Some golfers pack themselves full of the sport up to six or seven days a week in the summer to tide them over through the winter “homesick” days.
Others take the year-round concept literally and play in the dead of winter, so long as there’s no snow and it’s above zero. Fanatics and fun-lovers take it to the extreme and play with orange or blue balls on snow-covered fairways and greens in winter, mostly just for laughs or on a dare. When they finish doing that, they usually head to a Lake Michigan beach to jump into 40-degree water to get on TV.
Still, others choose a new concept, play outdoors from March to October, then play indoors from November to March.
There’s a group of about 30 Sun City golfers who have taken up this latter approach. Since everything at the senior community has a name, they could be called the “Sun City Simulators.”
(They haven’t called themselves that, at least not yet. That’s just a suggestion from this writer).
Started by Rich Ouradnik, past president of the Sun City Golf Club, and fellow club member Jim Pfotenhauer, the group has been active for more than three years. Starting in early November each fall, they form into four four-man teams, just like regular golf foursomes. They drive to Golf Nation in Palatine, one of several establishments that provides a winter-time golf experience that is, in the words of Pfotenhauer, “very realistic.”
“They have four simulators there, and we rent the entire place for two-and-a-half hours every Monday and play best-ball scramble style on the simulators,” Pfotenhauer says. “Each foursome, or team, has a simulator they play on, and we enjoy great competition among the teams. It gives us a chance to play our favorite game year-round. Or, as one of our guys puts it, ‘Keeps us swinging through the winter.’”
Most of the players are members of the Sun City Golf Club who play an average of about three to four days per week throughout the spring and summer. “On a simulator, you tee up your ball in front of a video screen that is about 20 feet in front of you,” Pfotenhauer says. “You hit your ball, and the video sensors track the ball’s flight in a very realistic manner. We have worked out a deal with the Golf Nation management so it costs each of us about $20 a week. Usually, individual golfers pay $40 an hour.”
“I regard this as both entertainment and a way to improve your game,” said Ouradnik, who organizes the sessions, recruits participants, and also recruits substitute players to fill in for regulars who are on vacation or unable to play for health reasons or schedule conflicts. “The establishment conducts golf exercises if you want to work on parts of your game,” he says. “There also is a fitness area there that we don’t use, because we have fitness areas here at Sun City.
“Some golfers don’t like this approach, but a growing number enjoy it. We have encouraged Golf Nation to build a facility closer to us in Huntley. They have expressed some interest, but nothing is definite. It’s not like being out on a course, but it’s realistic enough to keep a lot of golf enthusiasts interested throughout the winter.”
Ouradnik says he is always looking for subs and occasionally for regulars to replace participants who drop out or go to the Sun Belt for the winter. Interested persons can call Rich at 847-669-6578 for more information.
It is not known if any of these “simulators” are planning to go out on Whisper Creek this winter and play in the snow. The Sun Day has no plans to stakeout the course.
