Automatic Tees vs. Bucket of balls

I was just practicing at a local facility, and I got to wondering.  Which do you prefer when  you go to a range?  I know grass is best, but if you didn't have grass (especially up here in NY during the winter), would you prefer to have a range that sold a bucket of balls?  Or have a range that would have a system like this one?

I like this system because I can't walk away from a bucket of balls.  If I just wanted to hit 30 balls, then I can just go in, grab a card, and walk away when I'm done with my session.  I can reuse the card at a later date.

Of course, the one I go to is not this nice compared to this one in Japan, nor does it have a country club feel.  Just a thought...

Thats pretty Baller.

As far as I know there is nothing like that where I live. Cool stuff, though. Those Japanese think of everything!

In LA, at least near me, there's two:  Dominquez HIlls (110 and 405) and the Golf Learning Center (710 and 405).   Both have pros and cons:

The DH one recently got new mats that are thicker than the previous ones.  Most of their automatic tees now don't tee high enough for a driver.  Real poor hindsight when they did that.  There's a few that I've found by trial and error that are just about high enough, but its a bummer when its real crowded there, and you end up with a stall where the tee doesn't put the ball up high enough.   However, if you got a stall with a good tee and newer mat, its pretty sweet.  You can hit as many or as few as you want, eject the card and use the rest later.  This place is on my practice list for exactly that.   If I want to hit off the deck, I'd rather hit off of grass, or GLC, but I prefer this place for hammering out a dozen or more drives on my way home from work.

At GLC, they have new mats and automatic tees.  Probably about 8 months old.  The mats are those newer models where the ball sits on top of 1" or so long "fur" that allow the club to go a bit under the ball instead of slamming on a hard mat (i don't know how to describe it, but you all likely know what I mean).   Also, the automatic tees adjust to all the correct heights you'd want (for teeing with an iron, wood or driver).   The con here is that you buy a bucket of balls and pour them yourself into the automatic tee mechanism, you don't use a card.  Thus you still have to hit through the entire bucket or leave it.  No "variable" practice.   But compared to DH, their mats and tees are much better at GLC.   Unrelated though, this place does have grass stalls, discount cards, a free chipping area, a larger, short game area (that's not free), and a pretty good putting green.  Plus the brothers that run it are very nice.  This is my main golf practice facility, thus my bias.

Cheers!

Looks cool, but I prefer the old fashioned bucket on grass or big mats so I can move around on the mat, and hit my irons off of it without a tee.  While I realize you can swing at your own pace, I'd feel pressure to speed up having that ball always sitting there waiting for me.

I REALLY like having the automated tees just because I can choose to hit as few or as many golf balls as I'd like.  Whenever I buy a bucket I always feel pressured to hit the entire bucket.  Some days I only feel like, or have time to hit 30-50 balls.  Other days I want to hit upwards of 200.  I like having that flexibility.  Plus, where I go the tee is adjustable in very small increments so I can get the tee height right where I want it.

Sounds like a cool concept. Unfortunately it really wouldnt work for me since I spend more time hitting shots off the ground than off a tee when I am at the range.

You can hit balls from the ground or from the tee.  If you want to hit off the ground you just knock the ball off the tee and onto the mat and hit it.  Their is a sensor that detects if there is a ball on the tee or not, and if their isn't it retrieves another ball.  So as soon as you knock the ball off the tee it goes and gets another one.

exactly, you're not forced to hit off of the tee.

I am seldom using the tee in general.  The cool thing is that when I need to use a tee, at least I can adjust the height accordingly.

My local range has auto-feed balls too but I always pull the ball off the tee or choose a non-auto bay to practice off the mat or the 'rough' (longer mat) to force myself to get used to hitting down on the ball, re-adjusting my stance, grip etc between every shot.

The problem with auto-feeders in my opinion is that it's too easy to hit bad ball after bad ball until you happen upon the correct stance, distance from the ball, grip etc and then you stand and just keep everything the same, hitting great ball after great ball. You then walk away happy with your practice session even though when it comes to course play you'll have to adjust everything between each shot.

I'm a very big advocate of the old fashioned bucket of balls on the side.  I usually sort out the golf balls and hit the bad ones first and leave the better looking ones for my longer irons and woods.

My range has automatic ball feeders. I like it for the already mentioned reason that I can hit as many or as few balls during a given session. Also, for anyone who's still unsure about hitting off the tee, no, you don't have to hit off the tee. In fact, I never hit off the tee except for a couple swings with the driver. They got new mats last season and while they are much better for hitting off of, they are thicker and the tees are generally too low for the driver. I also don't like the feel of the rubbery tee. What I like to do is get a pile of 5 balls at a time and focus on one iron at a time with proper setup alignment, and making solid contact with those 5 balls. Then I get 5 more off the tee and switch to a different iron. This helps keep me from mindlessly hitting bad ball after bad ball. Another poster mentioned this and I can't tell you how many people I've seen stand there and bash ball after ball off the tee without proper setup or time in between shots. Usually with the driver too.