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10 June 2026 | BeaufortLifestyle.comCHAD TROUTMAN & ANDREA MICHELRain or Shine, It %u2019s Tee Time at Egret & IronO n a stormy Saturday evening in Beaufort Town Center, when most outdoor plans have been washed away by the rain, Egret & Iron is buzzing with life. In Bay One, a retired Marine methodically works through his iron game on a virtual Pebble Beach, the high-speed cameras capturing every nuance of his swing while he mutters appreciatively about not having to deal with %u201cJuly heat anymore.%u201d Twenty feet away in Bay Three, a mother doubles over laughing as her seven-yearold somehow manages an impossible shot on virtual putt-putt, the simulator%u2019s screen exploding with celebratory fireworks. At the bar, a group of neighbors who couldn%u2019t care less about golf nurse craft beers and catch up, simply grateful to have found somewhere welcoming to land on a night like this. This scene %u2014 diverse, multigenerational and genuinely joyful %u2014 is exactly what co-owners Chad Troutman and Andrea Michel envisioned when they opened the Lowcountry%u2019s largest indoor golf simulator facility last July. It%u2019s also, as Chad likes to say with a grin that suggests he%u2019s still somewhat amazed by it all, nothing like what they originally planned. %u201cWe never intended to open this place.%u201dWHEN %u201cSOMEDAY%u201d BECOMES TODAY That statement isn%u2019t just a conversation starter %u2014 it%u2019s the truth. When Chad and Andrea first began seriously discussing their future together, the conversation centered entirely on where to live, not what to build. Both had spent years in the demanding world of tech marketing, where they first met as colleagues in 2015 while working for a photos by PAUL NURNBERG