The weather is always perfect at Rockford Golf 365

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

ROCKFORD — You win some … you lose some.

When Rockford lost its prized 9-hole golf course in late 2011, many of its residents didn’t take losing too well.

The 44-year-old course was the pride of the area, especially after it got tabbed as the best 9-hole course in Iowa back in 1997.

Soon after, Rockford High School boys golf team won its only state championship in 2000 — if that had any bearing on it.

But the continued absence of a golf course in Rockford prompted the formation of several in-town courses last December.

Did we say several … or did we say more than 60?

“My husband is really into golf, and he is one of many people who wish Rockford still has a golf course,” Darci Mallo said of her husband Jake.

“So he is the one who came up with the idea.”

The idea was Rockford Golf 365, a virtual golf center located on 113 West Main that the Mallos opened within a former carry-out pizza establishment.

With a state-of-the-art TruGolf virtual golf simulator, players can play a variety of world-famous courses — 62 to be exact.

“We’ve been pretty busy all winter,” said Darci, who mentioned clients generally book tee-times by way of Rockford Golf 365’s Facebook page.

“You can play golf … drive and putt … like you would normally play,” Darci said, “but you can also set it up as a driving range … a putting green … work on your pitches.”

Though it’s virtual golf, the competition among several Rockford Golf 365’s regular clients is real. A 12-week golf league that formed almost concurrently with the business has just wrapped up with an upcoming spring league ready to start.

Now that spring is here, Darci doesn’t expect to be as busy as they were earlier in the year.

“But this should still be a good place to practice when it rains or when the courses are too wet,” she said.