LEISURE A CHAIN of hi-tech golf -driving ranges that offer food, drinks and music is coming to Australia. 
Melbourne-based cinema and theme park group Village Roadshow has struck a deal to bring the Topgolf brand down under.
Village, the owner of Gold Coast theme parks, plans to build Australia's first Topgolf facility next to Movie World.
It then expects to expand the concept across Australia.
Topgolf was created in London in 2000. It now has a head office in Texas, with 23 sites in the US and three in Britain.
It offers recreational golf games using balls containing microchips, in a setting similar to a bowling alley. Food, drinks, big screens and music add to its allure.
Village will operate Australian Topgolf centres and pay licence fees to the US company.
"It is very exciting, because while there is a superhighway into homes and devices, there is an equal superhighway to going out. People will always want to go out," Village chief executive Graham Burke said.Construction on the Gold Coast site is expected to begin in the coming months. Village Roadshow shares closed 0.2 per cent higher at $5.26.