Middletown, RI Outdoor Activities

BoldrDash adds variety to the traditional 5K run, peppering their courses with more than two-dozen obstacles. But they don't want participants running between a few sparse obstacles, they want them climbing, swinging, sliding, and swimming all the way to the finish line. They even offer boot-camp training classes to prepare runners for the event. More important than providing a solid workout, Bold r Dash's events donate proceeds to local charities, schools, and community organizations.

Staffed by experienced coaches and computers who’ve sworn allegiance to the three laws of golfing robotics, GolfTEC’s motion sensors and high-speed cameras monitor swings and break down each individual’s form on a high-definition video display to get results. Sensors chirp with approval whenever they detect the perfect stroke or an especially witty golfing joke. GolfTEC’s certified personal coaches will point out flaws and strengths while providing golfers with tips on how to permanently improve their game from tee to green through a detailed, diagnostic gameplan.

With a sea of bent-grass greens, picturesque ponds, and strategically placed hazards, Rose Hill provides championship-level challenges for all skill levels, from putting pilgrims to golfing veterans. The professionally designed par 3 golf course features 1,250 yards of well-manicured bent-grass greens, providing a true roll unparalleled by the lesser establishments blanketed by blowing tumbleweeds and mischievous moles.

At Mulligan's Island Golf & Entertainment, 60 covered hitting stalls look out onto 11 acres of target areas, a sprawling configuration that helped earn the facility a spot on Golf Range Magazine's 2011 list of top 100 ranges. Golfers can use the driving range's 20 heated stalls to practice during off-season months without worrying about cooler temperatures stiffening their swings, or they can invest in lessons that use digital teaching methods such as computerized swing analysis to lower handicaps. A USGA-rated course tests participants with nine holes of regulation-size golf, while an 18-hole pitch-and-putt short course and two mini-golf courses help golfers calibrate aspects of their short game. The practice mecca also tests swings at 10 batting cages that feed baseballs and softballs at adjustable speeds to suit both little leaguers and professionals fishing for compliments.

The course at Touisset Country Club covers a verdant patch of repurposed farmland that still bears many of its original, naturally occurring hazards. In 1959, the then-amateur designers, Raymond Brigham and Richard Weller, built the course by hand. In doing so, they chose to leave the existing boulders in place rather than using them as paperweights for to-scale U.S. maps. And today, more than half a century later, the course balances such rugged features with well-maintained, penncross grass greens.

Course at a Glance:

• Nine-hole, par 35 course
• Total length of 3,024 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 69.1 from the back tees
• Course slope of 111 from the back tees
• Two sets of tees per hole

Segway of Newport makes the world smaller by equipping customers with wheeled transports ideal for exploring Newport’s beauteous scenery. Crowned by TripAdvisor voters as the town's best tour company, Segway of Newport offers regular guided group tours atop Segways, Ultra Motor electric bicycles, and Dahon folding bikes. After a brief training session, patrons masterfully steer Segways toward Thames Street and onto scenic 10-mile Ocean Drive. Here, they coast past Newport Country Club and Gooseberry Beach before peering over the Cliff Walk's jagged edges and pondering whether the ocean is bouncy. Ultra Motor electric bikes reach speeds up to 20 miles per hour, driven by feet or their own enchanted power, whereas 7-speed cruisers or 21-speed mountain bikes allow riders to set a pace of their choosing.