You close the car door as the summer solstice sun climbs, its rays already warm at 6:30 a.m. Dew clings to the gravel, crunching under your spikes, soon to vanish.
Opening the trunk, a whiff of old leather, grass, and sweat hits you. The private range stretches ahead, fairways glowing green in the soft dawn. Silence hums, pierced by distant birdsong. At the tee, your club slices the crisp air, ball arcing into the mist. Each swing feels alive, grounding you.
This is your escape, where time slows, the world fades, and golf becomes everything.
What Makes a Great Range?
I’ve played enough golf and been to my fair share of clubs, so while I feel under-qualified to write this list, I’ll give it a shot. For clarity, I’m going to list attributes I’m looking for in a range before I go play, not practice for hours at a time. Facilities built for practice (and what makes them great) is another topic entirely.
Shoutout to the kid on twitter who suggested this topic. Chances are if you tweet me something coherent and interesting, I’ll write about it.
I’ll list below what is paramount to an excellent range experience, in no particular order:
Long enough to hit driver
Unique green complexes and varied distances to hit different shots
High-end golf balls. These include Titleist ProVs or the Taylormade equivalent.
Expansive and professionally manicured grass hitting areas. When you step onto one, you know.
Baskets or cool wooden boxes for ball storage. The pyramid ball organization is extremely mid-tier, and I’ve personally never been a fan.
Some sort of distance plate/ sign that is unique and interesting.
Alignment sticks for each hitting slot
Good short game area/ practice green running the same STIMP as the actual greens
That’s pretty much it. If I had to pick and choose the top 3 I’d want, I should be able to hit driver off of real, nice grass with some alignment sticks.
Pre-Round Drills
Sticking with the putting theme from last week, I’ll drop one quick drill I like to use to evaluate the breaks and speed on the greens. This one works best for mid range putts.
Take 2-3 balls, and a single tee
Read the putt, and put the tee down next to the hole, where you think you should start the ball. (a cup left, 2 balls right, etc etc)
Look only at the tee when making the stroke
Evaluate and move the tee as needed
The goal here is to work on matching line and speed perfectly. I like to practice this with 10-20 footers.
Wear Pattern of the Week
Hat tip to @brodes4343 on Twitter. It’s no Tiger wear pattern, but this kid seems to be a flusher. We’ll ignore the bag and shoe situation for now.
If you have a similar (or better) wear pattern, hit me up on twitter or [email protected].
Gearheads Anonymous
In case you missed it, Titleist re-released the classic 680 forged blades originally from 2003. These are unbelievably clean, and I love the fact that they are back on the market. I wish I were good enough to play them… Sticks only.
Tomorrow: The Saturday Edition
Each Saturday, we go deep — with a satirical essay covering behind the scenes nonsense at elite private clubs.
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Talk soon,
BTG