The Clackamas print., February 01, 2017, Page 6, Image 6

Top Golf drives the party
BY TRAVIS DAVID V WHITTAKER
G o lf is m o stly kn ow n as a h ig h class sport
aro u n d th e w o rld. M a n y p eop le ty p ica lly
p la y a n in e or 1 8 -h o le rou n d . So m e ju s t
h it b a lls at th e ran g e fo r p ractice.
B u t b ack in 200 0, two brothers th o u g h t
o f a w a y to m a k e a d r iv in g r a n g e th e life
o f a p a r ty , t h e i r g a m e w o u ld b e c o m e
overall d istan ce an d score b ased o n w h at
m in i-g a m e you are p la y in g .
Top G o lf h a s a to ta l o f e ig h t m in i-
g a m e s to p la y .
W h en you play, you pay for a bay at a p er-
hour rate. The rates go up in increm ents o f
$10, ranging from $25 to $45 depending on
k n o w n as Top G o lf.
Top G o lf exp lod ed , c reatin g to n s o f fu n
a ll acro ss th e co u n try . In th e U .S ., th e re
tim e o f the day you play. U p to six people can
play in a bay at a tim e .
are a to ta l o f 34 lo c a tio n s , m o s t n o ta b ly
in L a s V e g a s , T a m p a B a y , N a s h v il le ,
H o u s to n a n d S c o tts d a le .
s a id T a s s in . “ W e w e n t a t n i g h t , a n d
In A u gust 2016, H illsboro got th e chance
to e x p erien ce th e g a m e .
“ H ills b o r o w a s th e fir s t lo c a t io n
in t h e P a c i f i c N o r t h w e s t ,” s a id T o p
G o l f H i l l s b o r o ’ s m a r k e t in g m a n a g e r
A r ie l K e s s le r .
Top G o lf H ills b o r o is lo c a t e d a t 5505
N W H u f f m a n S t . n e a r R o h T o n k in
S ta d iu m o f f o f H ig h w a y 2 6.
“ T h e atm o sp h e re is a m ix o f g o lf an d
a w a te re d -d o w n D ave & B u ste r’ s ,” said
Jo se p h T assin , w ho goes to P o rtlan d State
U n iv e r s ity . “ It ta k e s th e d r iv in g ra n g e
in to th is c e n tu r y .”
W h e n y o u w a lk in t o t h e H ills b o r o
b u ild in g y o u c a n te ll th a t i t ’ s a p a rty .
Top G o lf h a s c lu b s th a t y o u c a n use i f
y o u d o n ’ t h a ve you r ow n . E very b a ll h a s
a s p e c ia l c h ip in sid e o f it to tr a c k y o u r
course in C la c k a m a s , d escribed it as an
a r c a d e -lik e atm o sp h e re .
L isa c fe e ls th a t Top G o lf w ill h e lp th e
gam e o f g o lf in th e lo n g run and is a super
fu n in tro d u ctio n to th e g a m e .
“ T h e s ta te o f g o lf n e e d s a litt le
T h e H ills b o r o lo c a t io n h o s t s m a n y
e v e n ts a n d le a g u e s . K id s o f a ll a g e s are
w e lc o m e to p la y . O n e o f th e u p c o m in g
e v e n t s is a k i d s ’ s p r in g b r e a k c a m p
w h ic h w ill r u n fr o m M a r . 2 7 -3 0 a n d
c o s t s $ 9 9 . -They w ill a ls o s ta r t a s o c ia l
in je c tio n an d e x c ite m e n t ,” L is a c sa id .
le a g u e in A p r il.
photos by David Avis
“ W e in itia lly se t a tim e fo r on e h o u r ,”
t h is w a s th e h ig h e s t p r ic e tie r d u e to
p o p u la r ity . T h e s y s te m is v e r y u s e r -
frien dly in term s o f offerin g m any options
to add tim e , an d m o re im p o rta n tly sp lit
it a m o n g y o u r p arty m e m b e rs. W e added
a n o th e r h a l f ho u r la te r b ecau se w e w ere
h a v in g su ch f u n .”
W ith Top G o lf becom ing m ore and m ore
popular, Kessler added that there can be some
misconceptions that come along with Top Golf.
“ A lo t o f p eo p le th in k you h ave to be
a g o lfe r in ord er to g o lf a t T o p G o lf, or
th a t i t ’ s lik e a regu lar g o lf c o u r se ,” said
K essler.
Top G o lf is strictly a driving range. There
is no g o lf course a t a n y o f th e lo c a tio n s
n a tio n w id e . E ig h ty -fiv e p e rce n t o f Top
G o lf guests are kn ow n as n o n -g o lfe rs and
40 p ercent o f th ose are w o m en , according
to th e ir w e b site .
Steve L isa c, w ho ow ns S a h -H a -L e e g o lf
Patrons enjoy their turn playing Top Golf.
“ The atmosphere is
a m ix o f g o lf
and a
watered-down
Dave & Buster’s.
It takes the
drivingrange
into this
century.”
Joseph Tassin
Top Golf opened in Hillsboro in August.
6 Clatkamä?PrintFEBRUARY 1,2017 thecläckamasprintcom