San Francisco Driving Range

[mikeokslonger]

Hello everyone,

I'm pretty new to the San Francisco area (Moved into the city from Sweden a few weeks ago) and I've noticed that there are quite a large variety of golf courses around the bay area. I'm a fairly long hitter (330-350 usually, up to 380 on a good day) though and so far I've been unable to find any driving range where I'm not endangering anyone.

I've called a few golf courses up to ask them how their driving range is located and how far it is. Unfortunately for me it seems that people are generally quite bad at estimating this.

Basically I figured it's much easier to ask someone than to search through them all one by one - so does anyone know of any driving range that might be suitable?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Eric

[Hammer 4]

First off, welcome to TST. Sorry Eric, can't help with the driving range thing, just wanted to welcome you to the site.

[mikeokslonger]

That's alright, and you are very welcome.

[mvmac]

Isn't that why they put nets up?

[mikeokslonger]

I suppose but so far I haven't been anywhere with a high enough net. Also, as far as practice goes, I'd appreciate to see where the ball ends up.

[Abu3baid]

I was thinking... If the net is 300 away and you hit do you really care where it ends up.. I mean what is it are you trying to know about your ball flight that you can't figure out in the first 300 yards?

[mikeokslonger]

Absolutely, and that's exactly why I'm writing on here. The only driving ranges I've found so far have been about 200-220 yards and the nets have just not been able to cover it.

If you know of a driving range that is 300+ yards with a net behind it (and not a fairway, green or anything else where there are people walking behind the net in case the ball would go over) please tell me where this place is.

[tristanhilton85]

Absolutely, and that's exactly why I'm writing on here. The only driving ranges I've found so far have been about 200-220 yards and the nets have just not been able to cover it.

If you know of a driving range that is 300+ yards with a net behind it (and not a fairway, green or anything else where there are people walking behind the net in case the ball would go over) please tell me where this place is.

I don't know the area, but you could always view the different practice facilities on Google Earth and use the measuring tool to see how long they are.

[jamo]

Just find a driving range where you can hit the ball away from Lake Merced. That way, its immense gravitational force will shorten your absurdly long drives. (Also, you can use the measuring tool on Google Earth to find the longest driving range around.)

[David in FL]

Just stick with 7-iron or less. That oughta keep you under 300 yards as long as you don't really get after it! Honestly though, if you're playing off a 9 hcp with that kind of distance, you need to be working on what has to be one of the worst short games in all off golf. ;-)

[Spyder]

Ehh. Dude, seriously. Can I just have your autograph?

[mikeokslonger]

Alright, many things to reply to at once but here we go.

I have tried google maps, must've looked through 10 places but they all seem to be in the 200-220 yards range, that's why I figured it couldn't hurt to ask around because I'm sure my swing is not that unique.

It's hard not to get defensive at this point so without reading too much into my handicap - my short game is pretty decent. What's costing me strokes is that I have to hit multiple shots of tee several times per round. For all I know, my score might be better if I just stuck to 7 irons but I'm not serious enough to care that much about the score. I just play for fun and to me it'd be much more rewarding if I could practice long shots on the range until I could hit them straighter.

Thank you for understanding.

[CarlSpackler]

In not familiar with your area, but Ohio has many ranges that could accommodate you. I do hope you will start a My Swing thread. 350 and up drives would be fun to see and these guys can certainly help straighten you out.

[bplewis24]

Real estate is precious and high priced in San Fran.  Some of the highest value per sq ft in the nation, if not the highest.  I doubt you will find driving ranges that cater to the <1% of the world's population in driving distance.  You will likely either have to find a place outside of San Fran (using Google Earth again, because even in Sacramento there aren't many that stretch out 300+ yards AND have a net), or stop worrying about your driver at the range when you're already hitting it well past the distance where you have to wonder if you really got through it or not.

The Reserve in Stockton is 300+ IIRC, but doesn't have distances out that far and has no net.

[Abu3baid]

I guess the gist of what I am reading is there is no place in your area that caters to such long and powerful hitters.. I think you should bring it down a notch to about 65% and you can still blast them around 250 I bet.. You can always just play a little more, I mean who needs the range when no green is safe while you are on the course?

[mikeokslonger]

Thanks a million for your help everyone! Shame there doesn't seem to be a place to practice though.

I'll probably take the advice to hit the course a bit more often and get to hit a few big ones that way. Anyone feel free to ping me if you're up for playing a round somewhere. I'm not big headed enough to start my own swing thread though I think haha... Plenty of people out there (at least in the long driving circuit) hit it harder than I do. Appreciate the feedback though!

Here's an interesting guy to follow if you really appreciate long hitters, most people probably have something to learn from him if you wanna hit it far.

[mvmac]

Real estate is precious and high priced in San Fran.  Some of the highest value per sq ft in the nation, if not the highest.  I doubt you will find driving ranges that cater to the <1% of the world's population in driving distance.

Yeah I was just going to post something similar. If you want a bigger range you'll have to move.

[iacas]

I'm not big headed enough to start my own swing thread though I think haha..

It's not about being big-headed. Hundreds of people have them:

http://thesandtrap.com/f/4180/member-swings