[DrHitch]

As others have posted, there are driving ranges inside The Villages that are managed by The Villages corporate... There are also many other driving ranges located within driving or golf cart distance that are independent... And less expensive!

My favorite place is the driving range in Lady Lake that is accessible by golf cart from Spanish Springs

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by billmbmorris

because u can never get on it

I've never had a problem... Maybe a 15 minute wait, but I always get a tee box...

[Camranhvet]

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

No one goes there, it's too busy.

If no one goes there then it logically must be wide open!

[Two Bills]

Pitch and putt next to Edna's used to supply clubs for a round.
Don't know if they still do.
Better than a driving range, where most only practice their faults anyway.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Camranhvet

If no one goes there then it logically must be wide open!

Sarcasm much?

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by DrHitch

As others have posted, there are driving ranges inside The Villages that are managed by The Villages corporate... There are also many other driving ranges located within driving or golf cart distance that are independent... And less expensive!

My favorite place is the driving range in Lady Lake that is accessible by golf cart from Spanish Springs

That’s where we go, pulse there are a couple private golf instructors there that are good and give very reasonably priced lessons. Also, the Lady Lake Farmers market is there every Tuesday morning (they close the market during the summer).

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by DrHitch

As others have posted, there are driving ranges inside The Villages that are managed by The Villages corporate... There are also many other driving ranges located within driving or golf cart distance that are independent... And less expensive!

My favorite place is the driving range in Lady Lake that is accessible by golf cart from Spanish Springs

That’s where we go, pulse there are a couple private golf instructors there that are good and give very reasonably priced lessons (we like Barney Beard). Also, the Lady Lake Farmers market is there every Tuesday morning (they close the market during the summer).

[Snakster66]

Continental prepay seems like a good deal for hitting some balls if I land in reasonable proximity to there

[Snakster66]

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

No one goes there, it's too busy.

Well played Yogi

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by Rich Iwaszko

What is a state of the art practice facility?????????

One aspect of the bunker practice available at the Sarasota practice facility that I *love* is that your shots are directed against a rather steep hill with a wooden "wall" built into it. In my experience, a mighty tiny percentage of golfers ever spend any significant time in a practice bunker - and for plenty of good reasons. One of the biggest reasons, I believe, is that many of the "misses" - including both sh**ks and skulls - have a way of flying much more rapidly and sometimes lower and more loudly than intended, drawing the type of attention that many of us, I'm guessing, might rather avoid. Not only does this unique arrangement of bunker, hill, and wooden wall save the otherwise long walk of shame to retrieve said misses, it seems to greatly reduce the risk of inadvertent decapitation - also residing on the embarrassing side.

The two bunkers *are* rather deep and much of the forward portions are overly steep but the consistency of the sand seems to be in the ballpark of what I've tended to find on many of the executive courses. They can get a little "thin" down in the flat areas at the bottoms, but some judicious raking can pretty well get you the "depth" situation that you might prefer.

An "acceptable" downside to this arrangement is that you get no real feel for what kind of "roll out" there might have been as the landing area is also quite sloped, as well as not being mown to typical putting green height. This *does*, however, offer the opportunity for practicing pitches off a downhill lie for returning the balls to the bunker for further practice - *if* you have had the patience to manage to actually have some balls escape the sand - another of those "plenty of good reasons" for spending little time there. :-)

Even with this exceptional arrangement, I've rarely had to "wait" for an opportunity to practice sand shots there. It looks like there *used* to be a practice bunker at Evans Prairie and there's one at Palmer Legends (or was that Glenview?) down in the "bottom", but that one may be mostly reserved for lessons. Don't get up north much. . .

[UpNorth]

My favorite place is the driving range in Lady Lake that is accessible by golf cart from Spanish Springs[/QUOTE]

Nice to know that it is staffed by Lions Club volunteers, and that the proceeds go to local charities. Worth supporting!

[Gulfcoast]

We are just finishing up a Lifestyle visit and, although we are not golfers (yet), we had planned to go to a driving range but simply ran out of time. We did, however, make it to a pitch and putt which was so much fun! It's like a small 18 hole golf course where you can rent clubs/balls. You walk from hole to hole rather than use a golf cart. The golf courses, including pitch and putt, have dress code rules - so be sure to familiarize yourself with them before you go to one.

I wish we had had more time to try a driving range and an executive course. The executive courses are rated experience levels 1-4 so you can select a course based on your experience level. When we come back we're definitely going to try one. But I want to look into lessons, first.

Enjoy your visit. There is so much to see and do! We ate lunch one day over at the Fenney Grill and afterwards took a walk on the boardwalk nature trail. We saw a mama gator and her three babies in the water sunning themselves! We also saw turtles and lots of different kinds of birds. Fenney has a golf course although I don't know the particulars of it but it might be worth looking into.

[Pondboy]

Am I missing something? No one referring them to the one at Arnold Palmer County Club. They also have a nice outdoor patio for lunch/dinner and a cold beverage.

That’s where I’d go vs. Sarasota.

[HoosierPa]

Originally Posted by MrChip72

There's a few options:

1) A Villages driving range $6 for a half bucket of balls.
2) Oxford golf near 466/301 $8 for about double the amount as the Villages ranges. They have grass and mats to hit off of. They do have rental clubs available at the range.
3) Lady Lake driving range $6 for a large bucket bigger than the others. No rental clubs but best deal in town. Hitting off mats.
4) Continental Country club driving range $9 for a large bucket like Lady Lake. Hitting off mats. The pro shop might have clubs you can rent I think.

At Continental, you can buy a range discount pass and save 50%