These days, it isn’t uncommon to see just as many people in a bar huddled around a golf video game as the pool table and dart board. That video game is Golden Tee and it has become the most popular coin-operated video game in the world and a staple in bars everywhere.

If you aren’t familiar with the game, the next time you visit your favorite watering hole, listen for the sound of a hand pounding against plastic. Once you have located the origin of the noise, most likely you’ll see a gamer rearing back as if about to punch someone, but instead releasing his fury on a white trackball mounted in the game’s panel.

Mike Adams, manager of Welch Avenue Station, 207 Welch Ave., says he has quite a few regular players who come in and even has some who come in for the sole purpose of playing.

“We have some guys who come in every single night and practice it as if it were a sport,” Adams says. “Some people do consider [Golden Tee] a real sport.”

While the game’s relevance as a “real” sport can no doubt be argued, the momentum the game has picked up during the last few years cannot be disputed.

Jim Zielinski, senior game designer at Incredible Technologies and co-creator of the game, says Golden Tee has been at the top of the coin-operated video game heap for the last seven years. The company predicts the game will earn close to $350 million in 2003.

When Zielinski helped design Golden Tee in 1989, he didn’t expect it to become the phenomenon it is today.

The success hasn’t surprised him, however, because he sees his creation as the perfect activity for bar-goers.

“It works very well as a tavern game. Most tavern games like darts and pool are social games,” Zielinski explains. “They work where you play against your friends and compete against your friends.”

Ron Ries, owner of KD Distribution, 4813 W. Lincoln Way, rents games like Golden Tee to businesses across the state and also runs a retail branch of the business. Ries attributes Golden Tee’s success to the fact that the game can be fun for both beginners and masters.

“Just about anybody can play and have some fun, but the more you play, the more nuisances and things you come across,” Ries says.

While fun can be had for beginners , money can be made for Golden Tee masters. Late last year, the first ever Golden Tee world championship was held in Orlando, Fla., and Illinois-native Craig Zinzler pocketed $15,000 for some strategic virtual club-swinging. Zinzler estimates he won $65,000 in smaller tournaments last year as well.

Zielinski says it was quite a shock to see the impact of the game worldwide.

“It was really kind of cool,” Zielinski says. “It is unbelievable how far the game has stretched.”

The 32 players from around the world who qualified for the big show did so via the Internet. During the last couple years, Golden Tee machines have been equipped with the technology to let players test their skills nationally — online. Several Ames bars, including Mickey’s, 109 Welch Ave.; Thumbs, 2816 West St.; Paddy’s, 124 Welch Ave.; and People’s Bar & Grill, 2430 Lincoln Way, are equipped with a version capable of online play.

In order to have access to the Internet with Golden Tee, you must rent through a distributor, like Ries at KD. Steve Soesbe, owner of Tradewinds, 115 Fifth St., owns his own machine and doesn’t have access to the bonuses available online. Soesbe says he has a dedicated group of customers who play the game, but insists it doesn’t change enough from year to year to keep up the interest level.

“I updated from the 1999 to the 2001 version and it costs almost $1,600 and it wasn’t better, just different,” Soesbe says. “The guys that are drinking in here today have been drinking here for the last 10 years and have been playing the same courses for quite a while.”

Nonetheless, Soesbe admits he enjoys the game and sees the attraction people have with it.

He just wishes it could help him with his sub-par skills on the real greens.

“Many of us would give anything to shoot as well on the real golf course as we do on Golden Tee,” he says with a laugh.