My Fault or the Driving Ranges??

[BostonSully]

I was at the range this week when the only available spot was right next to the wall of the covered section of tee's. I took a few practice swings and didnt think I was coming very close to the wall so on my first full driver swing I managed to catch the wall on my backswing and put a nice ugly mark on the bottom of the crown of my driver on the follow through.

I got to this range alot and buy the 65$ for 100$ worth of balls cards all the time. I wanted to say something as its a pretty "new to me" driver and the mark is fugly. My swing isnt very bad and I had the matt moved as far away from the wall as possible. The range has a proshop do you think I could get them to buff out the mark if possible for free?

Im asking because it seems the squeezed in this extra stall and this would not of happened if their had been an appropriate amount of room.

[x129]

You can ask but it seems to me that you swung the club and are responsible for putting the scuff mark on the club.  If you didn't have enough room to swing your club, you shouldn't have swung it.

[BostonSully]

True hence the question. Just is it reasonable or not to put a stall in where a 5'9 person would not be able to swing a driver without so much as a warning?

[shades9323]

IMO, it is your issue, not the ranges issue.  You didn't have to use that spot and you didn't have to swing the driver in that spot. Chalk it up to a life experience and move on.

[MiniBlueDragon]

The other worry is that if they get shitty about it they could decide that you've vandalised their range and need to pay for their repairs.

I'd just try and buff the club yourself.

[BostonSully]

Yeah *sigh*

Ill just always see that mark and think"DOH!"

Worst part is the reason so many spots were full was there was about 15 Highschool kids goofin around and taking up all the spots. Worst range trip ever, i even had to dodge a ball that someone hit off the divider and sent it right for me. Then I saw about 2 other people's driver heads go flying down range.

maybe it was just not a good day.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by BostonSully

Yeah *sigh*

Ill just always see that mark and think"DOH!"

Worst part is the reason so many spots were full was there was about 15 Highschool kids goofin around and taking up all the spots. Worst range trip ever, i even had to dodge a ball that someone hit off the divider and sent it right for me. Then I saw about 2 other people's driver heads go flying down range.

maybe it was just not a good day.

Ugh, I hate those range sessions... I normally go during the day before lunch but occasionally it's half term and swarming with kids. The problem is that one parent takes 4 kids and each kid want their own bay so the whole range is packed when only a few car loads of them arrive. I remember going to the range as a kid with my grandfather and being told to share a bay because it's not fair on others; shame parenting has changed so much!

[newtogolf]

Sorry about your driver, but the range isn't responsible for the damage, though it can't hurt to try.  I just had one of those range sessions, left after a small bucket.  It was impossible to concentrate without worrying about cracking some kid in the head running behind me, or getting hit with an errant shot myself.  I'm all for taking kids to the range, but they need to be supervised.

[walk18]

While I don't think they're responsible, you should tell them about it. They should close the stall. Why are you hitting in an enclosed area in June though?

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by BostonSully

I was at the range this week when the only available spot was right next to the wall of the covered section of tee's. I took a few practice swings and didnt think I was coming very close to the wall so on my first full driver swing I managed to catch the wall on my backswing and put a nice ugly mark on the bottom of the crown of my driver on the follow through.

I got to this range alot and buy the 65$ for 100$ worth of balls cards all the time. I wanted to say something as its a pretty "new to me" driver and the mark is fugly. My swing isnt very bad and I had the matt moved as far away from the wall as possible. The range has a proshop do you think I could get them to buff out the mark if possible for free?

Im asking because it seems the squeezed in this extra stall and this would not of happened if their had been an appropriate amount of room.

Doesn't hurt to ask, but I wouldn't count on anything being done.  The range doesn't assign stalls (first come first served) and they aren't responsible for the skill level of the user(s).  As such, the onus is upon the user to select a stall that has sufficient clearance to swing a club without risking damage to it.  Also, I'm sure the range has a policy that says something to the effect of if you use their facility, then you assume all risk and hold the range harmless.  I kind of view your situation to stalls in a parking lot.  If you attempt to park your car in a stall and inadvertantly clip a wall, do you ask the parking lot to fix your car because you feel the stall was too narrow?

Nonetheless, I feel your pain.  I bought a new 909F 3w last year and loved the deep black metallic finish.  Unfortunately, as stupid is and as stupid does, I went out and played in the rain earlier this year.  On my tee shot during the downswing, the club slipped out of my hand and in my attempt to catch my club, I hit the ball on the crown.  So, now I have this god-awful, half moon sky mark with deep gouges in the metal.  It looks horrible.  Suffice to say, when I first bought it, it was Brooklyn Decker sexy.  Now, it's Rosie O'Donnel fugly.  But, here's the funny part.  It plays awesome ever since I got the sky mark.  Sure, it was good before, but nothing like it is now.  I hit two drives with it yesterday over 250 dead-center of the fairway.  Everytime I use it, I see that mark and cringe.  I tell myself to get the mark fixed.  But, then I hit a incredible shot with it and tell myself to forget it because I don't want to jinx the club since it's working so well now.

In the end, I rationed that it's ok for the club to be fugly as long as the shot is sexy.

[TourSpoon]

I would ask them because you are such a valued customer.  If they are not receptive to gratis you could ask them if they could do the work at cost. I am sure they would be happy to help you out if you approached them that way.