Golf in Peru

Who said golf was a rich man's game? We didn't. It was a filthy, lying cyber-bully. You know which one we're talking about, the one with perfectly quaffed hair, a button-less future shirt, and a smug grin taunting you—almost daring you—to challenge him to an enunciation contest (he has never lost). But don't be intimidated by the way his eyes twinkle under the Canadian moonlight or how he stands on water as if he were Moses, he's incredibly self-conscious of his inability to inflect.

Today's Groupon gets you and a golf buddy 18 holes on the difficult Tamarack Golf Course in Naperville for only $50. Each Groupon is good for two people to play an 18-hole round together, so get a pair and a foursome together to hit the lynx for the price of a 2.6-some (meaning it's up to a 62% discount—weekday rounds are $55, weekends are $65). Golf with friends is the best kind of bonding; there's nothing like being out in the open air, hearing the wind blow through the beautiful old trees lining Tamarack's well-groomed fairways, and refusing to grant your compadres mulligans. The satisfaction of a well-played hole is amplified by one's sadistic enjoyment of your partner's three-shot adventure in the woodsy rough.

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 Joliet Park District sprawls across more than 1,000 acres, engaging visitors with everything from sports to nature. Guests can wander through the foliaged paths of the Pilcher Park Nature Center and the organic community garden, or treat their senses to the floral colors and aromas that fill the bird-haven greenhouse. The 10,000-seat Joliet Memorial Stadium hosts high-school and college sporting events, while a dozen athletic fields fill with recreational players hitting baseballs, catching softballs, and spiking soccer balls when the referee isn't looking. During the summer, inner tubes transport patrons down Joliet Splash Station's high-speed water slides and 865-foot lazy river, and the glittery strands of Fourth of July fireworks color the skies above the stadium.

The course at Bliss Creek Golf Club invites golfers to conquer its 5,436 yards of tree-lined fairways and greens buttressed by menacing water hazards and bunkers. After limbering up at the driving range or practice putting green, players send drives streaking down the first-hole fairway as cocktail-sipping onlookers casually applaud from the grill deck that overlooks the verdant alleyway. Rounds of 18 typically clock in at less than four hours, leaving players plenty of daylight for cooling off in water hazards or borrowing bunker sand for pleasant dreams that bring back the mashie niblick club.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 70 course
• Length of 5,632 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 67.0 from the farthest tees
• Slope of 115 from the farthest tees

Slice-prone swings and inconsistent putting strokes meet their demise at Green Valley Golf Range, where guests crush golf balls at an 80-station driving range and sends putts through a tricky mini-golf course. The range boasts towering lights and 20 covered, heated hitting stalls to furnish practice at night, during inclement weather, and through the eternal ice age of the future. The practice facility—which also encompasses a putting green, chipping area, and sand trap—replaces its golf balls every year, ensuring quality equipment for players' enjoyment.

A lighthouse, a pint-sized car, and other old-fashioned obstacles await players at the mini-golf course, a circuit best conquered with laser-like focus attained with the help of Green Valley's complimentary coffee. Clubbers can replenish energy stores sapped after a long day of practice or bench-pressing their driver with a soft-serve ice-cream cone, a slice of Rosati's pizza, or a hot dog, all of which are sold in the Green Valley Ice Cream Shoppe.