Coffeyville, KS Outdoor Activities

Enjoy stroke after corrective stroke on the range at Tee Town Golf Ranch, where 20 covered hitting stalls stand as the gateway to hole-in-one heaven. Slap a clubface on premium range balls and go for distance or, for increased satisfaction, aim for one of 10 target greens that patchwork the range. Once your power drive is accurate enough to knock decommissioned Soviet satellites out of the sky, finesse your short game by putting across the short-game area's 10,000-square-foot bent-grass green, chipping out from an uneven lie, or playing a game of H.O.R.S.E. with a newly acquainted practice partner. Whether it's evening or daytime, both areas are equipped with brilliant lighting as well as the celestial brilliance of the sun (not available on rainy days).

Whiling away their vacation in a Swiss Alps chalet, Joe and Beth Henretty noticed a peculiar sound: nothing. The entire town moved at a pace much slower than that of their home in the States; without a car in sight, residents simply strolled to their destinations. Inspired by this way of life, Joe and Beth imported the car-free philosophy to Tulsa in 2005, buying their own bicycle cab and christening their new business Golzern Pedicabs after the chalet in which they'd stayed. Today, the duo and their two fellow drivers shuttle riders to and from concerts or obedience-school reunions while working solely for tips—both as an accommodation to any budget and as a further homage to Switzerland's laid-back lifestyle.

For a flat fee, the business—also known as Tulsa Pedicabs—captains tours that bounce among Tulsa's local eateries, where passengers sample fare at each stop and, sometimes, carry out agendas of their own. Once, on one of Joe's tours, a man proposed, and the Henrettys honored the occasion by pedaling the couple to their hotel on their wedding day—much like the Swiss nuptial tradition of dragging cans behind a saddled yak.

The defense experts at L & L Machine Guns equip visitors with all the requisite pistol or rifle gear to shoot on the 30 pistol ranges and 300-meter rifle range. Before hitting the range, marksmen select their desired gear from a lineup of firearms, all of which can hit bull's-eyes or fill out multiple-choice surveys in a fraction of a second. As provided protection guards eyes and ears, bullets stretch their tiny metallic wings at 100-meter carbine ranges and a 360-degree training range.

In 1960, Floyd Farley and Randy Heckenkemper’s vision for the LaFortune Park Golf Course facility’s championship course came to fruition, bringing to life a picturesque design of rolling bermuda-grass fairways unfurling in front of bentgrass greens guarded by bunkers. Heckenkemper recently returned to renovate the links’ water hazards and grassy contours, which contribute to a layout that’s both unique and challenging enough to earn the title of Tulsa’s Best Golf Course from Urban Tulsa Weekly, an award that even Meryl Streep hasn’t won.

The same deciduous trees that shade the championship course’s greens also thrive at LaFortune’s 18-hole executive course, whose shorter fairways save time for postround drinks or lunch at the club’s North Dining Room. Even when the sun is vacationing in the Andromeda galaxy, golfers can still play through the par 3 layout thanks to the course’s ample lighting, which illuminates the streams that split seven fairways and demand strong carries from golfers, and the tricky bentgrass greens, most of which are hemmed by bunkers.

Before embarking on 18-hole outings or whacking balls from one of 80 hitting stations on the driving range, golfers can gear up at the golf shop. Named one of America’s 100 Best Clubfitters by Golf Digest, the shop’s team of experts includes Callaway, Titleist, and Ping specialists and a repair technician with more than two decades of experience in mending putters gnawed on by nervous caddies. To perfect their swings, players can attend lessons run by PGA teaching professionals that rely on a vector launch monitor and V1 digital coaching software to improve students’ form.

Championship Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Course rating of 73.9
• Slope rating of 124
• Total length of 6,938 yards from the back tees
• Four tee options
• See the scorecard

Executive Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 3 course
• Total length of 2,461 yards
• See the scorecard

Ornamental trees, wildflowers, and other foliage grow throughout Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Gardens, spread across 170 acres of the Osage Hills approximately 10 minutes northwest of downtown Tulsa. Visitors can follow a 1.5-mile nature trail through the Cross Timbers forest, also traipsing through a prairie and persimmon grove. Various species of butterflies flit through the forests and tall grasses beside a 7-acre lake, along with deer, the occasional turtle, and other wildlife.

When the Tulsa Talons bolted for San Antonio in 2011, the city lacked a professional indoor football team for the first time in more than a decade. That didn’t last long, however. The Oklahoma Defenders promptly filled the role in 2012, playing their inaugural season as part of the American Football League. In 2013, the team left the AFL to join the Champions Professional Indoor Football League. The move to the CPIFL was complemented by the addition of radio broadcasts of every game, letting fans listen in whenever a big tackle is made or the opposing coaches settle a tie by jousting each other atop offensive linemen. At their games, Defenders keep fans pumped up with plenty of off-the-field entertainment, including appearances from mustached mascot Billie the Regulator.