If all goes according to plan, a pair of Quebecers will open the first completely indoor golf course in Chicago by the end of next year. CEO and the co-founder Bertrand Quentin worked as a forestry engineer before beginning work on the Megalodome seven years ago. “One of my friends brought me the idea of playing golf, golf in a dome, but it was only a small dome,” he told CTV News. “So I went to visit all the dome suppliers, and we found that some of them can build some larger domes. So that’s why we evolved with this project.” The concept is a $50 million indoor facility with four interconnected domes, featuring a nine-hole, par-30 course, complete with a practice and training facility and clubhouse. “It’s the first indoor golf course in the world,” said Quentin. “We won’t hit it into a net 75 yards in front of us. It’s 300 yards long, so it will be a real game of golf.” The plan is to open the first facility just west of Chicago by the end of 2027. Though Quentin and his partner Alain Desrochers, a fellow Lac-Beauport native, plan to build in Toronto or Montreal, they have not found the right 55-acre property to set up locally. Desrochers is a former Quebec provincial police (SQ) officer and came aboard five years ago, and was excited about the year-round golf concept. In addition, the shorter nine-hold course will attract more casual players looking to play a quick game in the winter. “You’re going to spend maybe one hour and a half, one hour and 45 minutes to play, and we can play at night until midnight,” he said. “You can put the kids in bed and go play a round of golf and come back two hours later and you’re done.” Quentin said at a recent golf show in Chicago, thousands of golfers and interested folks swung by their booth, saying they were excited to try out the course. He added that the Megalodome concept cuts down on maintenance, due to the artificial turf, trees and other aspects of the course. “If we take per acre, our project will generate 20 times more profit than a regular golf course,” he said.
