Across from Lopez driving range next to the MMP that runs up through the Mulberry area there is a practice bunker.

If you turn into Palmer Legends right next to the Himalayas putting green, that path will lead you to a practice sand bunker if you veer right off the pathway rather than veer left toward the Golf Academy building. The only restriction is that you can't use it if the instructors are giving a sand bunker lesson.

Can any resident use that short game practice area or is there a fee?

Anyone, and no fee for the practice area. There is a fee for the range.

I already have a Crappy swing.......Thats why I want practice......:cryin2:

There are actually two different types of practice. One is to try to change something or learn something new. The other is to keep what you've learned. If you've got a crappy swing, then you need to do the first. Repeating a crappy swing over and over will ingrain a crappy swing. Practice makes permanent.

Orange Blossom
 

I played OB yesterday and noticed there is a green for pitching next to the practice putting green.

I never knew one was there... is that close enough for you :)?

Thanks. I went up there a few times. Both of those greens are in pretty bad condition. The one at De La Vista is much better. Is there one at Tierra del Sol?

Some of these responses indicate that a few folks think chipping and pitching are the same thing. Most golf courses do not allow pitching onto their putting greens, but many allow chipping. Pitching can involve taking divots and creating pitch marks on the greens while chipping normally does not.

I totally agree. Funny that you mention that; I was at Sarasota today helping my wife get ready for the Ladies Village Cup; there was a guy hitting next to my wife that had the ugliest swing I've ever seen; had to start the ball way out left to bring it back to middle. He noticed the straight flight of my wife's shots and asked her where she learned to hit like that; she motioned toward me and said "he taught me". He asked me what he was doing wrong and after about 30 minutes, I had him hitting considerably straighter. Afterward I asked him if he was going to practice with what we worked on or going back to the same old swing? He had this goofy grin on his face and I pretty much told him the same thing that you said about practice - never change, never get better.

And we know that a select group of people (the privileged/entitled) DO NOT REPAIR THOSE, don't we? Why would we think they (the privileged/entitled) fix them while practicing when they (the privileged/entitled) don't fix them while playing?