Orland Park, IL Outdoor Activities
Recommended Outdoor Activities by Groupon Customers
Comprised of two championship-length 18-hole courses and a 9-hole executive layout, Silver Lake Country Club unfurls across rolling terrain dotted with ponds and streams. The longest of the three courses, the North Course offers relatively open fairways for those who prefer to belt the ball with their driver or tow a small aircraft behind their golf cart. At the South Course, water hazards loom on 12 holes, including the treacherous par-3 ninth hole, where tee shots must travel 236 yards and clear a pond in order to reach the green in one.
The Rolling Hills Course presents seven par-3s and two par-4s in a 1,587-yard layout that incorporates a stream that intervenes through most of the course. Before taking on the golf course of their choice, golfers can warm up swings and teach breathing exercises to nervous irons at the driving range, which offers both natural-grass and turf hitting stalls and a short-game practice area.
The Chicago White Sox have some truly dedicated fans. In 1994, the team decided to reach out to the youngsters who worshipped their footwear. They sought to provide kids with the same conditioning and training they honed their skills with, so they started a sports-training summer camp. In a mere seven years, demand for the trainers' services necessitated that the program conduct year-round sessions in all types of sports, and the Bulls/Sox Academy was born.
Taught by the trainers who spend their life making sure that the Sox and Bulls are ready to hit the field or court, Bulls/Sox Academy's lessons bring professional techniques to aspiring athletes. Baseball programs teach functional speed movements for high-speed base stealing and help kids build the upper-body strength to knock balls out of the park and through the windshield of their least favorite neighbor's minivan. The basketball course divvies up training between shooting, skills, and defensive play. The fast-pitch softball teachers—both former professional players and longtime coaches—arm students to beat back high-velocity pitches without hurting the ball's feelings.
Whisper Creek’s visionary architects, Greg Nash and Billy Casper, and Orchard Valley’s architect, Ken Kavanaugh, present two championship-style courses of verdant, undulating terrain, flecked with challenging features. Golfers traverse Whisper Creek's 240 acres of protected wildlife sanctuary in GPS-enabled golf carts that provide yardage measurements, record scores, and eliminate the need to ask tiger-head club covers for directions. During an 18-hole round (up to a $68 value with cart), clubs send dimpled orbs hurtling past imported white-sand bunkers, pristine waters, and more than 5,000 character hardwoods. Over on Orchard Valley’s 6,800-yard, par 72 grounds, manicured practice facilities conduct dress rehearsals for the course’s 18 holes (up to a $76 value with cart), which span sand traps and wetlands, including the expansive water hazard on the aptly named "All or Nothing at All" second hole.
The hallway of fluorescent doors gives off an eerie glow as the family walks by, their hands at the ready on the holsters of their Alien Laser Blasters. Suddenly, a hulking extraterrestrial creature pops out of nowhere and is immediately destroyed in a hail of lights and sounds. This otherworldly scene is a regular occurrence at Space Golf’s indoor mini golf course.
Dedicated to creating a unique experience, Space Golf illuminates its indoor lunar landscape with 18 challenging putt-putt holes alive with neon day-glo paint under showers of black light. Throughout the course, golfers nudge their iridescent balls past a synthesized landscape of posed alien life forms, flying saucers, and real aliens trying to blend in. Adding to the scenery are life-size character replicas from beloved sci-fi films such as E.T. and Star Wars beside neon yellow bricks that pave the 18-hole way for explorers. Along with mini golf, Space Golf’s Alien Arcade grants players a chance to hone their hand-eye coordination to win tickets for use at the prize stand, and chefs in the Sci Fi Café whip up pizzas, hot dogs, and hand-dipped ice-cream cones.
Odyssey Fun World's attractions aren't confined to its 45,000 square feet of indoor games and rides—they also sprawl across 11 acres in the fresh air. Inside, a ferris wheel, bumper cars, and a roller coaster host both kids and adults, and more than 250 arcade games, two go-kart tracks, and a laser-tag arena foster friendly competition. The indoor Gamers Lounge allows youngsters to practice their XBox 360 and Wii skills, while kids up to 10 years old fling themselves into ball pits, slip down slides, or dispute the physics behind make-believe-ore extraction in tunnels at the four-story Exploration Adventure play structure.
Outside, the staff keeps the Kidz Adventure Park's inflatable bounce houses and slides properly puffed. They also pretend to manicure the faux turfs of two 18-hole mini-golf courses, including one that's wheelchair accessible. Their bumper boats encourage friendly jostling, but the speedboats—limited to drivers aged 16 and older with a driver's license—are all about crossing the finish line first. As trips down the zipline peak adrenaline and appetites, Chipper's Cafe counters hunger with pizza, gyros, and desserts.
