Highest Score Wins (TopGolf)

[fr0sty]

Who has been to TopGolf before? What is the best strategy for high scoring? Here is their scoring sheet: http://topgolf.com/assets/uploads/pdf/topgolf-game-guide-02.pdf

Eyeballing it I would think shooting for the 50 and 25 yard targets is not a good choice because the point values are low and the targets are small (my 25 and 50 yard shot zones are probably much larger than those targets). Likewise the 185 and back-wall are probably too long to reach reliably so it seems the choice is between the 90, 125 and 150 targets (all the same size but with different point values).

At this point I'm planning to hit into the 90yard target with every shot the first time around and go from there. How would you play it?

 

 

[Wally Fairway]

I went for the first time just this past weekend, it was a cold damp day at Virginia Beach so we went to TopGolf instead of the beach. It was a good time waster, the food & drink exceeded my expectations. The golf experience not so much - I had to use the house clubs, which were clunkers, the balls seemed a little dead, but everyone had a pretty good time - and I won, which isn't that big a surprise and no one else is really much of a golfer.

My "strategy" was to hit to the 150 and 185, but I adjusted to hitting to the 125 and 150; it wasn't as much fun to aim at only one target areas. The group next to us seemed much more into the competition (and drinking), and they were throwing the ball at the closest targets (we were on the 2nd level).

[David in FL]

We have one just south of Tampa, and a couple others coming throughout the state.  A lot of fun...kind of a bowling type atmosphere with food/drink/tv's, but no need to rent someone else's smelly old shoes.    

Unless you're playing a specific game requiring otherwise (chipping, multiple targets required, etc...) the best scoring option I found was simply to pound balls straight down the middle to the "ditch".  It's only 215 (the balls roll forever) and pretty forgiving points-wise even if you're off laterally.  

FWIW, although I did before, I probably won't even bother to take my own clubs next time.  The upper level is preferred too.

[disaster]

Do you know how large these scoring zones are really in diameter and how wide that 215yd 10point-scoring zone is? I'd probably only go for 150 and above because you get much more points if your shot is a bit off than you would do for the shorter targets, and generally my misses aren't so far off - as long as I don't take a driver -.-

[fr0sty]

The Largest circles appear to be 75ft across according to google maps, @disaster. Total width of ditch is 110ft. Medium circle is 45ft.

Another thing I noticed reading the scoring sheet is if you land in the "shaded areas" (which is all of the back two targets and only the inner portions of the closer targets) your next shot counts double so if you can repeatedly hit any of the longer targets you get a 2x bonus on the every ball (like rolling strikes when bowling).

[fr0sty]

Here is another twist on the game: Since this will be a team competition involving people of various abilities (top 5 scores count, max 1 per person) what is the best strategy for a player with little or no previous golf experience?

My best guess is use a mid-length iron to try to bounce/roll the ball into the 50 or 90yd targets but maybe there is a better approach...

[Rainmaker]

I've been to Top Golf twice now.  At first I was skeptical but it's actually really fun.  If you want to try to hit the targets, try to get a spot on the top tier - they're pretty hard to see from the ground tier.  As far as I'm concerned, though, there's only 1 target at Top Golf which is the back wall.  Every time I've been we just see who can hit the center of the back wall (10pts) the most. 

[JMHARDING]

We play alot of the top pressure and scramble and try to hit the target the screens tells us, and the mushi (mexican sushi) its not really sushi kinda like a burrito with chicken rice sarotcha sauce etc cut into slices!! Best thing on the menu!!

[fr0sty]

Quick report: good food, fun game.

After trying a few things I ended up just hitting pitches into the yellow target. As long as you get inside the outer circle the value of the next shot is doubled so i was able to get 8-16 points on most shots easily. I played three rounds and had a top score of 183.

Next time we go out I might try shooting for the back wall (only brought a 6i and 8i) and see how that goes.

[fr0sty]

A guy at work mentioned this week that this thread, which I had entirely forgotten about, is on the first page of results for "Top Golf Strategy" so I figured it is time for an update:

Our team ended up winning the championship round this past week. The key to winning in this format pretty much came down to having depth, honestly. Our most recent opponents put up a single score of almost 280 (soundly beating our best of 210-ish) but their 2-5 scores were not as good so we still won by a comfortable margin.

The winning strategy seems to be to hit to the farthest target you can hit >75% of the time. For me that was the yellow and I topped out in the 180s score wise. the 280 score was from hitting all of his into the back trough, which is the way to go if you have the distance (and requisite directional control).