Golf Driving Ranges near me – New Jersey

From beginners to advanced players finding a public golf driving range near me can be a great way to pass the time.  Secondly, you can improve your golf swing, with the right preparation, which we cover below. In order to whet your appetite here is one of the most photographed driving ranges in the world.

Top of the Rock: Arnold Palmer Practise Course – Missouri:

Golf Driving Ranges New Jersey

If you live in New Jersey there is a great selection of driving ranges in your area. Here is a link to a listing. If you want to add in some food and drinks with your friends, New Jersey is lucky enough to be home to 2 great Top Golf facilities. They are located in Edison and Mt Laurel. In this article, Taylor Duncan of Hoboken gives an interesting view of some local options as well.

Golf Driving Range Clubs, Mats and Balls

Beginners might ask themselves what golf clubs should I use at the driving range. More advanced players will be interested in the performance distance of golf mats versus real turf. In addition, all golfers question the difference between real golf balls and driving range golf balls.

Golf driving range clubs to use

One you find a golf driving range near me, all you need for a fruitful practise session is 3 clubs. Ideally, a Driver, a mid-iron (7 or 6) and a wedge or 9 iron. Start with the smaller club (wedge) and build up through the set, just like the professionals do. Going straight into hitting the most difficult of all golf clubs, your Driver, is a recipe for a frustrating session. Accordingly,  you would hardly ever see a professional doing it.

Top tips for Golf driving range mats and golf iron practise

Good quality range mats are the most practical way to practise. However, you should make sure to mix using driving range mats with practising on real turf as well. This is because it is essential to strike the ball before turf in good quality iron shots. Poor attempts at this can be masked by practice mats as the club slides over the mat. When practising on real turf at a golf driving range near you, be sure to check your iron divots for the following main checkpoints-

Divots

• The perfect divot is a dollar-sized thin slice taken immediately after the golf ball. So, make sure the divot is not starting before the golf ball. Pros do this by lining up consecutive shots at the back of the previous divot, slightly nearer for a patch of grass. Consequently, they can automatically check the starting point of the divot
• Check the width of your divot versus the starting place of the ball to ensure you are hitting the ball in the centre of the clubface. Another common tip is to spray your clubface with foot spray, to check this. Alternatively, you can even mark your ball with a removable marker. As a result, this will show the hit location afterwards on the clubface
• Importantly, check the direction of the divot versus your target line in order to estimate your club path as it hits the ball. Ideally, the divot will either be straight or slightly in to out (pointing slightly right of your target line for a right-handed golfer). If you see your divot going out to in, you are probably slicing the ball (or pulling it). Consequently, you should try to neutralise your path
• As mentioned above, ideally your divots will be dollar sized slices and relatively thin. Taking big divots is not only bad for your golf course, but it is also bad for your game requiring an extremely precise ball before turf strike to hit an effective shot. A thin ‘slice’ of grass style divot is preferable. This normally comes from having a wider and flatter approach angle to the ball in the hitting area.  This results in giving you a much larger margin of error to pull off a decent shot.

Golf driving range balls versus real golf balls

Here are the results of a study by a professional comparing a real quality golf ball (a Taylor Made TP5X) versus typical good condition driving range golf balls-

Surprisingly, there was hardly any difference with a mid-iron (7 iron or 6 iron). The Driver showed a reduction in distance using the golf range ball of about 10 yards. However, the biggest difference was with the wedge where the range ball went 16 yards further because it could not spin as well as the Taylor Made golf ball. Good golf players will know that high spin means you can stop your ball on the green.  Accordingly,  they can control their pitching and chipping much better.

In conclusion, golf range balls are similar enough to real balls for long shots, only losing a little distance with the woods. However, they are a poor substitute for real golf balls near and around the greens. When you find a golf driving range near me, see for yourself!