"The Poconos are getting a place to play golf all year, whatever the weather." That's how lehighvalleylive.com opened its Nov. 5 story on Fairways & Mulligans Golf Lounge, the new simulator spot on Route 209 in East Stroudsburg.
If you golf and live in Pocono Ranch Lands, the timing matters more than the headline. Outdoor golf around here wrapped up weeks ago. The Poconos Club gave Sunday, Oct. 18 as its last day of the 2026 season and closed the course Oct. 19. Since then, The Poconos Club's TrackMan bays have been the main indoor option, open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. Fairways & Mulligans lists its hours as 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
So the two places split a winter day between them. The Poconos Club runs a structured daytime program with a league, a membership and lessons. Fairways & Mulligans, which scheduled its grand opening for Nov. 16, is set up for the evening, with a bar, darts and posted hours that run until 10. For a household in Bushkill, the useful question is when you'll actually have time to swing a club.
The hours, side by side
| The Poconos Club | Fairways & Mulligans Golf Lounge | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 1445 Big Ridge Drive, East Stroudsburg | 4545 Milford Road, Suite 150, East Stroudsburg |
| Simulator hours | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days | 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., daily |
| Technology | Four private TrackMan bays | Simulator bays with large impact screens and real turf |
| Built around | Practice, league play, lessons, club fitting | Group play, AR darts, a 24-foot bar |
| Winter structure | League sessions and a seasonal membership | Leagues and lessons listed on its site |
The difference between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. is the whole story. If you commute or work regular hours, Big Ridge Drive mostly works on weekends. Route 209 adds weeknights. Fairways & Mulligans sits on Route 209 next to the Price Chopper, on the same road Pocono Ranch Lands residents already drive for groceries and errands.
The daytime league with no league night
The Poconos Club's daytime hours would be a bigger problem if its league ran like most leagues. It doesn't. The Winter TrackMan League runs Nov. 1, 2026 through March 6, 2027, and the club describes it this way:
"This 9-hole, handicapped simulator league has no set league night. Play the designated TrackMan course any time during the league week and email your scorecard."
A league with no fixed night suits a schedule that changes from week to week, and plenty of Pocono Ranch Lands households have one. You fit your round in whenever the bays are open that week. Here's the setup, according to The Poconos Club's league page:
- Formats: a Singles League with individual net scoring, or a Partner League played as two-person net best ball
- Round fee: $10 for members and $20 for non-members, including 1.5 hours of TrackMan bay time
- Extras: optional $5 net skins and a weekly closest-to-the-pin contest on the first par 3
- Session 1: Nov. 1 to Jan. 2
- Session 2: Jan. 3 to March 6
- Sign-up: call the Pro Shop at 570-223-8099
Session 1 has already been running for close to three weeks by Nov. 19. If you're starting now, Session 2 on Jan. 3 is the clean entry point. That gives you about six weeks to get used to the bays first.
What the $1,000 winter membership covers from here
The 2026/2027 Winter Golf & Simulator Membership costs $1,000 and runs Oct. 1 through March 31. Benefits include one free 60-minute TrackMan practice session per day, 20% off apparel, 20% off food and beverage excluding alcohol, discounted simulator league fees, priority tee times during eligible outdoor golf periods and access to member-only simulator events. TrackMan sessions depend on availability and have to be reserved in advance.
The calendar matters here. The membership has run since Oct. 1, so if you buy on Nov. 19, you get the 133 days from then through March 31. That's a little over four months of a daily practice hour, and every one of those hours falls between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The league fee works the same way. The member rate is half the non-member rate, so you save $10 a round, and a weekly league player saves more as the weeks add up. Most people won't buy the membership just for that savings. It fits someone who plans to practice several days a week and can be on Big Ridge Drive during daylight. Retirees, remote workers and people with flexible schedules fit that profile better than someone who works a 9-to-5 in New Jersey.
The club also offers new students a free 30-minute intro lesson in its TrackMan simulators. Its team includes PGA professionals, among them a certified Callaway club fitter and a certified TaylorMade club fitter. If your clubs or your swing need work over the winter, that lesson is the cheapest way to get started.
After 7 p.m., on Route 209
Fairways & Mulligans set its free grand opening for Monday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m. to noon, with the ribbon cutting at 11:30, according to the Pocono Chamber of Commerce event listing.
Lehighvalleylive.com reported that the Chamber listing calls it an upscale indoor golf and dart simulator lounge "with the feel of a Manhattan bourbon bar." The same story said the three owners are avid golfers who want a place where men and women of any skill level can play, friends and families can get together, and businesses and social groups can hold events in any season.
Here's what the 8,050-square-foot room offers:
- Simulator bays with large impact screens, real turf, lounge seating and table service. The lounge says its course library has 2,750 virtual courses.
- Two augmented-reality darts lanes imported from the United Kingdom, with projected targets, automatic scoring and instant replays. You don't need any darts experience.
- A free putting green in the middle of the lounge.
- A 24-foot bar serving craft cocktails, beer and shareable plates, which staff can bring to your bay.
That list explains how Fairways & Mulligans differs from Big Ridge Drive. The darts lanes and the putting green give the person who doesn't golf something to do. Its own site has a "Just Eat & Drink" option, described as a night at the bar with "no clubs required." If one person in your group golfs and the other two don't, everyone still has something to do there.
The posted menu keeps the food in pub territory. A cheeseburger platter is $15.99, wings are $9.99 or $15.99, a munchie platter is $22, and cocktails run $13 to $16. Its site also lists birthday parties, bachelor and bachelorette outings, corporate events and full buyouts handled by an event coordinator, plus golf leagues, lessons and club fittings. You book bays and darts lanes through the Fairways & Mulligans booking portal.
Putting a winter week together
Since one place covers the daytime and the other covers the evening, a Pocono Ranch Lands golfer can use both without overlap. Here's one way a week could go:
- A free weekday afternoon: play your Winter TrackMan League round on Big Ridge Drive any day that league week, then email your scorecard to the pro shop. Your $10 or $20 round fee covers an hour and a half of bay time.
- A weeknight after work: head to Route 209 after the TrackMan bays close at 7. Fairways & Mulligans lists hours until 10, and the putting green and darts lanes give anyone who came along something to play.
- A Saturday with visiting family: the Fairways & Mulligans putting green costs nothing, and the darts lanes work for kids, beginners and in-laws who've never held a club.
- Early January: sign up for Session 2 of the TrackMan league, which starts Jan. 3, if you sat out the fall session.
The league's Session 2 ends March 6, and the Poconos Club membership runs through March 31.
Steve and the team at Steve Smaracko know the Route 209 corridor from Bushkill down to East Stroudsburg. If you're thinking about a Pocono Ranch Lands home where winter rounds are only a short drive away, we'll walk you through it. Explore our listings or call our office for a personal tour.
