Wood Dale's Top Golf stays open despite 'crazy' cold

Every time Top Golf in Wood Dale plans a special event for members to play "bowling meets darts meets golf" at the outdoor complex on Thorndale Avenue, the weather gets wacky.

Thursday, with a record low of -8 degrees set at O'Hare International Airport, was no exception.

But the game goes on at Top Golf, which stayed open despite the chill.

Cheryl Sefton, membership director, said a corporate group rented part of the space for the afternoon before members were scheduled to attend a Mardi Gras beer dinner, the special event that might have brought bad weather karma.

"Almost every member event we've planned has been on some kind of crazy day," Sefton said.

Once it was a strong thunderstorm when a rooftop event was planned. Another time it was 90-degree heat and high humidity.

But in Thursday's extreme cold, Top Golf kept its doors open in case the occasional golfer wanted to drop by to hit balls equipped with microchips toward targets on a driving range, scoring points based on how close each ball lands to a target.

"Last year, through all the cold weather we had, we did have people golfing here every day," Sefton said.

Heaters in each of the facility's 74 covered hitting bays typically keep the area warmer than the outside temperature by 20 to 30 degrees.

"On a day like today when it's subzero and all the wind chills it's probably not going to do as good," Sefton said.

The facility increases hours for its maintenance staff and decreases hours for other workers when weather drives all but the most die-hard golfers away, she said.

Top Golf staffers hope the weather will improve to about 30 degrees as predicted for Saturday, when the fifth annual Suits and Boots winter golf party and charity event is scheduled for 8 to 11 p.m. The event launched at the Wood Dale location, but now takes place at about a dozen Top Golf facilities across the country. Many of them are in Texas, where the chain was founded.

The Folds of Honor event raises money for scholarships and other assistance for the families of military members killed or disabled in service to their country.

"We are the original site that did it and we're the coldest site, too," Sefton said. "So we have the most fun with it."