Ontario, Canada Recollections

Tee Off Time Driving Range (2268 Front Rd. N., Amherstburg, Ontario)

amherstburg | business | demolished | golf | river canard

Recollections (1990s, Early 2000s)

During the 1990s and early 2000s, I remember occasionally going to the “Tee Off Time Driving Range” golf driving range that was located at 2268 Front Rd. N. (County Rd. 20) (Highway 18), on the west side of the road, about half a kilometre south of Malden Rd. (County Rd. 3), in the River Canard area.

It was accessed via a gravel driveway that headed west from the road through an open grass lawn to a gravel parking lot that was roughly rectangular in shape.

To the west of the parking lot there was an enclosed baseball batting cage structure made of metal poles and chain-link fencing. I think it was partially separated on the inside so that two batters could use it at once, with there being two automatic pitching machines at the north end that pitched to the south. Batters would enter the cage through doors in the south wall, and hit toward the north. I recall using this maybe a couple of times.

There was a rectangular, one-storey, gable-roofed, shed-like building near the southwest corner of the parking lot.

The north one-third or so of the inside of the building was an open, customer-accessible room, accessed through a door in the building’s north exterior wall. It was somewhat finished inside, in a simple and practical manner, and less fancy than the similar buildings at other driving ranges in the area at the time, like Silver Tee or Tecumseh Golf.

I recall there being golf clubs and baseball equipment stored along the north wall of this area, that could be borrowed for use at the driving range or batting cage. At the south end of this room, north of an interior wall, was a customer service counter where customers would pay for the use of the facilities, get buckets of golf balls for use on the driving range, and so on. I believe that some drinks and snacks may have been offered for sale, too.

The south two-thirds or so of the building was used as a garage and storage area, if I’m not mistaken. I think there was a doorway to it through the interior wall behind the customer service counter in the north room. I don’t recall ever going into this garage area of the building, although I think there was a garage door at the south end that would sometimes be open, giving a view inside from outside the building.

The golf driving range area was to the west and southwest of the building, batting cage, and parking lot. I remember there being around twenty or so golf tee stalls located on a narrow paved pad that ran approximately north-south, and that curved slightly toward the southwest. Wooden barriers, roughly triangular in shape and painted white, separated the stalls, and could block some errant golf ball hits. Within each slot was a rubber mat covered with green artificial turf on top. The mat had holes through it that removable rubber golf tees could be inserted through. There were also trimmed grassy areas north and south of the stalls where golf balls could be hit from, as well, for a more realistic experience.

Golf balls would be driven to the west, into a large, open, grassy field area that extended out maybe 250 m or so. There were various distance markers placed throughout this area, and I believe there was at least one large circular target at the far west end of the field, which I recall being painted to look like a dart board or shooting target. I also remember there also being some golf flags scattered throughout the area that could be aimed at for practice.

The hit golf balls were collected using a tractor that pulled a special attachment that could automatically pick up golf balls from the ground. This attachment was occasionally stored to the south of the building when not in use, and it could be seen while walking to the tee stalls.

When I visited, I recall there being an older man behind the counter. I believe his last name was Meloche, although I don’t remember his first name.

I don’t recall the exact pricing of a bucket of golf balls, but I suspect it was likely somewhat more affordable than some of the other driving ranges in the area at the time.

Overall, Tee Off Time offered an informal and relaxed experience compared to other golf driving ranges, but was still quite suitable for casual golfers. I remember it being an enjoyable driving range to visit.

It ended up closing at some point, although I’m not certain when that was.

Other Information

The County of Essex “2004 Aerial” Base Map from https://maps.countyofessex.ca/ depicts the driving range as I generally remember it. The following view shows the entire 2268 Front Rd. N. lot:

2004 Aerial Photo of the Entire Lot of the Tee Off Time Driving Range, 2268 Front Rd. N. (Amherstburg, Ontario)

The golf driving range was primarily in the east (to the right, in the photograph) half or so of the lot. I’m not sure what was at the west (left, in the photograph) end. The following view from the County of Essex “2004 Aerial” Base Map primarily shows the driving range portion:

2004 Aerial Photo of the Golf Driving Range Area of the Tee Off Time Driving Range, 2268 Front Rd. N. (Amherstburg, Ontario)

This view from the County of Essex “2004 Aerial” Base Map focuses on the area surrounding the building, including the driveway, parking lot, baseball batting cage, and golf driving range tee areas:

2004 Aerial Photo of the Building Area of the Tee Off Time Driving Range, 2268 Front Rd. N. (Amherstburg, Ontario)

The County of Essex “2006 Aerial” Base Map offers a more detailed view of the area near the building, including what might be the tractor attachment used to automatically retrieve golf balls from the ground:

2006 Aerial Photo of the Building Area of the Tee Off Time Driving Range, 2268 Front Rd. N. (Amherstburg, Ontario)

Views from the County of Essex “2006 Aerial” Base Map and “2008 Aerial” Base Map suggest that the round targets placed out in the golf driving range field at various distances might have been made from larger and smaller wooden spools (perhaps industrial cable reels):

2006 and 2008 Aerial Photo of Golf Driving Range Targets at the Tee Off Time Driving Range, 2268 Front Rd. N. (Amherstburg, Ontario)

A comparison of the County of Essex “2004 Aerial” Base Map to the “2025 Aerial” Base Map imagery suggests that despite the changes to the property, some of the former driving range infrastructure still remained to some extent over a couple of decades later, including the building and traces of the paved area under the rubber golf tee mats:

2004 and 2025 Aerial Photo Comparison of the Tee Off Time Driving Range, 2268 Front Rd. N. (Amherstburg, Ontario)

Some documents within the Town of Amherstburg’s Record Repository pertain to the driving range (manual navigation is necessary; direct links do not appear to work):

  • Committee Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1990 / Planning Advisory Committee / “1990 01 08 - Planning Advisory Committee Meeting.pdf”: PDF page 2 mentions, “MR. RAYMOND MELOCHE appeared before the Committee with a proposal to develop a golf driving range on Part of Lot 39, Concession 1, on the west side of Highway #18.”, along with other details.
  • Committee Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1990 / Committee of Adjustment / 1990 04 10 - Committee of Adjustment Meeting.pdf: PDF page 7 mentions a notice of a public meeting about a zoning by-law amendment.
  • By-Laws / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1990 / By-law 2801 - ZBA 2440 - Lot 39, Concession 1.pdf: Adjusts the zoning, and includes a diagram showing a map of the property.
  • Committee Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1990 / Committee of Adjustment / 1990 07 26 - Committee of Adjustment.pdf: PDF page 4 mentions a notice about the passing of By-Law 2801.
  • Committee Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1990 / Planning Advisory Committee / 1990 11 06 - Planning Advisory Committee Meeting.pdf: PDF page 2 mentions the passing of By-law 2801.
  • Council Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1991 / Regular Council Meetings / 1991 01 14 - Regular Council Meeting.pdf: PDF page 2 mentions, “Mr. Ray Meloche and Mr. John Meloche were present to discuss their Golf Driving Range Proposal on Highway 18.”, and “future construction of such things as a batting cage”.
  • Council Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1991 / Regular Council Meetings / 1991 01 28 - Regular Council Meeting.pdf: PDF page 1 mentions, “Ray and John Meloche appeared before Council to finalize their site plan agreement for their golf driving range proposal on the west side of Highway No. 18.”, along with discussion of site plan revisions.
  • Council Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1991 / Regular Council Meetings / 1991 03 25 - Regular Council Meeting.pdf: PDF page 7 mentions the drafting of the site plan agreement.
  • Council Minutes / Pre-Amalgamation / Anderdon / 1991 / Regular Council Meetings / 1991 06 10 - Regular Council Meeting.pdf: PDF page 2 mentions, “RAY AND JOHN MELOCHE were present to finalize the terms of their site plan control agreement for the golf driving range in part lot 39 on the west side of Highway 18. They requested an increase in size for the pro-shop from 15 ft. x 30 ft. to 24 ft. x 32 ft.”

Some articles and photograph captions in The Windsor Star mention the driving range:

  • “Photographers' choice for 2000” (30 Dec 2000; G1 / FRONT):
    • “Tee Off Time driving range in River Canard”
  • “CAPTION ONLY” (22 Apr 2003; A5):
    • “Tee Off Time Driving Range in River Canard”
  • “Man burns hands in fire at driving range shed” (28 May 2004; A5):
    • “A man suffered second-degree burns to both hands trying to save equipment from a shed at an Amherstburg golf driving range Thursday morning.”
    • “... the garage structure was "fully involved" when firefighters arrived ...”
    • “The structure at [sic] was used as an office and for storing items such as a ball washer at the Tee Off Time driving range, which is located in the 2200 block of Front Road North near LaSalle.”
    • “... estimated total damages at up to $35,000.”

I’m not sure if this is the same “John Meloche” mentioned in the aforementioned Township of Anderdon documents, but there is a Windsor Star obituary for John Meloche (age 77 in 2013) that mentions visitation being held at James H. Sutton Funeral Home in Amherstburg, and him being the father of “Ray Meloche”. One of the guestbook comments mentions “River Canard”. There is also a James H. Sutton Funeral Home memorial page for Jeanne Joseph Meloche (May 8, 1936 - September 30, 2013) with the same portrait photograph as the aforementioned obituary.

Google Street View imagery from June 2012 shows the driveway, building, and “Tee Off Time Driving Range” sign still being present. The batting cage seems to have been removed.

Imagery from May 2014 shows that the sign is gone, but the driveway and building remain.

Imagery from August 2018 seems to show the property being used for a trailer rental business. The building appears to remain, although with a garage door added toward the south end of the east wall.

July 2021 imagery shows a house as having been constructed to the east of the building, which still appears to exist.

Google Street View imagery from November 2023 and June 2025 are similar. The building still appears to exist, although the east wall’s garage door has apparently been moved toward the north end of the wall.