HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A driving range is a facility or area where
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
ers can practice their golf swing. It can also be a recreational activity itself for amateur golfers or when enough time for a full game is not available. Many
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
s have a driving range attached and they are also found as stand-alone facilities, especially in urban areas. They are typically run by businesses or sometimes by universities. Distances are usually marked by target greens at regular distances. Driving ranges may have natural grass, similar to a golf course, or players may use synthetic mats that resemble real turf. Golfers pay for various sizes of buckets of balls and hit at their leisure. Some ranges feature electronic tee devices, which load balls automatically, and record ball use on a
smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
. Often there are golf professionals available to give lessons and instruction. Balls are retrieved by a specialty cart with a brush and roller attachment that automatically picks up balls and a cage that protects the driver from incoming balls. In urban and suburban areas, large nets protect surrounding people and structures from errant balls. Driving ranges are particularly popular in Japan where golf courses are overcrowded and often very expensive. Many commercial driving ranges are seen in conjunction with other sports-related practice areas such as
batting cage A batting cage (or tunnel) is an enclosed area for baseball or softball players to practice the skill of batting. The optimal material for batting cages is netting, and they are typically rectangular in shape. Chain-link fence is not required bu ...
s or
miniature golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...
. Some driving ranges also offer areas for practice chip shots, bunker shots, and putting. Driving ranges may use golf balls that differ significantly from those used on the golf course. Range balls, as they are known, are often cheap and specially designed with a harder cover to make them more durable. As such they also may not necessarily conform to the
rules of golf The rules of golf consist of a standard set of regulations and procedures by which the sport of golf should be played. They are jointly written and administered by The R&A (spun off from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 2004) and ...
. In order to distinguish them from other type of ball, they may have a distinct coloring or colored band and be stamped with the word "range".


See also

* Golf instruction *
Indoor golf Indoor golf is an umbrella term for all activities in golf which can be carried out indoors. Venues include indoor driving ranges, chipping areas, putting greens, machines and home golf simulators. Many of these indoor facilities are businesses ...


References

Golf instruction {{golf-stub