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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

Have you ever wondered how far you can hit a driver on the moon? At the E Golf Center in Charlotte, N.C., you can find out.

John Maginnes won over $1 million in his PGA TOUR career. (WireImage)

The E Golf Center is a golf training facility with one single goal in mind: to help golfers learn how to make themselves better players. According to Macon Moye, president of E Golf, the center is a, "locker room where you can practice."

The 6,000 square-foot facility has four teaching bays that feature six cameras and two screens in each bay. The technology was pioneered by George Kelnhofer, founder of Accelerized Golf. The system goes way beyond traditional video. Every aspect of the golf swing is analyzed to maximize power and consistency.

Scott Lafevere is the director of instruction at the E Golf Center. He and his staff teach students how to utilize the revolutionary technology that will monitor their progress. Each lesson is downloaded onto a DVD with multiple camera angles so the student has a clear picture of his or her swing goals and comprehensive instruction on how to achieve them.

By mid-summer the E Golf website will archive all lessons in a virtual locker room. Each member will have a locker and a combination that will give them access to video files of their lessons at the click of a button. The current facility is the first of several planned throughout the country.

E Golf also features a state-of-the-art fitness facility in addition to the teaching bays. There is a golf simulator, indoor putting green and a full bar. The actual facility is only an aspect of the overall vision of the owners of E Golf.

The goal is to create an "Internet based golf club," Macon said. "The Internet is the last great opportunity for golf." There are currently 26.5 million golfers in the United States. Whether they are buying the latest training aid or standing on the range with the local golf pro, golf is a booming business.

The drawback with traditional instruction is that progress has never been quantified. The technology and instruction being used at E Golf allows players to closely monitor their progress. Everything in the golf swing can be measured with lines and angles. Using this approach, a player can literally change his or her swing with minimal traditional instruction. Lafevere says, "we are teaching people to become their own coach." There is a tangible result for every student on their investment.

Players will be able to access their instructional information and lessons on -ine at each facility. If you are a member of the Charlotte E Golf Center and happen to be in Dallas, you will be able to use that facility to access your files in the teaching bay. In addition, you will be able to reserve time at any facility through your E Golf account.

It is estimated that indoor golf instructional facilities will become a billion-dollar industry in the near future. Combining the Internet with cutting edge visual instruction should be at the forefront.

The only thing that you can't do at an E Golf facility is actually play golf. But the lounge has a country club feel. Each member enjoys country club amenities and the camaraderie of a private club. After a workout or lesson, members can relax in the lounge or tee it up at Pebble Beach on the golf simulator.

You can even shift the simulator to "lunar" mode and pound a driver 1,500 yards. The Sea of Tranquility is out of bounds, though.