By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
There aren’t many instances when you can use the long-departed Par 3 golf course in West Shreveport and world-famous Whistling Straits, home of three major championships and a Ryder Cup, in the same sentence.
But that combination is, in fact, the reason why you see a 178-foot net dominating the Bossier City skyline these days.
Chasing Aces, a golf/entertainment/semi-baseball facility/so much more, is only a few weeks from opening at its location, which once was a landfill that neighbors Margaritaville Casino. To say that it is unlike anything that this area has seen before would be a gross understatement.
And it all dates back to a combination of John Dudley’s childhood memories of playing night golf at Westwood (a.k.a. Par Three) and a golf trip he took four years ago.
“I went on a golf trip and, was really inspired about this par three course we played in Whistling Straits called The Baths,” says Dudley, who is the Chasing Aces CEO. “it was just a different vibe. There was a tiki bar and music and we went and we had a really great experience. And so on the flight back, I had a magazine and I started going through it and saw something about night golf.
“I loved Westwood; it was my childhood,” he adds. “We were right there every day. And so I thought if I could just create something that made sense like that. And I started looking into doing the entertainment driving range, the par three course and so on. Our plane coming home got diverted from Dallas and we had to get off the plane in Oklahoma City and drive back. By the time I got back out here, I had a business plan and started looking for real estate the next day.”
For a while, Chasing Aces was viewed as not much more than a construction site, but when the gigantic net was installed recently, everything really started coming together. As the opening date closes in, there is plenty of activity at the site. The building is filled with dozens of workers getting everything ready for the June 10 open.
“Getting to build something like this very unique,” says Mike Mitton, Chief of Operations. “I’ve been managing golf courses for 35 years. But I’ve never seen something that I could bring everybody to, whether you’re a great player, a tour player or someone that just has the desire. I can facilitate all that. I’ve never gotten a chance to do this before.”
What once was just a sketch on an airplane flight is now in place. There are 30 hitting bays – 15 on each level – a nine-hole par 3 golf course and an 18-hole putting course. All are synthetic turf-based but with the ability to manipulate the speed of the greens with a sand mix.
“Synthetic turf has never been used like this before,” Mitton says.
Don’t let the technology — and there’s plenty of it – fool you. “It’s also old school golf,” Mitton says. “We teach, we club fit. There’s a pro shop. We built an academy for kids who have never played before. We have a putting golf course for people to enjoy with their families. We have a par three that’s really built the same way. We have the hitting bays, where groups can get together and play games and but once again, it’s you don’t have to bring a skill level here.”
The bays will open at 11 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. The putting and 9-hole courses will open at 8 a.m.
But there’s more. A lot more. And it’s not just golf.
Would you like to see if you could hit one out of Yankee Stadium? Dig in and take a few swings at the Home Run Dugout, an indoor facility similar to the golf simulators that are popping up all over the country.
It’s only natural to wonder what the difference is in Chasing Aces and a Top Golf facility.
“Top Golf does a great job with their facility,” Mitton says. “The only thing difference is they put a chip in their golf ball for ‘target games’ (in the hitting bays). All our games are radar based. So once you hit a golf ball 10 feet in the air, you’re actually competing. It doesn’t have to end up somewhere (in a target zone). But we love what Top Golf does; we just tried to expand that.”
At Chasing Aces, there can be competition between players vs. player, bay vs. bay or even level vs. level.
“We can set up a four-man scramble on any bay here and you compete against the person next to you, or you compete against somebody at a different facility,” Dudley says. “That is inter-coordinated there’s with our technology. We believe that InRange is a superior, software technology than what Top Golf uses. Even though they’ve done a great job and they were a pioneer in the golf entertainment, things are changing. Just like as technology changes and this company’s kept up with the times.”
“What’s special about this place is that we offer so much for families to come here,” Mitton says. “But this is golf entertainment. Anybody who has a desire to understand just a little bit about golf but has never hit a golf ball before, can walk out here and we can facilitate that.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
