I've driven past the strip mall at 69th and Minnesota a hundred times — the kind of corner where you expect another chain sandwich shop or a nail salon. The Back Nine sits there now, and the first time I walked in, I wasn't sure what I was getting into.
It's golf — but indoors, which sounds like the saddest compromise until you're actually standing there. Simulators line the walls, each one a little bay where you can hit real balls at a screen showing Pebble Beach or St. Andrews or whatever course you're pretending you can afford to play. The tech reads your swing, tells you where the ball went, tracks everything. I'm not a golfer — I've hacked my way through Elmwood maybe twice — but even I could see the appeal.
The place has that new-business energy, where the staff still cares and the carpets don't have stains yet. It's genuinely fun in a way that surprises me. You can bring beer, apparently, which makes sense because this is less about perfecting your handicap and more about having somewhere to go when it's 14 degrees outside and you're desperate to swing a club. Or just get out of the house.
What it isn't — and I'll be honest here — is cheap. The simulator time adds up faster than you think, especially if you're not splitting it with three friends. I watched a guy check out at the counter and wince slightly at the total.
But on a February afternoon when the wind off the interstate feels like it's trying to kill you, The Back Nine makes sense. It's warm, it's dry, and you can hit a golf ball toward a fake ocean. I've seen worse ways to spend a South Dakota winter — and at 24 reviews all sitting at five stars, other people seem to agree.
— Grace
The Back Nine sits there now, and the first time I walked in, I wasn't sure what I was getting into.