How competitive socialising venues are transforming our nights out

From simulated golf to AR darts, meeting friends for a drink in your local is being replaced by competitive socialising - with everything designed to make the perfect social media post writes Adele Miner 

Adele Miner: This form of socialising feels less passive than sitting in a pub and speaking over a table of pints. Picture: Moya Nolan

As I swing my golf club over my shoulder only to comically miss yet another shot at launching the ball into a virtual scrap yard, my friends erupt into laughter. I haven’t had this much fun on a Wednesday night in a long time. The location is Pitch, a golf and entertainment venue on Dublin’s Dawson St where guests can practice their swing via virtual golf on a simulator screen.

It’s an unusual way to socialise for me, always the one to complain of stomach cramps so I could sit out PE. My willingness to partake takes me by surprise, and my enjoyment even more. Maybe it’s a combination of the resident DJ who is spinning tunes, the snacks brought to us by a kind waitress, and the Guinness 0.0 which has been poured perfectly at the bar, but it seems socialising in the capital has entered a new era, one where trashing your pals during a round of virtual crazy golf is par for the course.