chipping and driving practice

[Rezgolf]

I happened to live a little ways away from the many golf courses in the Portland, Oregon area. the closest course, and the one that I play the most, doesn't allow woods on the range, and no chipping around the practice green. I have been playing there a while now and low and behold the two worst parts of my game are.................(dramatic pause)...................chipping and long game. Any Ideas on how I can get this practice in without ticking off my home course?

[aquacooled]

buy some of those wiffle balls they fly like reg golf balls but only go 1/3 the distance.. as far as chipping, I do that in my back yard.. I dont have the nicest grass in my yard, but its cut short and I just pratice hitting to a certain spot not worrying about the roll just the landing.. or what I do I go later in the day almost sun down and pratice right on the course.. most of the time its not really busy at that time of day here in germany..

[Rezgolf]

can you tell if you mishit the wiffle balls? do they fly far enough to tell?

[iacas]

can you tell if you mishit the wiffle balls? do they fly far enough to tell?

As soon as I can get some pictures (it's been raining here non-stop for two weeks), I'm going to post a review of the "

Almost Golf Ball ." These balls are foam. They have a lifetime warranty and they fly pretty accurately. I recommend them 100x more than those whiffle balls.

[aquacooled]

As soon as I can get some pictures (it's been raining here non-stop for two weeks), I'm going to post a review of the "

ya, those are what I was talking about.. I saw those at the golf show last year..

[Rezgolf]

thanks I haven't seen those. I checked out the link, and they are a little pricey though.

[Xt1ncT]

Is distance to your club an issue?

If not, I'd find a course that has decent practise facilities. That's what I did, I have to travel about 20-30 minutes more each way, but for one the course is far far better than where I used to play. And the facilities are some of the best in Auckland. We have 2 grass ranges, one that you can use any club, and one that is really for short - mid practise, and also 2 practise greens, one just for putting, and one for chipping/pitching to and has 4 bunkers around it as well. We have just gone into daylight saving, and I'll now be going there twice a week to practise - one day on longer irons/driving and one day for chipping and putting and the short game.

If you're serious about improving that side of your game then that's the best thing to do, if distance is an issue, the other suggestions would be better.

Good luck.

[Rezgolf]

that is also a good suggestion. the commute for me would be about 40 minutes one way, and though I would love to have a course that offers excellent facilities. I am limited by time with my kids in sports, homework ect. so every minute counts!!

[Xt1ncT]

that is also a good suggestion. the commute for me would be about 40 minutes one way, and though I would love to have a course that offers excellent facilities. I am limited by time with my kids in sports, homework ect. so every minute counts!!

That's how long it takes me to get to Muriwai, and I quite enjoy the drive, but if people have kids etc, then that obviously makes the golf day that much longer so may not be an option.

Luckily for me, my wife goes to the gym during the week, which gives me time to practise, and she knows that Saturday is my "golf day".

[aquacooled]

where I live I have a course right around the corner I usually walk there, however the range is short I clear the fence with a strong 5 or easy 4.. therefore I use that course for putting, chipping and short game. The other course is a good 40 mins away however they have a longer range and usually no one says anything if you knock a few over with your driver but they have no chipping area well at the most like 5 yards to the hole, then there is the one in Duesseldorf which I have to drive 25 mins but its the longest stretch as far as mileage but its all autobahn (hehe) they have the best short game area up to 70 yards to the pratice green (just have to becarefull of other people) anyway point is I dont have kids however I just see what the weather is like then pick one.. say one day a week you go to the one better course suited for longer play then the other day(s) you hit the one closer..

[1puttit]

I can't reccomend the "Almost Golf" balls enough - they're great. They go about 1/3 to 1/2 the distance of regular balls and are soft enough that they won't damage anything. My kids and I regularly hit these in the front yard and have hit cars, houses, etc.. with zero damage. Usually we hit short irons around the house and will walk to a nearby school to hit drivers. We actually hit AT the school so we don't spend a lot of time looking for balls in an open field.

My 10 year old has become an awesome chipper practicing with these. Great for working on your technique and very easy to re-adjust to a real ball in a few strokes. We'll even chip in the house with them and chip on to the couch.

At about a $1 a ball, what's not to like?

[Rezgolf]

I think I will pick some of these up practice balls up. As far as going once a week to the larger practice facility, that sounds like a good idea. My main limiter is time, having kids, and having them in sports makes my "off" time short. So I guess I need to sit down and literally budget my time for golf. Because lord knows I can't go without golf!!!

[Chas]

1) The almost-golf balls like everyone says, for driving. I recommend buying a pick-up tube full of them (you know, the clear plastic thingy so you don't have to bend over much and they release easily). It's worth the extra money. I've been using a tube-full for about six months, lost a couple but the rest are fine.
2) For chipping, I bought four little net thingy's, kind of a semi-circle and opens up at an angle - not very big and easy to store. Great for target/distance practise, but of course you won't get the feel for roll unless you're at a green.

So you don't need to go to the range, just your local park. Saves time and money. But watch out for dogs with the almost-golf balls, they tend to chew on them a bit. They're pretty tough though, the balls I mean.