Over the past few years, many well-established driving ranges have taken the plunge and opted to upgrade their facilities to include interactive ball-tracking technologies, and at the forefront of that with over 75% of the market share is Toptracer range. With over 1,000 Toptracer ranges worldwide, it doesn’t feel as if you are ever far from one, so I decided to check out my local facility to see what all the fuss is about.
(Image credit: Future)
Essentially, Toptracer is a radar-based system, with sensors placed discreetly in every bay to accurately track the journey of the golf ball, which the clever software can then translate into a multitude of functions and games.
My local Toptracer range is Portmore Golf Park, just outside Barnstaple in North Devon, and for many years it was a very traditional wooden shed, with concrete flooring and some fairly tired bay dividers. Walking in now is a very different experience with high-tech screens at both eye level, and above each bay, modern flooring, and tables and benches behind each bay for food and beverage offerings.
(Image credit: Future)
It’s not just the aesthetic that is different either, the clientele seems to have changed massively. Generally from my previous visits, the standard user was clearly a devoted regular golfer or someone warming up for a round on the course. On the particular day I went, however, I saw a much broader spectrum of users, from kids as young as around 5 years old, to teenage couples on a date, all the way to the dedicated practitioner I mentioned before.
(Image credit: Future)
After my visit, I was left with no doubt that this was down to the Toptracer software and the variety of entertaining features on offer. One of the most impressive things about the technology for me was that I could quite happily practice my wedge distance control in one bay as my two young daughters were busy trying to whack digital sharks with golf balls in the next bay! The sheer variety on offer is extraordinary and is undoubtedly contributing to the diversity I saw on the driving range.
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But as a somewhat(!) serious player, I wanted to know that the data I was looking at was correct, so to test out the accuracy of the data, I took along my FullSwing KIT launch monitor and set it up in my bay. Of the 20 or so shots I…
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