Driving ranges-why are they so boring?

[0]

I reckon 99% if not 100% of us look forward to the range and 'sorting' a problem or just loosening the swing but is it just me that find them boring places that don't cater for their customers and the 'targets' are pathetic, distances are way off and on a few I've been to the ball landing area is in a dip so you can't see how far you think you're hitting a shot-brilliant!!!!
Proper targets that are accurate from each bay- colour coded so the bay on the far left has it's own targets as opposed to everyone in the 200 yd semi-circle all firing at the 150yd marker some with wedges some with 5 irons FFS!
Also to bring some fun back they need interesting targets like a car! A hanging bell, large water buckets with coloured water that's lit up in the dark, a siren and flags waving when a ball reaches the 280 yd green etc etc etc you get the idea.
I watch people concentrate like mad for accuracy for the first 50 balls, then it's usually like a chuckle bros episode for the last 50 as we're bored.
A fun range will attract- boring ranges we just accept!

Another gripe is the mats are usually poor, the auto tees usually don't work or balls get clogged, the tee height is what it is not what you want or need, all for £6.50 per basket.

Rant over I still go 3 times a month.

 

[chrisd]

a siren and flags waving when a ball reaches the 280 yd green

Can you just imagine Timgolfys golf range?


The flags would wave so much you would be hitting into a 2 club wind as well having to be fitted for a hearing aid after a couple of visits



Chris

 

[ademac]

I'm not a fan of driving ranges at all! My lack of self discipline and low boredom threshold kick in after hitting about 10 balls!!!!!
I do my practice on the course or par 3 and can quite happily spend a few hours chipping and putting but get me on the range and I just cant do it!
I probably go twice a year!

 

[birdieman]

Good post.
Have to agree they are not very inspiring places but if you only have a half hour at lunch or after work or it's winter they are better than nothing.

 

[ScienceBoy]

We all know a great range with a burnt out car as a target!

 

[Imurg]

They took the burnt-out car away from one near me recently - not much fun now...

 

[golfer79]

Interesting, what ranges do you boys use?

 

[thecraw]

I don't do ranges either, like someone else said earlier I also get bored after 10 minutes.

I can hit balls off of turf on the practice area but I'm quite strick with myself and as soon as my concentration wanders I rap it. An hour is the very very very maximum I can spend hitting balls. I have a mate who can stand and hit balls from dawn till dusk.

FECK THAT!

 

[funkyfred]

Yes, I like the idea of adding some spice to the range.

We have one at our club but its a 25 minute (15 mile drive) so I rarely use it for a real practice session, use it mostly for just warming up.

The one closest to me is Oaks Park, Carshalton, although its not very good, the very old type of mats, and the rubber tee thing that you have to lift the mat up to put into place. And because I dont tee my balls very high, these type of tees are no good, so I would just normally hit of the mat.

However the other week I drove over to one near Elmers End (Croydon/Beckenham) which is a World of Golf place. Nice and clean with the mechanical tee that you can raise up and down, and with the added bonus of this rubber grass thing, sorry I dont know the proper name, which I prefer to hit my shots from. A good experience but at £7.75 for a bucket of 100 balls I think it is well overpriced, but you can join some club thing where you can get it cheaper.

 

[gazzroberts]

Can i suggest a trip to "topgolf" www.topgolf.com it may be a bit of a drive depending on your location but is the most fun i have ever had on a driving range.

Their website explains it better than i can but effectively the range is made up of multiple targets, roughly the size of a small green at varying distances. All golf balls are computer chipped and record where they landed and thus deliver a score accordingly to a screen in your bay. Games can be played by up to 4 people thus adding a level of competition. I am aware there are only three in Watford, Chigwell (essex) and addlestone (surrey) but if you are within a reachable distance then i very much recommend a trip!

 

[Alex1975]

£6.50????


That is crazy!!!

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I agree, I get bored too easily at the range unless i'm working on a drill or something. There's a range near by that has a par 3 course so i'm going to start playing that instead as my short game is what needs most work.

 

[0]

£6.50????


That is crazy!!!

Funkyfreds pays £7.75 for his driving range

 

[0]

Can i suggest a trip to "topgolf" www.topgolf.com it may be a bit of a drive depending on your location but is the most fun i have ever had on a driving range.

That video looks like a FRAT Party

def a step in the right direction, mini skirted young strumpets serving you beer at your sofa filled bay while you try to be happy gilmour
looks worth a visit

 

[USER1999]

Trouble with Top Golf is it isn't really golf. You don't nominate your target, so you can shank it into a different one, and still get the points.

It can also be very noisy, with a bunch of idiots getting drunk leathering balls everywhere, most of whom don't play golf at all.

Last time I was at the Watford one, trying out a hybrid from the AG shop on site, the balls were appalling. Most were still the same ones from when it opened 10 years ago. There were hardly any dimples left, so they swerved all over the place. It wouldn't matter to most of their clientele but it bugged the heck out of me.

 

[USER1999]

What driving ranges really need is the guy in the tractor picking up balls.

 

[Oddsocks]

What driving ranges really need is the guy in the tractor picking up balls.

With targets on the side... like ya style.

My closest reange in all honesty is crap. its uphill, but two tiered levels of bays. If your on the bottom level a peach of a drive with good flight looks thinned as it sits about 6ft off the floor all the way up the range, and if your on the 2nd tier you can carry the same club 25 yards longer. a perfect example of this is a PW off the downstairs bay will only just hit the 100 yard flag, but from upstairs you can sail the 125 marker with ease.

 

[gazzroberts]

It can also be very noisy, with a bunch of idiots getting drunk leathering balls everywhere, most of whom don't play golf at all.

I do agree that it is not a place to go and seriously work on your game, and i struggled at first to adapt from the usual respectful silence at my club.

I think it needs to be taken at face value, it is not a serious driving range designed for serious golfers, its just a fun and relaxed atmosphere to enjoy hitting golf balls, which is a refreshing change from most driving ranges.

 

[lobthewedge]

Driving range near me occasionally puts out soft plywood clown targets for the "kids" to aim at. Bloody great fun hooding a 3 iron or driver off the deck, you get a really satisfying thud when you hit it.

At Christmas they even put out an inflatable Santa - he didnt last too long!

 

[need_my_wedge]

A hanging bell, large water buckets with coloured water that's lit up in the dark, a siren and flags waving when a ball reaches the 280 yd green etc etc etc you get the idea.

I practiced on one in Japan recently that set all sorts of alarms and sirens off when I popped a ball into the hole in one challenge hole - won a couple of cold beers for my trouble too.

I had a hit on the range attached to the Mizuno fitting centre in New Malden the other week. Double decker, very much in the Japanese vein, the targets had raised "greens" with large holes to catch balls that hit close, auto tees (with adjusting height button ). Much more fun than my local range, which is essentially a grass field in between the 10th & 11th fairways. The pro there told me that the targets are actual yardages, not cut short to accomodate the deficiency of the range balls.

Whenever I go to the local range, there maybe 4 or 5 others in there. The range at New Malden was absolutely packed, every bay on both levels, with quite a few taken up with groups of 3 or 4, boys with girlfriends, families with kids etc. Obviously a fun place to go for an hour or so.

I like the idea of tarting up the range a bit, make some interesting targets out there, allow better feedback on shots etc.