Anchorage (AK) Golf Course is a six-time Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 50 Public Facility. With stellar practice facilities, engaging programming and a unique golf season in terms of daylight in the extreme upper Northwest, Anchorage Golf Course is an interesting course with a fun story to tell.
With the only grass driving range in the city of Anchorage, Quarter Century PGA Member and Director of Golf, Tom Farris, is joined by PGA of America Director of Instruction Blake Smith, LPGA Instructor Peggy Gustafson and Teaching Professional Matt Acuff, to offer an array of programming options that introduce new golfers to the game, help seasoned players hone the skills needed to lower their scores and provide social and engagement opportunities for all to enjoy.
The Anchorage Golf Course generally opens in early May and runs into October as the temperatures allow. However, with the unique daylight patterns in Alaska, the facility’s tee times during the heart of the summer run from 5:00 a.m. until 9:56 p.m., finally forcing golfers off the course just after midnight. Now, with 41,177 rounds played in 2025 — the second of two consecutive record years — it’s the driving range that has become a hub for growing the business and engaging golfers of all ages and skill levels.
“We did a lot of work on our range in the fall of 2021 to prepare for the 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship,” Farris explains. “We lengthened the body of the range and added a private tee box for teaching.”
Farris says that although the range can hold 50 golfers at its peak on its all-grass teeing area, they added a series of Fiberbuilt mats on the back of the range to use when conditions require.
They also construct a temporary tent structure during the season that accommodates upwards of 300 people for live events, parties, tournament dinners and their (locally) famous Burger and Brew event every Friday from 5:00-8:00. On nice evenings, this traditional Friday night range attraction often welcomes 150 golfers looking for a good burger, a refreshing beer and a bucket of balls. Add to that the fun and camaraderie of spending time on the range with family and friends, and the $25 price tag is very well worth it!
The temporary structure, known as the “Little Bears Pavilion” is not just an open tent — it is climate controlled and with sliding glass doors. With views of Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley), several other mountain ranges and the city of Anchorage, is there a better setting for a wedding or other special occasion? They host live music and are the go-to golf course for tournaments and charity outings. In fact the summer sunrise and sunset schedule allows for a few triple shotgun outings — that’s three shotgun starts in the same day! Farris calls it an excellent party atmosphere!
Additional practice facilities include three practice greens for chipping and putting practice, as well as coaching and instruction from the golf professional team. In fact, the facility’s Get Golf Ready program is highly successful with more than 300 participants over the years. This initiative covers all aspects of the golf swing, short game and putting on the range and short game areas, and gets golfers on the course in a timely manner.
That group of coaches implements junior golf programming each year to create learning and playing opportunities for their local youth golfers. Anchorage Golf Course’s PGA Jr. League program has upwards of 50 young golfers across its 13U and 17U divisions and another 60-70 kids in its Drive, Chip and Putt competition.
With so much activity on the driving range, Farris says they are considering implementing automated range pickers and mowers and are weighing the cost benefits versus the manual labor that those tasks currently utilize.
Anchorage Golf Course has two dining rooms upstairs for special events and a restaurant that’s open year-round. But what a spectacle a wedding on the range must be! Add to that the Demo Days that Farris and his team host with industry leaders like Callaway, PING, TaylorMade, Titleist and Cleveland/Srixon that contributed greatly to a half million dollars in merchandise sales in 2025, and it’s no wonder that facilities of all types, shapes and sizes are seeing great value and growth opportunities in their driving ranges.
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