Choosing a spot to host one of her Destination Michigan Lunch and Learn events, Executive Director Kim Corcoran decided to try Five Iron Golf, a new venue within the equally new Cambria Hotel Detroit Downtown.
Located in the historic building’s basement, Five Iron Golf occupies 34,000 square feet, with high-tech TrackMan golf simulators and access to teaching professionals, along with three bars, eight lanes of duckpin bowling, billiards, and other activities including table games.
“We have networking and education, and often feature new properties and activities that are looking to market to meeting planners in the area,” Corcoran explains. “The Cambria Hotel Detroit recently opened and we wanted to showcase the facility to our partners and meeting planners. We had a team-building theme for our event, so adding on a networking event at Five Iron Golf was a perfect way to round out our time together.”
Dawn Barth, director of sales and marketing, says Five Iron Golf is a franchise operating in many major cities. Cambria Detroit’s owners also have a smaller Five Iron Golf in Shelby Township, where they operate another Cambria. Features include a PGA store, TrackMan technology and high-speed cameras to help players improve their golf swings. Memberships are available.
“Anybody coming from work can go down, work on their swing with a trainer, and there’s even a locker room they can use before they go to work,” Barth says.
Like Corcoran, groups are discovering Five Iron Golf offers a different kind of meeting experience. “A lot of our conferences that are here for a week or so are going down there for kind of a team-building event,” Barth says. “But we also have a lot of locals coming in at 6 a.m. and working on their swing before work. … It’s definitely unique and our guests are loving it.”
Five Iron Golf is likely to be an attraction as Detroit gears up for a series of big events in coming years. Meanwhile, it’s already drawing a following with its mix of activities. Corcoran notes, “It offers a unique urban golf experience for both golfers and non-golfers alike.”
