For your consideration: Top Tracer Range

[GolfSpy_BEN]

A quick study in contrast:

This past Saturday I played 18 holes at Majestic Springs Golf Course. It is a lovely course located near Wilmington, Ohio. Approximately 45 minutes northeast of Cincinnati. The forecast leading up to the day called for a mild day in the low 50’s, what we got was the high 40’s and the occasional 25 mph gust. At one point, I was shivering harder than a drunk three days dry and went so far as to try on the available outerwear in the pro shop, at the turn. My kingdom for a XXL pullover, but I digress. We teed off at 2:21 pm and completed our round in a brisk 5 hours and 28 minutes. As you can imagine, we waited on every tee box and fairway for the foursome in front of us, who were in turn waiting for the foursome in front of them who in turn…ad infinitum. Despite the weather and the waiting, I carded an 80. I had a chance at breaking 80 with a 12’ par putt on 18 that turned to the right at the last second, leaving me a tap-in to finish. I say all of this, to emphasize that pace of play be damned, I still enjoyed every last minute of that 5 hours and 28 minutes and would gladly sacrifice my time in a similar manner every day until I am on the other side of the dirt. Amen.

 

I suppose it bears mentioning that my long-suffering wife, with the patience of a saint, does not share my views on the liberal use of free time to pursue such passions, but she keeps me around because, in the right moment, I can be quite charming. Which leads me to other side of this contrast.

 

This afternoon I met my erstwhile golf league partner at the Southwest Golf Ranch. It is veritable golfer’s one stop. There are 2 grass tee areas, separated by the pro shop and covered hitting bays, a large green complex, and a chipping green, as well as a covered fitting studio and lesson area. Throw in the minigolf out front and it is fun for the whole family. A couple of years back they added Top Tracer Range to the covered bays, which for the uninitiated, means that each bay has its own launch monitor. In the beginning, there was an additional charge to use the service, but since then the range has worked it into the price of a bucket and 15 bucks for 100 balls isn’t hateful. All of this to say, one of the options afforded to their patrons is a version of virtual golf. How it works is after one has procured their regular (65 balls), large (85 balls), or jumbo (100 balls) buckets, one selects an open bay and is confronted with a choice. You can play as a guest or use the top tracer phone app to log in. The advantage of the phone app is the archive one can build of shot data. Once logged in, you are given the following options: warm up, my practice, virtual golf, driving challenge, long drive, approach challenge, closest to pin, points game, go fish, and top tracer 30. Each is a unique and wonderful way to get your practice in, without mindlessly bashing balls into oblivion.

 

We hit 10-15 balls a piece using the warm up screen. This is nice because it gives real time feedback on carry and total distance, among other metrics. Kind of a check up to confirm your 7i is still carrying what you thought it was. We then played 18 holes of golf using a virtual layout of Bethpage Black from the white tees. In the interest of full disclosure, by necessity, putting is completely removed in this version of virtual golf. For example, on the opening hole (a 429-yard par 4) we each hit a drive out onto the range. The top tracer launch monitor takes the distance of that drive and applies to the monitor in your bay. The monitor then shows your remaining distance to the hole, and you hit an appropriate approach shot. Once you get within 30 yards of the pin, it becomes a closest to the pin shot to determine the outcome of the hole. That closest to the pin has three targets to choose from 60 yds, 100 yds, and 130 yds. Around each of these pins are circles of varying diameters for birdie, par, bogey. Your proximity to the pin on approach determines how large each of those circles are, e.g if you are on the green in two and 5 feet away from the pin your birdie circle will be considerably larger than if you are 25 feet away. If it takes you 3 shots to get within 30 yards of the pin, then the best you can shoot for is a par and so on.

It took us about an hour and a half to play those eighteen holes. We had balls left over so we finished up with a couple of closest to pin contests for modest wagers and went our separate ways in just under 2 hours. The long-suffering wife suffers a little less on the occasions that we play a round at the range and agrees, that while golf will always be a part of the equation that makes up our family, range rounds are tantamount to a compromise.

 

All of this to say, I absolutely love the direction our grand game is heading. There have never been more ways to play golf. More specifically, there have never been more relatively inexpensive ways to play golf. I have no good answers when it comes to solving pace of play, far better and brighter than me have been perplexed by it since time out of mind, but having more options can’t be a bad thing.

[Siamese Moose]

Majestic Springs does not get near enough love, I think most people in Cincinnati (and Columbus) don't know it exists, since it's rather remote. A long time ago on a different forum we had a forum get together there that drew people from as far as New Yark and Tennessee. Everybody praised the course.

[revkev]

The best answer that I know to the pace of play issue is to join a private club. But even at those it’s gotten crowded enough that a sub 4 round keeps to 445 on busy days in season.

 

Nice write up - looks like a fun alternative to a 5 plus hour slog. Thanks for sharing these experiences and your thoughts. 

[cksurfdude]

21 hours ago, Ben Joest said:

All of this to say, I absolutely love the direction our grand game is heading. There have never been more ways to play golf. More specifically, there have never been more relatively inexpensive ways to play golf. I have no good answers when it comes to solving pace of play, far better and brighter than me have been perplexed by it since time out of mind, but having more options can’t be a bad thing.

Agreed! More options can only be a good thing.

There are a few indoor sim places in my area, within about a 45 minute drive, but have not actually visited any. There's also a Top Golf .. might try that sometime on like a couples' night out maybe..?