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Spring, 2005
 Content: • Staying sharp
PITTSFIELD "This," said Stanley Spencer, a retired teacher from Adams, "is Lake Woebegon." Spencer and a visitor are in the cavernous confines of the Skydome Golf Center at 75 South Church St. We are standing in one of eight "bays" at the center in which a golfer can practice his driving skills. Spencer tees up a golf ball, sets himself, and swings. The ball smacks up against a nylon net positioned about 20 feet away. Spencer grins. "See? All your shots are good, and there's never a bad lie," he said. "It’s the perfect world for a golfer." The Skydome, or "The Dome" as many people call the indoor range, was started in late 1996, said owner Chris Tremblay. Tremblay is the golf coach at Pittsfield High School, the teaching pro at the Skyline Country Club in Lanesboro and regional director of Nike Golf Camps in the Northeast. He said the Skydome, while profitable, is more of a labor of love that augments his other work as a golf pro and teacher. "I started this hoping I could break even," he related. "I do better than break even." Like many things, necessity proved to be the mother of Tremblay's invention. Tremblay, a Pittsfield resident, was a four-year member of the University of Maryland varsity golf team from 1980-84. On Christmas break, he'd come home to see the folks. And he hungered for a place to hit a few golf balls. Finally, Tremblay had it. He pulled his parents' car out of the garage, nailed up a bedsheet, and created probably the first indoor driving range in the county.
There were, as one might imagine, a few flaws. Every once in a while, Tremblay would make a bad shot, and the golf ball would miss the sheet and ricochet around the garage like a bullet. Still, the overall setup seemed to work. When Tremblay returned to the Berkshires in the mid-1990s, he began looking around for a site for an indoor range. Eventually, he entered into a rental agreement with Clock Tower Properties for 10,000 square feet of space. "There was nothing over here, which was actually perfect," said Tremblay. "It was a huge, open warehouse." Tremblay wanted to build a little more than a driving range. He installed eight bays for driving, but also laid out a five-hole putting green and a chipping and pitching area. "The only thing I don't really offer is a bunker area," he said. "But I tell my students that after a few lessons, they won’t have to worry about a bunker." In addition, the Skydome has a golf shop. For golfers like Spencer, the Skydome is a place where a golfer with spring fever can go in the dead of winter and keep his swing fresh. "It keeps you sharp," Spencer said. The Skydome is unique. According to the New England Pro Golfers' Association Web site, there are only a handful of indoor facilities in Massachusetts. It appears that possibly only one or two also offer putting or chipping areas. According to the Professional Golfers Association Web site, indoor golf ranges date back about 60 years. Renowned golf teacher Ernest Jones had some kind of indoor facility on the seventh floor of the former Spalding retail store in Manhattan in the 1940s and 1950s. Warren Orlock, a former PGA president, opened an indoor golf facility in Michigan in the 1950s. Tremblay, like both Jones and Orlock, believes that teaching golf at an indoor facility is often helpful, particularly for the beginner. "I've found that people just learning golf pick it up faster indoors," he said. "There are no distractions, no bad lies, and you don’t have to worry about the weather." Tremblay offers individual and group lessons for beginners, as well as for the more advanced player. Prices start at $30 per person for a half-hour lesson for two people. A half-hour lesson for an individual is $45. "Short game, long game, any and all parts," he advised. The indoor range is open from December through April, from 10 to 8 Tuesday through Thursday and 10 to 5 Friday through Sunday. Tremblay estimates he gets about 60 golfers on a busy day and an average of about 45 through the season. Season passes are available for individuals at $139, for couples at $239, and for junior golfers in high school or younger, $89. Or, a golfer can just buy a bucket of balls and whack away. A large bucket is $8, a small bucket $6. For putt and chip only, the cost is $5.  RETURN TO TOP |
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