Telford's Fair weather golfers can now tee off in style

We were invited down to take a look and sports editor/golfing hacker Russell Youll tried his hand – with mixed success.

It's bright, it's shiny and it's new. The new fitting suite at American Golf's Telford store certainly looks the part.

For those of you who watch golf on telly, think Sky Sports' shot centre, where knowledgeable experts swing their club with abandon in a virtual reality course.

The ball soars through the air and lands softly on an electronic green. The weather is always good, the wind and the rain of Britain never need stop you getting your clubs out again.

When I called into the store recently to test the new set-up and gain a few tips to hopefully set me on the path to golfing improvement, it was a dark, dank late afternoon in December. The kind of day you would be more likely to huddle in front of a warm fire than head out on to a wind-battered driving range for a lesson while rain comes at you sideways.

No, this is much more pleasant for the fair weather golfer like myself.

Resident PGA professional Dan Leeke handed me a seven iron and took a step back to check out my swing on the simulator.

Now at this point, I ought to add that it has been a fair few weeks since I last gripped a club in anger.

And boy did it show.

To be honest, the club felt foreign in my hands and a little longer than I'm used to. But a bad workman always blames his tools.

The first strike was a shank, the second went the same way. The third was shockingly topped.

There were plenty of slices in there too – which, if nothing else, reassured me that the GC2 launch monitor is accurate as that's my stock in trade out on the golf course.

Golf would be boring if you could smash it straight every time, wouldn't it?

You can't argue with the technology. Each one was measured perfectly as the ball-tracking gizmo registered the club speed, impact angle and club face direction and the results are projected on to a screen right in front of you.

This is indoor golf at its best. Or at least it would have been had I been able to connect with the damn ball properly.

"Lower your elbow," advised Dan, helpfully.

"Stop your backswing a little earlier – don't over-swing... you're throwing your body out of synch by swinging too far."

All good advice as a couple of shots fire into the screen with a pleasing thud.

Hit a good shot and watch it fly through the air on the imaginary driving range in front of you. The feeling is the same as on a golf course. The addictive nature of the game is the same. Hit one good shot and you want to hit another, and another.

Unfortunately, I couldn't string more than a couple together.

However, now I and thousands of other hackers like me have had our range of excuses cruelly taken away. Now there's no reason to let your game go to the dogs over the winter.

Tee up a session on the indoor simulator and play through the chill winter months in the warmth and comfort of an indoor net.

And if you're anything like me, you'll need the practice. FORE RIGHT!