Landing a perfect golf shot

As the peak months of play for the golf season quickly give in to winter, avid golfers may wonder how they can feed their kind of green diet. Vinay Patidar, owner of Over Flyte Denver, invites locals and visitors to come experience indoor golf simulators and work on their golf game. Over Flyte offers more than indoor golf; it has interactive darts and axe throwing as other options for entertainment. Partnering with restaurant and brewery FlyteCo Tower, Over Flyte is nestled on the third floor of the 164-foot air traffic control tower of the defunct Stapleton International Airport located at 3120 Uinta Street in Denver. 

With an entrepreneurial spirit and a background in IT, Vinay noticed that there were different types of entertainment venues geared specifically to one sport. He thought, “Why pigeonhole yourself? Why not have something for everyone?” and realized an untapped market. Vinay wanted to bring a facility that embodied all those activities, but outside of downtown downtown Denver, to see if it would have mass appeal.

Originally from England, Vinay and his family have been Colorado residents for more than 27 years. His parents live in the nearby Northfield neighborhood in Stapleton, and while driving around, he and his brother, Vishan, came across the Tower property and purchased it in 2021.

Opening in July 2023, Over Flyte fits hand in glove with FlyteCo Tower.

Over Flyte has three high-end, suite-style golf bays, six axe throwing lanes and interactive darts as well ping pong tables, not to mention the 5,000 feet of event space. Each bay has a full set up that includes projector, overhead cameras, technology, and bay platforms. The bays can accommodate up to eight players at a time. Patrons are provided clubs that include high end brands like Callaway and TaylorMade – or you can bring your own clubs to use.

FlyteCo Tower is the 20,000-square-foot bar and restaurant that occupies the first and second floor of the tower and serves customers of Over Flyte. In addition to the outdoor patio, the restaurant offers wine and spirits, a full food menu and happy hour. Traditional bar food with an upscale twist, the menu is anchored by an extensive pizza menu. The two-level restaurant has a bevy of competitive games like a six-and-a-half-foot-wide Scrabble board, connect four and tic-tac-toe, along with six bowling lanes and an 18-hole mini golf course.

The joint venture began because of a friendship. Vishan is friends with Jason Slingsby, one of the pilots and co-owners of FlyteCo Tower. Vishan encouraged Jason to turn his home-brewing kit into a brewery and Jason and his partners created FlyteCo Brewing with a taproom in the Tennyson neighborhood.

When FlyteCo Brewing decided to expand their brewing business to a restaurant, Vinay found his future tenant. FlyteCo Tower had the hospitality arm and with marketing and branding in place, a partnership with Over Flyte, the entertainment arm, made sense.

Vinay, with his experience, did extensive research on the software and AI components for golf simulators. He wanted a golf simulator that had minimal delay from the player to the screen to show the most realistic ball flight. He landed on Full Swing Pro 2.0 Simulators that offer more than 80 PGA courses, as well as traditional golf simulator games and other sports like football, baseball, hockey, zombie dodgeball and more. One of the most interactive components is a betting game. The AI-generated feature recognizes individual players even when there is a group of players.

A full bar and food menu provided by FlyteCo Tower is available by scanning QR codes to bring the food and drink to you.

If straight drives and putting are not your thing, leave it to this entrepreneur to come up another way to get a great shot. Vinay’s newest business venture, Panda Coffee Bar, will be located on the main floor near the entry way to Over Flyte. Slated to open mid-January, customers will be able to mobile order and pick up traditional coffee, expresso drinks, chai tea and matcha lattes.

While the next few months may be covered in snow, Over Flyte and Flyte Co Tower offer indoor activities and dining fun for everyone. Plus, state-of-the-art golf simulators allow you to work on your swing and make golf more welcoming and less intimidating for beginners.

Check out more information at overflytedenver.com, flytecotower.com and pandacoffeehouse.com.

By ViVi Somphon