Golf in Vaughan

LakeShore Links Indoor Golf’s sleek, 8,000-square-foot facility helps golf swings avoid offseason rust with nine golf simulators and a duo of instructors that hold lessons year-round. Within the simulators, wall-sized, high-definition screens capture every blade of grass at 23 legendary courses, including Bay Hill and Pinehurst, and built-in video-swing-analysis cameras allow players to scrutinize their techniques, introducing them to a digital doppelgänger soon to be their inferior. Virtual rounds even grant stick-flickers the freedom to take a mulligan with the mere touch of a button, which instantly lets them replay their previous shot. LakeShore’s resident aces help groom games with everything from private lessons to junior development programs, and golf-simulator league play helps participants sharpen their competitive edge all year round. As golfers play through a circuit of fairway facsimiles, the club curbs appetites with a menu of very real light fare.

Spread across 270 historic acres, Knollwood Golf Course is a challenging 36-hole facility comprised of the Old Course set right alongside the New Course—both designed by well-regarded course superintendent Jack Harris in 1970 and 1990, respectively. Players can opt for a round on the Old Course or the New Course links and enjoy hole designs that embrace the natural Ancaster topography. Elevated tees and long, perplexing par 5 holes with ominous names such as Buried Treasure and Redemption lead to finely timed fairways that open up into stirring panoramas. The New Course entices advanced club swingers, and the Old Course's more accessible series of par 4 holes with large, accommodating greens is appealing for beginners.

Knollwood players don clean-cut golf attire and enjoy a golfer's paradise that has been open to the public since 1970 and keeps players happy with sprightly paced 10-minute tee times, on-site restaurants and beverage carts, and a "no-argue" rain cheque policy. The facility's proud groundskeepers maintain large, naturalized areas on the course intended to encourage the wildlife to thrive and occasionally join in on a game.

CyberGolf Lessons' duo of veteran instructors smoothes out swings and divulges birdie-hunting wisdom at the Markham Golf Dome. The score-shaving syndicate pairs human expertise with modern golf refinements, utilizing video swing analysis that provides golfers with a visual aid to better understand instructors' feedback and determine their sand wedge's good side. After lessons, pupils have access to a Swingview! Pro profile that stores video captures of their unique motions, allowing them to compare them with a database of PGA Tour swings and chart their progress over time. CyberGolf also doles out rental clubs free of charge for use during lessons, saving beginners the hassle of buying new clubs or inventing the self-hitting golf ball.

P.O.W.E.R. Lesson’s founder and CPGA-certified pro Dave Hartmann follows the tenets of the Power Lesson golf-training regimen to help bolster the performance of his students. A veritable Johnny Appleseed of golf, the seasoned ace travels to various sites across the greater Toronto area, spreading golf wisdom and planting divot tools that soon blossom into argyle socks. The 60-minute Power Lesson serves as the basic unit of Dave’s teaching endeavours. He focuses on one element of his pupils’ game with video analysis, and sends them home with a video that summarizes the lesson and offers tips that players can use for future reference or play on a nonstop loop whenever their 9-iron needs to be lulled to sleep.