Golf in Willoughby

A towering dome dedicated to golf practice looms over The Golf Dome’s multifaceted grounds, serving as the gravitational center of a facility dedicated to recreational golf and baseball practice. Inside the vaulted white roof, golfers stroke drives from one of 34 hitting bays at the indoor, two-tiered driving range, where distance-reading software flashes instant readouts of shot trajectory and the pain inflicted on each practice ball. The dome further facilitates climate-controlled clubbing with a putting and chipping area and Full Swing golf simulators, which allow golfers to play digital recreations of more than 30 of the world’s top courses.

Outside, a scenic, 20-foot waterfall draws players to the 18-hole miniature golf course, where contoured greens run between rocky outcrops, interrupted by water that comes into play on 14 holes. The din of sharply struck line drives echoes throughout the grounds, sonic evidence of the six adjacent batting cages, where players swing at high-arching softballs, baseballs hurled at up to 75 miles per hour, and tiny meteors raining from the sky.

Sling a quiver of nine-iron bows and dimpled, spherical arrows over your shoulder and hit the 18-hole New Castle Country Club Course for a game of golf (a $100 value). Designed by famed course designer A. W. Tillinghast and built in 1923, the 6,600-yard course, easily traversed by your included golf cart ($25), offers ample opportunity for both exhilarating eagles and disappointing duffs. Walter-Hagens-in-training will refuel with a boxed lunch of ham or turkey croissants with snacks and drink ($10), and rue that shank on the 14th hole at the locker room, driving range, or bag service area ($15 value for use of all three). If you care to sip on some alcoholic refreshment, those alongside other menu items are available for separate purchase. Put on your favorite tam o'shanter and hit the links at New Castle Country Club for a round of the thinking man's polo.

The Bogey Golf Tour grants golfers a chance to take to the links and compete against fellow amateurs in tournaments scheduled at some of the finest courses in the London, Windsor, Detroit, and Kitchener/Waterloo areas. At each event, scratch golfers compete in the Birdie division, 0–15 handicaps square off in the Par division, and 16+ handicappers trade pinpoint approaches and sequined divot tools in the Bogey division. The top five finishers in each division receive prize money—which can be paid out in gift certificates or cash—and the Tour also holds prize competitions for longest drive, closest to the pin, and 3-iron jousting. The Tour publishes the results from each tournament in local newspapers, and players can chart the peaks and valleys of their careers on the Tour Members list, which compiles all of their tournament results. Along with providing an outlet for amateur golfers to exercise their long-suppressed competitive side, the Tour and its sponsors have raised $74,000 for various area charities since 2003.

Sculpted into the Ohio countryside in 1928, Maplecrest Golf Club’s course spans 6,312 yards of immaculate fairways that arch over gentle hilltops for a par 71 round. The club’s intrepid greenskeepers work hard to keep the course in pristine condition, including maintaining an onsite greenhouse where they grow all the course’s plants, trees, flowers, and sand-trap rakes before incorporating them into the layout. Throughout the course, fairways tunnel through imposing tree lines, so players should consider making a preround stop at the club’s driving range or bribing the oldest oak in their neighborhood for favorable treatment from its fellow timbers.

The soft pop of clubs connecting with golf balls drifts across The Range’s three locations. From heated, covered tee areas at the Boston Heights outpost, the spheres soar across bottle-green expanses towards laser-measured targets. Valley View’s 80 hitting stations provide ample room for mobs taking a break from chasing unnatural creations of science, and a mini-golf course sharpens putting skills. The outfit replaces the entire fleet of range balls each year, so golfers rarely tee up a misshapen sphere. Lights shine from above to allow nighttime repetitions, and bunkers and practice greens enable focused work on the short game. At a pro shop, steely bouquets of clubs from Callaway and Top Flite stand in corners, overseen by trainers and staff members.

The Range's rates vary throughout the week.