Whim Vibe Report: Golf Domes

Growing up in Buffalo I didn’t play a ton of golf. I played about the same amount or less as any other sport -- hockey, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, squash, etc. 

I don’t remember my first time going to the “Golf Dome” now formally called the Paddock Chevrolet Golf Dome at Brighton Park but I always remember it being an option and going occasionally to hit some balls with my dad. Golf Domes are a cool cold weather city thing. It’s satisfying and feels futuristic to be in this giant inflatable bubble hitting golf balls at full speed into its inflated walls. Sort of Truman Show but in a good way. Turns out it collapsed one time during a blizzard in 2021, the headline read “Dome down by storm”. 

There’s so much data around the golf swing and a lot of it can be fun and useful. The Dome even upgraded to have a 20+ stalls that offer all the top tracer technology. Data is fun sometimes but 9 days out of 10, I’m hitting balls in the dome just to let it spray and get the feel.

People hang out in this inflatable golf oasis and putt.

One of the best phases of my golf life in Chicago 2016-2021 revolved around meeting a guy named Rick Eggerman at the driving range at Harborside International. One summer I drove there early most Saturdays to hit balls on the range. I was hitting for a few minutes when I heard someone else start hitting balls and here’s Rick, who I walked up to and met, wearing the same beat white Jordan 13 golf, blue jeans, and a black pullover he played golf in every week when we played Wednesdays at the crack of dawn for the next several months. Rick modeled for us back in the early days of Whim in a golf dome he grew up going to South of Chicago a ways.

Big Ups to golf domes.