Golf in Wooster

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.

Originally sculpted into the landscape in 1958, Green Hills Golf Course winds through 5,933 yards of smoothly rolling terrain bordered by clusters of mature arbors. To compensate for its relatively short length, the 18-hole course catches clubbers off-guard with strategically placed ponds, subtle slopes, and self-destructing yardage markers. Each round takes spiky-shoed golfers gliding around tranquil ponds and past rippling creeks, which add to the course’s shot-impeding obstacles. A nine-hole par 3 executive course stretches out alongside the full-length monolith, beckoning to greenhorns, youngsters, and experienced pin-hunters still seeking their first hole-in-one. A driving range, practice green, and full regimen of golf clinics nurse withering swings back to life, while the onsite restaurant fuels muscles and carnivorous golf carts with all-beef hot dogs and other savory grill fare.

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.

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 course at High Lands Golf Club challenges visitors with 6,599 yards of tight lies, concealed obstacles, and fairway trees extending their unlucky limbs into players’ sightlines. Tree-lined fairways and immaculate greens yield some scenic vistas for players bashing orbs along the course’s serpentine length. The signature third hole starts players off from an elevated tee shot that must stay out of the out-of-bounds area on the left, but not drift too far right, where clearing the wooded ravine on the second shot would become impossible. The next shot onto the elevated green is made difficult by the black walnut tree guarding the green, making for an altogether difficult run at par. Toward the end of the round, players must face a gauntlet of obstacles on holes 16, 17, and 18 before heading in for the day. Named the “Bermuda Triangle” for the architect’s tendency to incorporate treacherous waterways and affinity for Bermuda shorts, hole 16 challenges golfers with difficult lies, slippery putts, and water hazards that loom large.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Four sets of tees per hole
• Total length of 6,599 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 71.6 from the back tees
• Course slope of 130 from the back tees

A PGA member since 1986, Chuck Mayhew employs a fundamentals-first teaching methodology, thoroughly familiarizing students with the basics of swing mechanics before moving on to more complicated tweaks. Though certain golf tenets are universal, Mayhew knows that any single teaching method won't work for every player. Some are visual learners, some learn by repetition, and still others can only learn when a cast of singing hand puppets teaches them. Private lessons begin with an assessment of each player's current ball positioning, alignment, and swing posture—key components that must be corrected before beginning any backswing. Mayhew conducts lessons at Four Seasons Golf & Fitness Center, a full-service indoor golf-instruction facility that can stay open despite rain or bunker sandstorms.