• We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from all at Golf Monthly. Thank you for sharing your 2025 with us!

Golf Random Irritations

Top tracer/trackman driving ranges

Now I like them now and then

But the fact that pretty much every local range round here has it installed means the cost of practice in the winter has gone up ridiculous

I mean one range session a week will be 50-60 quid a month
 
Top tracer/trackman driving ranges

Now I like them now and then

But the fact that pretty much every local range round here has it installed means the cost of practice in the winter has gone up ridiculous

I mean one range session a week will be 50-60 quid a month
I guess nobody goes to the old bog standard ranges anymore so they've had to move with the times. My local Trackman range is only £7.50 for 50 balls though, so not terrible. The only non-Trackman/Tracer range near me is not open in the evenings so I don't have much choice anyway.
 
Top tracer/trackman driving ranges

Now I like them now and then

But the fact that pretty much every local range round here has it installed means the cost of practice in the winter has gone up ridiculous

I mean one range session a week will be 50-60 quid a month
2 questions spring to mind - where are you (presuming SE?) and how many balls are you using for it to cost that much?

At my club (SW) it is about half that
 
For Top Tracer, its £12 for 100 balls at my local range, so 50 quid a month for a weekly TT session is bang on. No option to have 50 balls on TT which is a shame.

They do have bog standard bays as well, £6 for 50 and £9 for 100.
No option to have 50 balls? That's outrageous. I'd never be going there then, 100 is too many.
 
Lol. At mine they give you extra balls for being a premium member. A bucket for me is 120 and sometimes I'll hit more
Just find it a daft number of balls. I have never achieved anything after the 70th ball as I'm just bored and tired by then, so I don't bother anymore.

If you think about it, even on a full round of golf you're only hitting less than 50 full shots, so 100 balls at the range would be like two and half round's worth of shots. God knows why you'd want to hit that many.
 
Just find it a daft number of balls. I have never achieved anything after the 70th ball as I'm just bored and tired by then, so I don't bother anymore.

If you think about it, even on a full round of golf you're only hitting less than 50 full shots, so 100 balls at the range would be like two and half round's worth of shots. God knows why you'd want to hit that many.
I generally agree.
If there are less balls then I tend to concentrate more on what I’m doing with each shot.
With loads of balls I end up just hitting them with no thought but that’s down to me and my mindset.
It’s different when trying to change something or engrain a new swing
 
I guess nobody goes to the old bog standard ranges anymore so they've had to move with the times. My local Trackman range is only £7.50 for 50 balls though, so not terrible. The only non-Trackman/Tracer range near me is not open in the evenings so I don't have much choice anyway.

North east

£8.50 for 50 or £12 for 100
Or
Other options are £8 for half an hour or £15 for hour
And I think the other close one is £3.50 for 25

For me 50 is too little and yeah 100 is too much
 
North east

£8.50 for 50 or £12 for 100
Or
Other options are £8 for half an hour or £15 for hour
And I think the other close one is £3.50 for 25

For me 50 is too little and yeah 100 is too much
£8.75 for 50 and 12 ish for 100 are the going prices in the Bristol area for Trackman ranges.
 
Old blokes Don't book a two ball, move slower than a glacier and let no one through in the morning with an empty course in front.
 
Just find it a daft number of balls. I have never achieved anything after the 70th ball as I'm just bored and tired by then, so I don't bother anymore.

If you think about it, even on a full round of golf you're only hitting less than 50 full shots, so 100 balls at the range would be like two and half round's worth of shots. God knows why you'd want to hit that many.
You might only hit driver 10 or 12 times in a round, is that all you hit at the range? How do you expect to get better?

Not you, personally - but from my POV, you need to hit more shots at the range than you would on the course to improve. If you're only going to hit the number of shots you would on the course when at the range, you might as well go to the course - you're not using the range correctly. Hitting "extra" balls only becomes a problem if you're no longer focusing and you're just whacking them. I agree, that's pointless.
 
2 questions spring to mind - where are you (presuming SE?) and how many balls are you using for it to cost that much?

At my club (SW) it is about half that
Location definitely has a huge impact on price.

Usually for to Pine Ridge in Camberley on a Friday night with Mrs M. We pay £13 for an hours use of the bay and you get 100 balls.

Exact same set up I use in Staffordshire during the week and it’s £9 for a bucket with no time limit.
Just find it a daft number of balls. I have never achieved anything after the 70th ball as I'm just bored and tired by then, so I don't bother anymore.

If you think about it, even on a full round of golf you're only hitting less than 50 full shots, so 100 balls at the range would be like two and half round's worth of shots. God knows why you'd want to hit that many.
In the words of Ted Lasso or Allan Iverson, it’s all about practice.

When I go with the wife we get 100 balls as that’s the only option and share it because it’s about having fun and her getting to practice with me hitting a few shots to break it up for her.

When I go on my own I won’t hit any less than 100 balls minimum. The first 25 shots are not even full shots, their half, 3/4 and full wedges to loosen up with no swing thoughts or drill or targets just throw away balls to get loose. Then I’ll hit 25 balls specifically working on a specific drill to get a feel for what I’m ingraining. Then it’s on to full practice hitting 5 balls with all the clubs from 9 iron up to driver (40 balls) so at that point I’ve hit 90 balls.

The last 10 will then be different wedges to different targets. That’s my 100 balls done and takes 90mins to 2 hrs. Sometimes I’ll get an extra 25 and hit every ball with a different club to simulate course feel.

If I need specific work like I did this week with the driver I’d do what I’ve already said above and swap the 25 different club drill and just hit those balls all with the driver.

I absolutely love to practice I could literally hit balls all day trying to hit different shots. Just wish I had full access to a short game area I could literally spend a full day doing that uninterrupted 😊
 
You might only hit driver 10 or 12 times in a round, is that all you hit at the range? How do you expect to get better?

Not you, personally - but from my POV, you need to hit more shots at the range than you would on the course to improve. If you're only going to hit the number of shots you would on the course when at the range, you might as well go to the course - you're not using the range correctly. Hitting "extra" balls only becomes a problem if you're no longer focusing and you're just whacking them. I agree, that's pointless.
Depends if I'm working on something or not. When my driving was terrible I'd go and hit 20 with it, but any more than that is pointless - you can 'groove in' some sort of swing after 25+ hits with a driver but you don't get to hit driver 25 times in a row during your round so it won't be the same. I want my practice to be close as possible to the thing I'm practicing for - a round of golf. Small caveat would be that I was hitting 50 balls Tuesday and 50 balls on Thursday when I was working on driver. I'd find that more beneficial than 100 balls in one sitting.

Last point was the key for me, as I said, after 70 balls I was mentally bored and fatigued and couldn't gain anything after that point. Must be hard for most people to stay fully focused 100 times, with a proper pre-shot routine etc and not just whacking the remaining balls around without thought.
 
Had an email today from the course saying I had won some vouchers for winning Div2 yesterday. Chuffed with that, but it also said “ vouchers expire in 6 months “. Why? 😳
 
Had an email today from the course saying I had won some vouchers for winning Div2 yesterday. Chuffed with that, but it also said “ vouchers expire in 6 months “. Why? 😳
Makes sense to me. If the vouchers are for the club shop they’ll have the money budgeted for the expense of your vouchers, and will coincide with the upcoming end of financial year to keep things clean and simple by balancing the books. Im sure you can spend it well within that time 😉
 
Last edited:
Top