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Hitting golf balls inside a dome is not an especially new concept to those confined to cold climates. Upstate New York is home to facilities like the Weherle Golf Dome in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, and the Markham Golf Dome north of Toronto is a popular winter hangout spot for Canadian golfers.
But the golf-mad Midwest is reportedly set to take the concept to a new level. According to WSPY News, a project called Megalodome is under development for the village of Oswego, Ill., located in the western suburbs of Chicago, just south of the town of Aurora.
The Megalodome plan features not one but four gigantic inflatable domes that will sit side-by-side. Whereas many golf domes are barely 100 yards from end to end, Megalodome's individual domes will be 300 feet wide and 900 feet long, rising as much as 115 feet high in the middle.
Each dome is large enough to house three golf holes - a short par 4 and two short to medium length par 3s. Three of the proposed domes will be set up in this way, comprising a nine-hole, par-30 executive course, while the fourth will house a driving range where players can see the full flight of shots of up to 275 yards. Developers plan to finish construction of the first of the domes by the end of this year, pending final approval and securing sufficient investment.
Judging by their website and promotional video, Megalodome's Quebec-based ownership has high hopes for the concept, calling it "The world's first REAL indoor golf experience!" Initial renderings depict a three-hole loop of holes with a desert theme. Presumably Megalodome could lean into this manmade environment scheme with the other domes - a tropical-themed one and a links-styled one, perhaps. The Montreal-based Huxham Golf Design, Inc., which has built and renovated more than two dozen Canadian courses and a handful of courses from Italy to Nigeria, has been attached to the project.
More golf course news and notes
MYRTLE BEACH-AREA COURSE REVIVAL? - Brierwood, a community in southern Brunswick County, N.C., hopes to reopen nine holes and add new facilities for residents living on and near the course, which shuttered in 2017. [LINK: Wilmington Star News/Yahoo!]
BRAND-NEW RYDER CUP HOST? - The 2035 matches could return to England for the first time since 2002, and take place at a yet-to-be-built venue at Hulton Park in Bolton, located 220 miles north of London, between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool. Because no announcement of the location of either the 2031 or 2035 matches has been made, developers must begin limited work on the site in order to keep planning permits from expiring. [LINK: Golf Business News]
NEW MICHIGAN SHORT - Harbor Shores, which held six editions of the Senior PGA Championship between 2012 and 2024, will break ground on a new 9-hole Wee Course, laid out by 2014 winner Colin Montgomerie. [LINK: The Golf Wire]
NEW ARCHITECTURE FIRM FORMS - Steve Smyers, an architect who has been active for several decades, recently joined forces with Colton Craig and Tom Coyne, who formed their own design group in 2022. [LINK: Golf Course Industry]
GOLF COURSE AS PIGGY-BANK? - The Village of Howard, Wis., will move more than $220,000 from the coffers of its nine-hole Village Green Golf Course in order to make up for revenue shortfalls from a $17.5-million concert venue that lost money for the second straight year in 2024. [LINK: Green Bay Press Gazette]
