Sports in Omaha

With 23 professional tournament victories and seven holes-in-one, Mike Stolarskyj uses his expertise to help golfers improve both their technique and their enjoyment of the game. The golf guru focuses on perfecting the fundamentals of grip, stance, and posture while instructing eager hole-seekers in the ways of proper mechanics. After honing the fine points of short-game practice, Stolarskyj shores up golfers’ basic motion techniques, improving their total motion and sending scores plummeting into the murky depths to frolic with submarines. The lesson includes range balls and clubs, as necessary, and a video preserves the day’s triumphs for posterity. Transfer it onto a lucky flash drive (provided by the student) at the end of the lesson, or opt to receive a copy through email.

Fox Run Golf Club prides itself as a course that challenges boundaries. From a design perspective, it represents the two different architectural models of golf courses, at points immersing golfers in a wooded, parkland setting and, elsewhere, challenging them to display deft control over an open, links-style layout. A semiprivate club, Fox Run also eliminates the barrier between public courses and members-only clubs, inviting daily fee players and members alike to enjoy manicured grounds worthy of an exclusive club or a course covered in Persian rugs. Measuring 6,200 yards from the back tees, the layout provides four tee options from which golfers can play. On the driving range, players can calibrate their swings while aiming at 11 targets equipped with Laser Link flagsticks, which ensure that distances are accurately measured and also to make sure pins don’t run away to pursue careers as javelins. Off the course, guests can relax in The Den at Fox Run, which serves up drinks and casual grill food.

The YMCA of Greater Omaha brings people together at 10 locations with character-building programs that strengthen participants' involvement in their community. Adults can get a head start on their New Year's fitness resolutions with body sculpting, Pilates, and other tummy-toning group fitness classes, while kids can expend some energy at a drop-in child-care center that is free while parents work out. YMCA members also enjoy reduced rates on swim lessons and youth sports, as well as free senior programs. All locations except the LaFern Williams Y offer indoor pools for aquatic antics that cannot be properly enjoyed in a bathtub's limited splashing-real estate.

The doglegs and putting greens of Milt’s Golf Center's nine-hole executive course have been challenging Omaha golfers for more than 30 years. The family-owned business is run today by golf pro Mark Ordway, whose brother Mike designed the course and made the wise decision to not include lava pits. Instead, the fairways snake around a ball-snatching lake, as bunkers stand at the ready to tack extra strokes onto players’ scorecards. Before hitting the links, golfers can warm up their woods and irons at the driving range, and those interested in professional guidance can schedule lessons.

Course at a Glance:

• 9-hole, par-27 course
• Length of 1,170 yards
• Course rating of 22.0
• Slope rating of 80

Wu shu kung fu. Literally translated, it means, "the skill of stopping violence or harm." For more than 5,000 years, this ancient practice has helped people find balance, reduce stress, and enhance fitness. At Dragon Arts Kung Fu and MMA, instructors teach this martial art, which can lead to greater well-being and mental focus. Classes are designed for students ages 6 and older, and include programs for those seeking great workouts as well as those with ambitions to battle it out in the UFC. While imbuing students with agility and fists of lightning, they've also witnessed other benefits many may find surprising, such as quicker healing after injury, a better work performance, and quitting smoking.

For the past eight years, The Shadow’s Edge has been shocking its visitors with high-quality chills, jolts, and disembodied shrieks while providing a seasonal home for the area’s orphaned undead and roaming reanimated. The 2010 season includes new rooms and an updated, 8,000-square-foot floor plan, so ghost-hunters who memorized last year’s layout in an effort to scare the house’s inhabitants will be as in-the-dark as first-time guests. As you traverse the halls of the cursed abode, expect evil clowns, brain-hungry zombies, and skeletons, bitter after losing their skin in a mishap with pop rocks and an industrial vat of liquid nitrogen. All of The Shadow’s Edge creatures were created with professional special effects, so nearly all of your senses will be bombarded by the house’s fully-realized harbingers of total-body horror.

Kickboxing classes deliver a knee to the face of fat, burning up to 860 calories an hour with the high-energy striking moves of martial arts and boxing. All four limbs get in on the bag-bludgeoning action at iLoveKickboxing as each class provides a full-body workout that tones arm, leg, and tentacle muscles while tightening the body’s core and improving balance. Hitting the heavy bags won't skin your knuckles once you don the included boxing gloves, which also double as excellent spring-loaded props for re-creating Three Stooges gags. Class times and dates vary based on location. Click to check the class schedule for the Omaha location.