Driving range improvements

medwayjon

medwayjon

Tour Winner
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Messages
4,594
Location
Chatham, Kent.
www.snodhurstcarsales.co.uk
My local driving range has just had a full re-vamp and is looking great.

New lighting, wider bays, new balls on way...... damn we are being spoiled.

If anyone is local it is the Chatham, Kent branch of Centregolf.

Well worth a visit for the range, excellent staff and well-stocked shop.

Just wanted to give the place a plug as the guys there are great.
 
Sounds good, but a bit too far from Shefield to pop down for a basket of balls in the evening.

The one I use in Sheffield had a refit a couple of years back and has nice bar with Sky Sports on, good toilets and a golf shop. They let you take drinks onto the range, which is nice but should be avoided by some!! Am sure there investment has paid off in terms of the use of the facility - its always busy and there are often queue's for the range.

Can't be doing with these cow shed driving ranges which exclude golf bags (do people really pinch range balls with Stolen from Ivor on them?), have no tees, worn mats, a 45 degree left to right slope and the consistency of a muddy field.
 
Can't abide most driving ranges, pjaz. As you say, they're usually muddy fields with nothing to aim at.

Luckily there's a cracker in my area where there are 5 actual greens to aim at (some over water and bunkers) and each bay has a sheet showing exact yardages to each of the 20 or so flags. Why aren't all ranges like this? A digicard gives you 10 buckets of 50 balls for £25. Good value for this area.
 
i guess you’re talking about the one near Dore golf club pjaz?

There is one in Rotherham too - Pete Cowan’s

shame they are all 30 mins from my house.

Phoenix driving range is near enough to nip in my lunch break, but not the best range in the world. id love to have one built on my doorstep - especially with the short game area like Pete Cowan’s
 
I have four ranges (that I know of) near me (I don't discount a 30 min drive occasionally).

Two are definitely barn variety, and one (at AmGolf - a couple more targets, a few more lights) heading that way. My local gets a good bunch in though who, god forbid, talk to each other.
The fourth (pretty new at directGolf) goes the other way - loads of targets (too many?), automated ball feeders but the stalls are too narrow, too crowded and too noisy.
 
I'm lucky to have three very close by in Bracknell which are accessible within 10-15 minutes by car from my house (one is only a five minute drive). They vary in quality. The one nearest me is basically a big field with a few odd marker posts to aim at. The balls are good and they have installed new Powertee mats. I only use this as this is where my teaching pro is based.

The one I use (Downshire golf course) has a number of man made greens to aim at as well as numerous yardage markers and flags. The mats are Powertec and good as are the balls.

The final one (Lavender Park) is the worst of the lot with just a basic range mat and poor quality balls.

The problem I have with all ranges is that because I wear glasses I find it very difficult in the dark to track the flight of the ball with longer clubs or if I hit mid-low irons correctly and they fly up on a high trajectory. Hence I don't practice in the evenings.

I have to be fair and say that although Royal Ascot does have a practice area for a club of its stature the facility is poor. There are only two flags to aim at or you have to pick a tree to aim for at the end of the range. They do have a well maintained chipping green though which they try and keep mown like those on the course. There is also a practice bunker but in my mind it needs some more sand.

I use this facility the most (if members can't find me in the clubhouse the pro always points them to the practice area - I'm normally there working on something). The greatest thing is I am hitting proper balls (mostsly Callaway and Titleist) so I know any flaws are down to me and not the quality of the balls. It also means I can gauge distances and flight better.

The only downside is having to go and pick them up!!!

Happy golfing
Homer
 
I can't speak highly enough of the range I go to (Began Park Golf Centre, in Cardiff)

£3.50 for 70 balls, automatic tees, plenty of target greens, nice big well-stocked shop and friendly staff.

I only realised how rubbish my old driving range in Swansea was (Gowerton Golf Range) when I moved to Cardiff, at the old one in Swansea you couldn't use your woods in some bays because you would smash them against a pillar!
 
I wish I could speak highly of my range, I would of my old one, but t.b.h. it's a bit rubbish.
I don't get it....they are pushing the lessons and the shop, and then expect folk to put up with all kinds of sh**.
The lights don't come on until it's totally dark, so folks relaxing after work can't see where the balls are going. They only have one height of tee (I take my own), if you ask for another, you'd think you were asking for a £100k over-draught. There's no selection of bucket sizes, so I just hit 45 and go home. (I'd spend a load more if you could get a double bucket for a little more, they could spare the space, as it's mostly empty). I don't dig it.
There is a great range not so far away where the folks are nice/helpful and can't do enough for you, including tees and big bumper value buckets to take the kids etc. Trouble is they weren't allowed floodlights, so when it's dark, you can't go.

Dave
 
It's an impressive range, best around here. Butch Harmon's son Claude was coaching there a few years back and I've seen Paul Lawrie in the past and more recently Andrew Oldcorn practicing there.

I tried to get my daughter a bit more interested one day by saying I'd give her £100 if she holed a shot from the mat. Well she tried her heart out but didn't succeed. Next visit I holed a wedge to one of the short flags. I never actually thought that there was a hole on the green ! Good job my daughter didn't succeed on the previous visit.

We've now changed the deal to a hot chocolate in the clubhouse!
 
There used to be a driving range in belfast near the river lagan and only 5 mins out of the centre of town backing onto a conservation area, the fence was around 240 yards so most people ran the ball or bounced into it. ne day I went with my older brother, higher handicap than myself but can also wallop a ball, both of us were sending the ball over the fence easily enough. After around 20 mins and 40 balls each we realised there was a footpath just beyond the fence which is frequented by joggers and power walkers. Im amazed noone was hurt by both ourselves and anyone else who could hit a useful driver.
 
hitting joggers is a bit harsh, but power walkers....kerching....bonus points!

No health and safety around your way then.... :)

Dave
 
Our range has no fence, the 7th green is about 350 yds away and is raised steeply about 10 ft. One day, our assistant pro went out to the range with some proper balls, and a driver, for a bet, he drove the ball straight onto the 7th green 350yds away!
 
Tell your assistant to calm down.....and lay off the red bull. Has he tried for the Open? that's quite a distance.

Dave
 
Yeah i wonder how he does it, his distance off the tee is also his weakness, as i don't think he can control it. lol, he came in one day and said, oh i played well, until the 18th tee, i hit two through the back of the green o.b.

Our 18th is a 350yard par 4 which plays downhill. :eek:
 
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