Zack: For most college students, going to the bar is a Thursday through Saturday night thing. For The Caddy Shack, though, I don’t think that’s the best time to be there. A golf center housing four top-of-the-line simulators, they also are home to Ashland’s best beer selection, and a comfortable atmosphere that seems well suited for a casual time with friends.

Halee: What’s cool about The Caddy Shack is that it is a place that is attractive for people of all ages. The Caddy Shack caters to various types of parties from birthdays (from adults to kids), team building, company outings and for any major sporting event, such as the Super Bowl. With their 17-foot screens, they can feature the biggest sports game that night while having the others open for golf, and soon-to-be baseball.

Zack: Another cool thing about the place is how much they emphasize using local products. Those golf simulators? Manufactured in Ohio. Most of the beers on tap? Brewed in Ohio. They had an entire center display of liquor manufactured in Ohio.

Halee: The wood that makes up the bar, built in Medina, Ohio. My hometown… how crazy!

Zack: The commitment to local products was impressive. The owner came up to us and told us about how much of the food is organic as well. She said she doesn’t serve anything out of the kitchen at The Caddy Shack that she wouldn’t serve out of her home kitchen, which makes me want to eat at her home kitchen; the food was great!

Halee: The owner approached us immediately and was eager to tell us all about The Caddy Shack and their specials. Personally, I had a difficult time choosing what I wanted because they are known to have the best wings and pizza in town, but they had a great special running for a Sloppy Joe sandwich, in which the sauce was made by an Ashland resident. As I scrambled from the menu to the specials board, Zack and I settled with Margarita pizza and a large, soft-serve pretzel.

Zack: The pizza was great. A flavorful sauce with fresh mozzarella and basil, and a balsamic glaze to add that bit of extra flavor. All of this was on a perfect crust, one that was not thick, but was still soft. It was even a bit crispy somehow, it might have been magic. And the pretzel was the size of Halee’s head! It came with a cheese sauce (the pretzel, that is). Soft, salty and buttery, the pretzel was a perfect compliment to the great draft beer we were served.

Halee: I also enjoyed how light the food was. The pizza crust was the perfect crunch and the pretzel just melted in my mouth. The draft beer, on the other hand, definitely tested my taste buds. As a new 21-year-old, I’m in the “honeymoon” stage where it is so exciting to finally be able to order an alcoholic drink with my meal. Zack and I decided to do a beer sample of all eight beers that were on draft. But because Zack got the first pick of beers that sounded appealing to him, I was stuck with the hoppy beers (aka IPA beers) that made me feel closer to nature with their love-or-hate, grass and nutty taste.

Zack: I got two different Great Lakes drafts, a Conway’s Irish Ale and the Blackout Stout, both of which were fantastic. I rounded out the four-beer sampler with a Buckeye Brewing Company Redhead Irish Ale and Thirsty Dog’s Old Leghumper. With the exception of Halee’s Sierra Nevada IPA, all their draft beers were brewed in Ohio. They change out their tap beers regularly, so you never know what they will be serving when you walk in.

Halee: At The Caddy Shack, I learned that I am not an IPA beer drinker. The hoppy taste is not my type, but for those who are a fan of IPA’s I’m sure would love the Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter IPA and the Three Frog’s IPA. I wasn’t fond of the Nevada grass taste and the undefinable Three Frog’s. I also tried the Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale, which had an intriguing blend of nutty and maple flavors. In my four-beer sampler, I ended with the sweet taste of Thirsty Dog’s Raspberry beer. The bartender said that people who are a fan of raspberry iced tea enjoy this draft. That’s me! Not even kidding, it tasted like raspberry sweet tea, and it was my favorite sampler. 

Zack: So as long as you were buying food or drinks at the bar, you has access to several free arcade games, pool tables, giant Jenga and cornhole boards set up on the floor. They had two TV’s in sight of the bar as well, and, for the big sports events, The Caddy Shack will use the 17-foot projection screens to show the big games. All in all, I can’t find a drawback to heading to The Caddy Shack for a fun afternoon or a chill night watching sports.

Halee: If you’re looking for a fun place to take your boyfriend or girlfriend, friends or family, or even just looking for a fun place to hangout one night with a group of people, head to The Caddy Shack and enjoy their homemade food, beverages, simulators and games.