Driving ranges, has the clientele shifted?

[WirralC]

Definitely more lads just there for a bit of a laugh and young kids with a parent at mine than there used to be at mine where about half the bays are Top Tracer but I'm all for it. If 4 or 5 lads go for a laugh and a few beers and 1 of them ends up loving the game and sticking with it then that's a good thing imho. The more experienced players tend to use the none top tracer bays at my local range so no issue for me.

 

[IanM]

If folk get to see the fun of whacking a ball, they might take it further.... can't be bad at all.

 

[need_my_wedge]

I’ve been to four different ranges in the last week. Wells Green my local, St Andrews, Silvermere and the Drift. They all have either Trackman or Top Tracer and were all rammed. A mixture of people practicing and groups out for a fun time. Saw Olivia Cowan at the Drift range this morning, a right mix of people it can get boisterous at times but if a few of the youngsters convert to golfers that’s got to be a good thing. If they just want to have a bit of fun on the system, that’s alright too.

 

[Tashyboy]

I went to ramsdale a year or so ago for a lesson. It was modern, music, bar service. I was having a lesson, we changed cubicles as it was near a group of six. They were having a good time having a beer and a laugh. But I was having a lesson.They were a few bays away but they were still heard. Not the place to go if you want a practice. But if you were one of the six, it was mint.

 

[Orikoru]

I actually wish I had some mates who'd enjoy socialising at the range. Would be good to mix a bit of practice with some laughs and bounce ideas off each other. But even the mates I have who play golf don't bother practising, let alone the non-golfers.

 

[evemccc]

Nothing wrong with stating an authentic preference….and here’s mine

I don’t much like going to the range but if/when I do, I’d prefer a range without Top Tracer.
Why?
A) I don’t practice to see how far I hit my clubs (they’re range balls anyway, and I know my yardages - give or take)
B) I don’t want to pay extra for the benefit of TT tech (and when I have gone to a TT range the camera is misaligned anyway)
C) Most of all, TT ranges are much more busy than more bog-standard ranges and often filled with people I wouldn’t like to spend my free time in close proximity with

So, yes, I’d agree with the OP’s sentiment


It’s the same as choosing a pub to go to..
In all three types you can drink pints of beer, but if i had a choice I’d choose a real-ale free house over a Michelin-starred Gastropub or a Yates’ Wine Lodge (big in many towns in the late 90s) —- types of other people, atmosphere and prices!

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

There should be 2 options/price points at these ranges; with and without Trackman. (And some ranges, ie. Liss don’t have Trackman on every bay… But it costs the same regardless)

I get 2nd hand embarrassment for the long drive bros at driving ranges.

Absolutely nothing wrong with a few lads grabbing a beer and taking turns and giving each other tips. I learned a lot more doing that with mates as a teenager than I ever did out on the course.

 

[Slab]

I don’t have real experience of toptracer type ranges. I guess the tech is changing the use of the facility for some, towards the model for a ten-pin bowling alley, rather than a practice/warm-up facility

If the above is true the question is, can the two activities coexist under one roof ? So that someone working on a swing change can be alongside the pint/burger/boom the driver crew, three bays down
I guess they’d better find a way because more and more ranges will add the tech in so if they don’t work together it’ll be the swing change guy that loses out in the long run

 

[Orikoru]

I don’t have real experience of toptracer type ranges. I guess the tech is changing the use of the facility for some, towards the model for a ten-pin bowling alley, rather than a practice/warm-up facility

If the above is true the question is, can the two activities coexist under one roof ? So that someone working on a swing change can be alongside the pint/burger/boom the driver crew, three bays down
I guess they’d better find a way because more and more ranges will add the tech in so if they don’t work together it’ll be the swing change guy that loses out in the long run

This is more true of TopGolf I think, and in London some indoor places do corporate nights with long drive on the screen and stuff like that. I don't think a simple Toptracer range is quite to that extent yet. I still don't really think someone who has no interest in golf would go to a conventional Toptracer range for a night out per se.

 

[Slab]

This is more true of TopGolf I think, and in London some indoor places do corporate nights with long drive on the screen and stuff like that. I don't think a simple Toptracer range is quite to that extent yet. I still don't really think someone who has no interest in golf would go to a conventional Toptracer range for a night out per se.

So the old style ranges are adding in the tech but not quite added the pints/burgers part yet. Meaning the rest of the facilities are still a bit behind i.e its still hitting balls out of a open sided cow-shed but it has a screen now

 

[Doon frae Troon]

It also attracts groups of lads who are just hell bent on whacking it as hard as they can.

Going to be selective on my timing of attending the aforementioned driving range in future, not as peaceful as it used to be.

Reminds me of the comment by a county official about a golf course I was managing

'This place will never be any good, it is always far too busy'

 

[sunshine]

This is more true of TopGolf I think, and in London some indoor places do corporate nights with long drive on the screen and stuff like that. I don't think a simple Toptracer range is quite to that extent yet. I still don't really think someone who has no interest in golf would go to a conventional Toptracer range for a night out per se.

Based on instagram (not exactly broad research), top golf in the US is much more of an activity with beer and pizza on a night out.

I've been to places like Urban golf in London a few times for work nights out, although the place is usually occupied by city golfers having lessons. They are fun things to do with your team, but golf doesn't really have a broad appeal, and is too difficult. Crazy golf is ok for beginners, but trying to hit a driver is a step too far. It's mainly amusing for me when non-golfers discover just how hard golf is, especially blokes who think they are "alpha" and will be able to smash it 300 yards but then barely make contact.

 

[SocketRocket]

It gets a bit scary when a bunch of lads hit a ball teed up on an orange tee with a pitching wedge and the ball bounces off the inside of the bay roof

 

[evemccc]

Reminds me of the comment by a county official about a golf course I was managing

'This place will never be any good, it is always far too busy'

Seems quite sensible to me

The relationship between perceived value, price to customers, and scarcity of the product or service (in this case how busy or empty a golf course is) implies to me that the county official wasn’t totally wrong — Albeit I get your point

 

[Oddsocks]

The top trader ranges near me are rammed, 9.30 last Saturday I had to wait for 30 mins for a bay. The range dies have a costa inside which is great, but I’d really like to see a ticket system so you know where you are in the queue. If you don’t stand outside and freeze, some bugger jumps the line

I much prefer the outside one at my old club which I still use as it’s open with no tech so doesn’t get the same traffic, balls are better also.

I’m not sure if it’s a national thing, but we’ve also seen a few new trackman studio businesses set up in the south where you can book single, bulk or monthly memberships for trackman sessions. Then you have the new home set up crowd, with r10/skytrak set ups not being that expensive. R10 projector and net for around £2k. With tracerbay ranges now charging £8 for 50 balls, the repayment is a lot quicker.

 

[Swango1980]

I think the clientele changed a while back. About 10 years ago, one of the old chaps went to the range to warm up early one morning, and there was a young couple having sex in there

They were definitely not worried about the golf, but were just there for a mess about. Not sure if they were first timers, but doubt they were there for the long haul. They were under no supervision.

 

[Oddsocks]

I think the clientele changed a while back. About 10 years ago, one of the old chaps went to the range to warm up early one morning, and there was a young couple having sex in there

They were definitely not worried about the golf, but were just there for a mess about. Not sure if they were first timers, but doubt they were there for the long haul. They were under no supervision.

Did the old boy not watch? Technically they were under supervision

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

My lad (32) has started going to a driving range in north Sheffield. He usually just takes a couple of irons as he wants to get hitting the ball nicely. He had lessons when he was 11 so knows the basics - though he stopped playing when he was 13 (cricket). He tells of lads in adjoining bays lashing the bejeezus out of the ball with their driver and it going all over the place or nowhere…but sometimes they stop and watch him just hitting nice (relatively) irons pretty straight down the middle…and they are interested.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think the clientele changed a while back. About 10 years ago, one of the old chaps went to the range to warm up early one morning, and there was a young couple having sex in there

They were definitely not worried about the golf, but were just there for a mess about. Not sure if they were first timers, but doubt they were there for the long haul. They were under no supervision.

Bit of a ‘balls up’ by the range that…

 

[Swango1980]

Did the old boy not watch? Technically they were under supervision

I think he was more focused on his own balls