Not long ago, the driving range served a couple of very golf-specific purposes — warming up before a round or pounding through a bucket of golf balls. Today’s practice facilities, however, have evolved into destinations where golfers improve their games, compete with friends, entertain family members and spend hours enjoying the facility, whether a public or private golf course OR a stand alone driving range. The catalyst behind that transformation has been technology.
Today’s range technology has changed the way PGA of America Golf Professionals teach, golfers practice and facilities generate revenue. Across the country, clubs are discovering that investing in ball-tracking technology isn’t simply about measuring carry distance — it’s about creating an entirely new experience.
For years, private clubs struggled to convince members to spend time on the practice tee. Today, many members arrive long before their tee time, or even visit the club when they’re not hitting the course.
With several options in today’s technological market, a few names have propelled themselves to the top of the driving range industry — Toptracer Range, Trackman Range and FLAGD Golf.
Facilities equipped with Toptracer have discovered that interactive games, virtual golf and friendly competitions appeal to every demographic. Juniors can compete in closest-to-the-pin contests. Couples can play virtual rounds at St Andrews or Pebble Beach. Serious players can analyze launch conditions and dispersion patterns.
At clubs like The Village Club of Sands Point in New York, Toptracer has helped transform the practice facility into one of the busiest gathering spots on property, with members using the technology for instruction, club fitting, family events and casual practice sessions.
GRAA Top 50 Facilities have experienced similar success. 21 Golf Range in New Jersey and Tappan Golf Center in nearby Rockland County, The Golf Ranch in Brookfield, Connecticut and Sittler Golf in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, have all embraced technology-driven practice to attract golfers who might otherwise choose entertainment venues over traditional driving ranges.
Erik Sorensen’s Newbury (MA) Golf Center has created year-long engagement opportunities for golfers, despite the frigid New England winters. With successful women’s and junior golf programming and private lessons given by its PGA Professional owner, Toptracer Range has enhanced the golf experience for seasoned players and new golfers alike.
Toptracer remains the most widely installed range technology platform in golf, serving more than 1,200 facilities worldwide. Using high-speed cameras mounted throughout the range, the system tracks each golf shot and displays ball flight, carry distance, launch characteristics and shot shape on monitors or mobile devices.
But numbers alone aren’t driving participation. Gamification has become Toptracer’s biggest advantage. Golfers can:
Play iconic golf courses virtually.
Compete in longest drive and closest-to-the-pin contests.
Complete structured practice assessments.
Save every practice session through the Toptracer app.
Compare results with friends and global leaderboards.
For PGA of America Golf Professionals, the technology creates more engaging lessons. Instead of telling a student that the ball started left and curved right, instructors can immediately show launch direction, curvature and distance. Students leave with objective feedback rather than relying solely on feel.
While Toptracer leans towards entertainment, Trackman Range emphasizes performance. Powered by Doppler radar technology, Trackman delivers many of the same metrics trusted by PGA Tour players and club fitters, including club speed, ball speed, launch angle, spin, carry distance and dispersion.
Facilities like Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia, Sea Island Golf Club and numerous high-end daily-fee facilities have embraced Trackman because of its precision and instructional value.
Trackman also integrates seamlessly into club fitting programs. A player can warm up on the range, receive a lesson and undergo a fitting using consistent data throughout the experience.
For competitive golfers and instructors, Trackman provides a level of detail that makes every practice session measurable.
Precision, simplicity and performance — built into one device. Founded in January of 2019 by Troy Parish in Solana Beach, California, FLAGD Golf is a GPS distance measuring solution for golf course practice facilities. It’s a device, usually affixed to a bag stand, pole or range ball crate, that provides precise distance measurements to various targets on the range. With a FLAGD Golf device at each hitting location on the range, there is no more guesswork on the part of the golfers when it comes to the distance between them and their intended targets.
As competition among technology providers continues, facility owners benefit from more choices tailored to different budgets and operational goals.
The greatest value of range technology may not be the launch data at all.
PGA of America Golf Professionals and facility operators are using these platforms to:
Conduct weekly leagues.
Host corporate outings.
Organize junior camps.
Run family game nights.
Offer skills challenges.
Increase lesson participation.
Drive food and beverage revenue.
Many facilities now rent bays by the hour rather than selling buckets of balls. Others package range technology into memberships or loyalty programs that encourage repeat visits.
The result is longer customer stays, more ancillary spending and stronger engagement with the golf facility.
Perhaps the biggest change is psychological. After all, traditional practice often becomes repetitive or monotonous after 30 or 40 balls. Today’s technology keeps golfers engaged with instant feedback, achievable goals and friendly competition.
Beginners enjoy seeing every shot fly on a screen, regardless of where it lands. Better players appreciate precise yardages and dispersion patterns. Families discover activities they can enjoy together, even if everyone plays at a different skill level.
Technology has also made practice purposeful. Instead of simply hitting driver after driver, golfers are more likely to simulate on-course situations, work through distance gapping or compete in skills-based games.
As artificial intelligence, mobile integration and data analytics continue to advance, driving ranges will only become more personalized. Players increasingly expect their practice history to follow them from facility to facility, allowing them to monitor improvement over weeks, months and even years.
For PGA of America Golf Professionals, these platforms create additional teaching opportunities and stronger relationships with students. For facility operators, they represent new revenue streams that extend well beyond green fees.
The driving range has always been where golfers develop their games. Thanks to Toptracer, Trackman, FLAGD and other emerging technologies, it’s also becoming where they choose to spend their time.
And for facilities looking to grow participation, increase member engagement and create year-round activity, that’s a transformation well worth embracing. Just look at our list of GRAA award winning public, private and stand alone facilities for proof of the impact that technology is having on golf ranges across the country.