Grass driving range
 

What is the reasoning for so many golf courses and so little grass driving ranges? The obvious answer is money. How would one go about trying to change this? With so much good going on here it’s a disgrace to have people pound balls off mats

Sarasota used to have grass. They’d move the tee boxes as an area got beat up until just the mats were left. They were heavily used. They eventually gave up on maintaining the grass and now it’s just mats. I too can’t hit off mats and the tees they have are higher than I tee up on the course. You can buy cone shaped tees of various heights and use those on the mats. I do.

There are good quality mats and there are cheap mats. The cheap ones are usually placed over a concrete slab, making them even worse. My home course up north recently installed a brand called Range Hound, which features multiple layers underneath the hitting surface. A feel very similar to a quality fairway. You would likely prefer hitting off these mats vs crappy range turf.

Glenview grass is in great shape but only available several days a week. If I want to hit off grass I go to Baseline. On the bad side their grass is very thin. Took lessons recently and pro told me that the worst thing to do is practice off mats. Do admit that I do not hit a shank off of the mats. Another problem around TV golf courses is that the ranges are not very deep and there are a lot of ball pounders

To answer your ? probably nothing. Most courses do not even have a range and the ones that do have a range, range is not big enough as most courses are 27 holes and get a lot of play when the grass is dormant and/or does not grow.

Beats hitting from dirt and mud. You can go to the range behind Walmart on 466 if that is your thing. If you need something better get a luxury mat off Amazon and take with you as an overlay when you use the driving range. Many to choose from.

:boom:

Lakes of Lady has grass.

Why is "money the obvious answer" ?

It's simply not practical in The Villages, given the number of so-called "golfers" and the quality of that "golf".

If you want a decent hitting area and range experience, go down to Sarasota Learning Center and join the Premier Range Program. For $2500/year, you can hit off decent turf, to your heart's content ... and, generally avoid interacting with the unwashed masses.

Is Lakes of Lady the same as Lady Lakes off of Rolling Acres?

Try Oxford Golf Academy behind Walmart on 466
 

I believe that the Oxford Golf Academy behind Walmart on 466 has this option.

No. :)

Premier Range
 

Doesn't that money include a sorely needed service to most Villages Golfers, Instruction.

Its a deal!
 

If you hit 5 full buckets of balls a week for a year, your 2,500$ is covered. Add in some free instruction, bunker area, grass tee, and chip/putt green it's a great deal............Premier Range

Unfortunately, that's not exactly how it works.

Thank you. So the I intention was originally to have grass tees. That’s good to know!

So there are better quality mats available. So, in terms of feel they are better. How about ball flight and spin?

EZTee and XGrass are pretty good to hit off of without the issues of real grass or the feel of those thin cheesy mats.

Driving Ranges around the country also use mats. If as many use The Villages driving ranges, new golfers, there would be chopped up boxes. I think that The Villages does a great job!

Even with rotation, if driving ranges were turf, the hitting areas would be divot ridden and/or a mess of uneven seed mix.

As long as the range balls are in good shape, pretty close to hitting off real turf.

The grass driving range behind Walmart in Oxford is in pretty decent shape usually. They rotate around their range daily between several different hitting distances. It's not perfect, but it sure beats hitting off of mats. You also get to hit a lot more balls for your money compared to Sarasota.

The Lions Club range off Rolling Acres uses matts exclusively. Not the best quality. Love to support them, but their current crop of balls have worn out covers (smooth, no dimples) and are horrible. No telling where the ball will go, but it won't be very far. Wait till they get a new stock of balls.

My problem with mats is that the ball flies too perfectly off them. You can hit an iron pretty fat off a mat and still get a good result. You can also hit the ball a groove or two thin and still compress. So you hit great on the range and then struggle on the course.

I’d rather hit off the ground (I won’t say grass because on a heavily used range there is no grass) even if it’s hard an and full of divots. That way only ball first contact goes airborne. The feedback is way better and my game on the course is helped.

Go to the driving range at Arlington Ridge, it will be perfect for you - very little grass, hard and full of divots.

This is a good solution for the OP since he didn’t seem to have a problem with money

I suppose hitting off mats is better than not hitting at all. Or is it? The ball spins differently off mats and comes off club face at different speeds. Moreover, hitting off mats robs the golfer the experience of alignment; easy to align when you have the perimeter of the carpet running into 90 degree corners. Then there is the shank thing. Fair to say you are attacking the ball with a different intention off the mat than the grass. Clubface to turf contact, with low point control, is the name of the game. Driving range mats require attack angles different than the optimal angles experienced in elite play off of grass. It seems the worlds most friendly town isn’t really that friendly : ) I agree with your pro - in some ways mats are bad for our games.

I think the answer is to build some grass driving ranges outfitted with some real balls. Seems that was the original intention (at least the grass tees) until it became too difficult to keep the grass range from getting destroyed. Instead of building more ranges, or bigger ranges, it was more efficient to install mats. This is understandable. However, now that we are beginning to understand the shortfalls of mats, can we not begin a dialogue about the merits of more ranges and grass tees?

Thank you
 

Thank you!

Rotation and Oxford
 

Thank you for pointing out that option. I am just thinking we are too complacent. Let’s review policy and see if we can make it better. It makes sense to install grass tees. The subset of golfers that our community misses out on is significant. If we think the grass at oxford is good I am going to question your golf experiences.

Bitter?
 

Most things are about money. Just because you haven’t reasoned an alternative doesn’t mean a solution doesn’t exist. Further, I find your assignment of me to the washed masses as a form projection, a red herring, and a form of tribalism.

I find you too miserable at this time to engage. Not that I am above you - it’s just that you are basically disrespectful.

I respect your response. I don’t hit that many balls. The villages do have some great instructors. I’ve considered the pkg. But it’s not for me and doesn’t address the shortcomings of mats and what we could possibly do with what we already pay.

It’s amazing the # of palettes of sod that I see daily in the villages. It’s amazing how fast they erect villages.

Is it wrong for me to reason that the Villages could modify what they are doing with better dialogue.

Well, considering the current situation (generally, mats at most ranges) has existed in TV for some 30+ years, it's perhaps naive to suggest after a month and 9 posts, that you have a better solution and are prepared to change the world. To say nothing of the fact, you made an unfounded proclamation that it's a strictly a financial consideration, when in fact, it's primarily practical.

No worries, most everyone who moves to TV, thinks they know better than the folks who have been in charge for 40 years.

Yard Work....
 

Okay, go into your yard and hit some whiffle balls with your irons and make divots. Do this for 1 month and you will have no yard left. Imagine 1,000 people a day doing that and that's the answer to your dilemma, grass mats. Money does rule the world in case you missed that. Its always the underlying driver of things.

5 acres of tee area needed becomes 10 houses becomes 5,000,000$ in property. Never mind what the range area needs for land.

Mats are not the problem. Watch people on the range, most shots are topped, hit fat, sliced, hooked, maybe 2 out of 10 look like a golf shot, if lucky. But they are having fun because they come back tomorrow and do the same thing. No need for grass here. And thats okay because they are having fun. Mats are fine. Even for lower handicappers.

Yeah, unwashed is a little brutal, but, you do get away from the mats on the Premier Range at Sarasota. It's kind of like buying a house in the Enclave, you get away from the masses, washed and unwashed. Another of life's realities. Chill out! Take a golf lesson and get washed.

I’ll check them out. Thanks!

Hitting a shank has nothing to do with the surface you're hitting off. Hitting a shank is always a result of improper clubface path. (& 90% of the time, it results from a change in spine angle.)

Shank
 

Recent studies show a loosening of right hand grip pressure on the downswing will cause a shank also. No single golf cause is 90% when dealing with humans.

The next time you're on the range (hitting from those mats) and you see someone hit a shank ... watch. 9 out 10 times, you'll see 1 of (2) errors. They change their spine angle (usually becoming more upright) somewhere in the swing or ... they "hump the goat" ... push their pelvis closer to the ball on the downswing.

Other Ways
 

All tin cup did was put his change in the other pocket!!!! Don't like to watch shanks, bad visual.

Great Job
 

All is true. The Villages do a great job at what they do.

Over the past few days I learned that grass tees were the original idea. The reason they transitioned to mats was the volume of hitting.

Well time has passed and we know more about golf mats. They are not very good on your equipment or your body. Ball speed, spin, and trajectory are affected by the mats. Low point control is adversely affected by the mats. Hitting shot after shot off a mostly square rug does little to nothing for one’s alignment skills.

My thought is to consider a change in thinking. Maybe have the villages build one grass range for every three championship golf courses. Maybe have a super range every 5 miles like there is a square every five miles. Lets create a dialogue to generate ideas that make sense with our current monies. I dont blame anyone trying to make as much money as they can, but with the number of golf holes that exist here it’s somewhat of a travesty not to have more grass tees. Many of us went “all in” moving here to live in a golf community. It is an obvious weak spot.

If the villages can build whole communities in 90 days it becomes somewhat insulting to think they cant manage a system to create more facilities with rotations of mats and grass. As more people become aware that synthetic mats can adversely affect ones game, ones body, and ones equipment the more people are going to choose other places to spend their retirement dollars. Small changes can go a long way.

Rotation
 

Never going to be perfect, I am just looking for average. If they increased the number of ranges slightly and or the design (four sided) they could have a significantly better product.