MrFunnyWobbl:
. . . Probably wouldn't have to pay the owners much if anything at all . . .
Many have suggested it's the other way around.
The golf courses pay WGT for WGT to spend 2 weeks or so at their golf course making the 200,000 to 300,000 necessary photographs and collecting the needed GPS data. Then WGT spends an additional 6 months or more melding the photographs and the programming together so we can play 18 holes of stroke play on the newly created virtual golf course.
They did the photography they needed to make Pebble Beach an 18 hole stroke play course the first 2 weeks of May 2014, and almost 2 years later we don't yet have the back 9 of PB to paly stroke play on. play. http://www.wgt.com/members/MisterWGT/announcements/default.aspx
It is my understanding the front end process of making the photos, both on the golf course itself and from a helicopter costs about $300,000. Lord knows what the payroll costs are to then meld the images to the software. WGT is in the San Francisco Bay area where the minimum salary for a decent programmer is something like $100,000 a year - plus benefits.
We also know now that WGT isn't the cash generating cow many WGT players think it is, which is why WGT had to join forces with Top Golf recently.