Golf in Sarnia

A 72 par bluegrass course, Rattle Run spans thousands of yards of greenery to challenge amateur and expert golfers alike. Players can master putting prowess on the 6,000-square-foot practice green, free of windmills and concrete lily pads, before challenging a plaid-panted opponent to a round of 18 holes. The natural beauty of the fairways, lined with trees, rivers, wild vegetation, and ponds, lulls clubbers into a state of relaxed serenity, increasing susceptibility to ensnarement in one of 78 bunkers or 21 water hazards. Customers also get the opportunity to navigate through the treacherous terrain aboard one of Rattle Run’s purebred canopied golf carts, easing the burden of carrying heavy bags.

When you golf at Lakeview Hills Golf Resort, you can get a distinct picture of the sport's different eras. Its two 18-hole courses share the same farmland near Lake Huron but were built 61 years apart.

The South Course, built in 1927, harkens back to the golden era of golf course design, treating golfers to a shorter layout filled with hills and a nuanced short game. The 1991 addition—the nearly 7,000-yard North Course—is built for today's longer hitters, but has four sets of tees for both shorter hitters and anyone using tree branches as clubs.

Despite its name, Lakeview Hills Golf Resort has various sporting pursuits. There are three wooden racquetball courts set near the pro shop, as well as a 16-lane bowling alley.

After a briefing and ammo check in the armory, players storm the field to fight through the fog, black lights, and pylons of the laser-tag arena during 20-minute sessions. The arcade gathers 140 different games under the same roof, ranging from basketball and big bass to skee-ball and a claw machine that dispenses love. Games dispense tickets that can be redeemed for prizes, including stuffed TV characters and games.

PGA pros Alex Macko and Alex "Breezy" Koskos propagate sound pin-hunting form from their post at Jawor's Golf Center, which fosters year-round practice with indoor and outdoor training areas. The duo can demystify the subtle mechanics of the golf swing at the center's 44-tee driving range, which features 14 covered, heated stalls that enable practice sessions during inclement weather. With clubs and apparel from brands such as Callaway, TaylorMade, and Titleist, the full-service pro shop offers equipment upgrades as well as repair services for club shafts snapped by players who mistakenly teed up a bocce ball. Two outdoor, 18-hole mini-golf courses buttress the facility, inviting players to work on their putting form as life-size cartoon characters break the tension after a missed gimme or a dispute about whether or not an abandoned shoe is an acceptable ball marker.

Vargo Golf Company’s stable of golfing properties allows club-wielders of all skills to test the tees on diverse courses while perfecting their game. The Myth Golf Club furnishes 18 holes on a championship course with spacious greens surrounded by lush woods with playful creatures that occasionally turn out to practice their polite golf clap. Myth’s younger sibling, The Little Myth Par 3 is a nine-hole affair perfect for experienced clubsmiths looking to work on their short game or short clubsmiths looking to first develop one. The hilly obstacles and generous fairways of the 18-hole Rouge Park Golf Course, founded in 1923, boasts one of the area’s most challenging holes (the famed hole 11). Groupon holders can also dream up creative mulligan excuses at the 18-hole Bruce Hills Golf Club, the 9-hole executive Hampton Golf Club, the 18-hole Rackham Golf Course, the 18-hole Chandler Park Golf Course, and the-18 hole Palmer Park Golf Course.

The 2012 golf season at Mulberry Hills Golf Club marks 50 years since architect Hank Clayton unveiled his verdant brainchild, a celebration that showcases the course’s maturation of ancient oak trees and tangled heather that now engulf the site's 188 meadowed acres. The natural habitat invites all players, from greenhorns to green-jacket holders, to take on the 18-hole excursion that covers 6,635 yards of pristine fairways, well-kempt greens, and vibrant flowers that border playable areas. As players captain their GPS–equipped 2012 Yamaha golf carts over the terrain, they encounter a gauntlet of obstacles that attempts to thwart drives, putts, and 3-iron swordfights. The par 3, 155-yard fourth hole presents a difficult forced carry over water onto a peninsula green, the most challenging of the four holes featuring shots over water. The course superintendants keep rounds moving with a pace-of-play program that ensures rounds last 4.5 hours or less, leaving plenty of daylight for sunbathing golf balls or knitting a skirt from collected divots. After the round, players can celebrate their dominance over nature at Hank's Place Bar & Grill with a menu of American fare, draft beers, and free WiFi.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Total length of 6,635 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 70.9 from the back tees
• Course slope of 122 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole
• Designed by Hank Clayton

Commandeering components of Hampton Golf Club for its sinister spookery, Dementia at Hampton lures brave souls into temptation with theatrical and interactive scares swamped in horror legends of lore. Visitors are thrust into an asylum and warned that inmates are on the loose. Sifting through smoky corridors, they encounter blade-wielding welders, spy blood-riddled axes, and dodge chainsaw-carrying clowns. Though the haunted house is more frightening than visiting the in-laws or filing one’s taxes with a blowtorch, it is recommended for ages 13 and older, allowing pre-teens and high-schoolers to seek refuge from mid-October ennui. The golf course’s prime location in a highly residential area of town near the Hampton Village Center Shopping Center offers an accessible, commercial area where late-night runs for proton packs may be satiated.