentucky-based entrepreneurial development organizations, including Blue North, Northern Kentucky’s entrepreneurship hub, and Keyhorse Capital, a state-backed early-stage venture capital firm.
At its current pace of expansion, Grob and Jewell believe Another Nine could become one of the leading indoor golf destinations in the United States.
