Updated 2 October 2026
A range is a useful place to learn, but facilities vary. Check opening times, booking, rental clubs and payment before visiting.
Start safely
Keep your bag and body inside your bay and check space behind you before swinging. Stay behind the hitting line when others play. Never walk onto the range to collect balls. Stop immediately if staff or machinery enter an unsafe area.
Give a short session a purpose
- Warm up with easy movements and short swings.
- Hit a few half shots with a wedge or short iron.
- Choose one target and work on clean contact.
- Take breaks and reset your setup between shots.
- Finish by changing club and target, as you would on a course.
Twenty deliberate shots can be more useful than rushing through a large bucket. A coach can help choose an appropriate drill; stop if practice causes pain.
Read the feedback carefully
Track contact, start direction and ball flight. Mats can disguise a strike that hits the ground before the ball. Range balls and weather can change distance, so do not assume every range number is your on-course carry distance.
Progress towards the course
Include putting, chipping and bunker practice where the facility permits it. Ask about a lesson on the course or a beginner short-course session. There is no single required percentage of clean range shots that proves you are ready for every course.