Golf in Ajax

LakeShore Links Indoor Golf’s sleek, 8,000-square-foot facility helps golf swings avoid offseason rust with nine golf simulators and a duo of instructors that hold lessons year-round. Within the simulators, wall-sized, high-definition screens capture every blade of grass at 23 legendary courses, including Bay Hill and Pinehurst, and built-in video-swing-analysis cameras allow players to scrutinize their techniques, introducing them to a digital doppelgänger soon to be their inferior. Virtual rounds even grant stick-flickers the freedom to take a mulligan with the mere touch of a button, which instantly lets them replay their previous shot. LakeShore’s resident aces help groom games with everything from private lessons to junior development programs, and golf-simulator league play helps participants sharpen their competitive edge all year round. As golfers play through a circuit of fairway facsimiles, the club curbs appetites with a menu of very real light fare.

Spread across 270 historic acres, Knollwood Golf Course is a challenging 36-hole facility comprised of the Old Course set right alongside the New Course—both designed by well-regarded course superintendent Jack Harris in 1970 and 1990, respectively. Players can opt for a round on the Old Course or the New Course links and enjoy hole designs that embrace the natural Ancaster topography. Elevated tees and long, perplexing par 5 holes with ominous names such as Buried Treasure and Redemption lead to finely timed fairways that open up into stirring panoramas. The New Course entices advanced club swingers, and the Old Course's more accessible series of par 4 holes with large, accommodating greens is appealing for beginners.

Knollwood players don clean-cut golf attire and enjoy a golfer's paradise that has been open to the public since 1970 and keeps players happy with sprightly paced 10-minute tee times, on-site restaurants and beverage carts, and a "no-argue" rain cheque policy. The facility's proud groundskeepers maintain large, naturalized areas on the course intended to encourage the wildlife to thrive and occasionally join in on a game.

Golfers of all skill levels can enhance skills and lower scores at The Golf Lab, where high-end technology scrutinizes swing mechanics and pinpoints areas for improvement. During video swing-analysis sessions, one of Golf Lab's head teaching pros diagnoses swing maladies and breaks down each shot in slow motion video so pupils can better understand corrective advice and contemplate the fleeting nature of real-time. Swing-tracking technology boils the pendulous artistry of each drive to a quantifiable science, so instructors draw from precise, empirical data to support their conclusions on how players can avoid score-mangling slices, snap-hooks, and shanks.

Aspiring aces can augment knowledge gleaned from each lesson during mat time at The Golf Lab's indoor hitting bays, where premium range balls willfully make themselves casualties in the creation of crucial muscle memory. Each mat boasts radar swing-analysis technology and instant video playback, allowing players to correct swings based on observation rather than the outmoded strategy of using 9-irons as swords and duelling opponents.

Forty-five hitting bays span the length of Markham Golf Dome’s indoor driving range, allowing players to groom golf games year-round. The six-storey dome covers 53,000 square feet, which could easily serve as a modern sports stadium or a blimp's favorite napping spot. Alternatively, the facility also hosts an outdoor driving range with 60 hitting bays, target greens, and chipping greens to help players hone long-range and short-game techniques. Each of Markham Golf Dome’s instructors has accrued more than 10 years of experience in helping players drive, pitch, and scissor-kick balls with the precision and consistency needed to achieve tee-to-green success.

The rippling waters of the West Humber River wend their way through the nine-hole, par 35 course at Riverstone Golf & Country Club. The river’s meandering route turns fairways into tricky doglegs, and two expansive ponds tempt dimpled orbs to slip on their swimsuits and practice swan dives. The course hosts 2,800 yards of stately trees that hug putting greens and a bevy of bunkers that summon sand wedges from their afternoon naps. After a day on the course or during the club's private and semi-private lessons, golfers can relax at the country club’s Bistro at Riverstone, where a seasonally rotating menu features casual fare such as prime-rib burgers or upscale entrees such as jalapeno- and shallot-crusted salmon. Players can sip a cold beer and watch the sun set from the patio as they plan their aging putter's upcoming retirement party.

Castlemore Golf & Country Club's semi-private 9-hole course challenges golfers with a triple threat of tight fairways, small greens, and numerous water hazards. As obstacles abound, players are forced into nerve-racking shot situations, forcing them to make deft club selections or play conservatively by putting through the entire course. Four par 3s and a lack of par 5s make scoring the par of 32 a possibility for scratch golfers, though three sets of tees per hole ensure enjoyment for players of all abilities. After the round, clubbers can retire to the pro shop for new equipment or a shirt that hasn't just returned from swimming in the course ponds. An elegant, Carolina-inspired clubhouse also houses a restaurant and event centre that seats up to 200 guests and features a terrace that overlooks the 18th green.

Course at a Glance:

• 9-hole, par 32 course
• Total distance of 2,253 yards from back tees
• Three sets of tees