An early release day at Deering High School provided freshman Koz Chapanoff a chance to escape the winter doldrums and break the golf clubs out of hibernation. He was whacking a few balls into the net last Thursday afternoon at Fore Season Indoor Golf on Forest Avenue in Portland.

“I’m getting sick of winter,” he said. “I want to play golf.”

Chapanoff works at Sunset Ridge Golf Links in Westbrook during the warmer months. He said once the outdoor season begins in mid-April it’s easy to distinguish between the golfers who have played inside (or ventured south) during the preceding months and those who left the clubs in the closet all winter.

“If someone comes out the first day and they’re playing perfect, you can tell they’ve been playing all winter,” Chapanoff said.

The first few rounds of the season can be especially frustrating for those who haven’t been playing and no, Wii and Golden Tee don’t count. Chapanoff said he’s seen all sorts off excuses for springtime rust. On particular gentleman decided it was the course to blame for his elevated score.

“I’ve had a guy flip out at me and ask for a refund because he said the course wasn’t in well enough condition – he blamed the course,” Chapanoff said.

Geno Echevarria, owner of Fore Season, said business steadily picks up as the start of the outdoor season approaches. Once the outdoor season is in full swing, he closes the doors until fall. With seven full swing simulators, golfers can schedule tee times seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., to play 18 on the most well-known courses all over the world.

“Pebble Beach is the most requested,” Echevarria said. “That’s a tougher course, but it’s a lot cheaper in here than it is out there.”

And it’s a lot tougher to lose balls when you’re hitting them into a screen than when you’re dealing with the Pacific Ocean as a water hazard. But while the simulator might help preserve those new Top-Flites that Santa left, it won’t shave points off your scorecard.

Two infrared sensors set four feet apart track shots, which golfers hit off a faux grass mat. By spotting the ball’s trajectory at two different sensor points, computer software can determine speed, angle and direction. The ball is spotted again after it strikes the screen to determine what kind of spin a shot has. All these factors together determine where the shot lands on the simulator.

“If you’ve got a slice outside, you’re going to have it in here, too,” Echevarria said.

Holly Chandler said she and husband Bill Chandler took up golf last year because “it looked like something fun and we’re getting close to 50.”

The Chandlers, from Windham, said they visit Fore Season about once a week.

“We’re just trying to improve a little,” Holly said. “We’d like to start out this year a little better than we ended up last year.”

Unlike some golfers who migrate to whatever course the pros are playing regardless of the level of difficulty, the Chandlers are aware of their limits.

“We play Dorado a lot because it’s more forgiving than some of them,” Holly said. “The fairways are larger.”

Rick Heisler of Portland said he gets to Fore Season a couple times a year. Last Thursday, he was golfing a round to celebrate his birthday with brother, Mark Heisler of Gray.

Rick lined up and drained a long bogey putt at the simulated Riviera Country Club to add to his lead over his brother, leaving Mark smiling shaking his head.

“He never makes that on a real course,” Mark said.

Maybe it was just a little birthday luck, or maybe it was a sign of things to come once the outdoor courses open up. Echevarria said the indoor play does translate to improved scores outside – he’s experienced it first hand.

“This gets you ready, it gets you in the swing of things,” he said. “It keeps you loose and sharp. Last year I dropped six points off my GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network) score just in the first six weeks because I took my short game that I practiced in here outside. I was pretty deadly between 30 and 50 yards.”