|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
The year's best ranges
Sports Illustrated senior writer John Garrity was a 42-year-old eight handicapper when he suddenly lost his swing. Since December 1989 he has been looking for it -- a modern-day Odysseus adrift on the troubled waters of swing theory. As Garrity travels the world reporting on golf, he visits as many driving ranges as he can, avoiding the dreaded "mats only" ranges that prevent him from teeing it up. Tuesday, December 12 ABOARD DELTA FLIGHT 1544 -- I have an appointment with the Polar Pig, but I'm dressed for golf, winging home to Kansas City -- where the temperature is 6 degrees -- through a cold, starlit sky. I'm wearing the white polo shirt I had on this morning, when I hit 100 or so balls at the University of Florida Golf Course. My old blue parka is in the back seat of our '91 minivan, which is parked on the second level of the Terminal B garage at MCI. My question: How do I get the parka to meet me at the gate? My other question: When did they start calling a spreading, slow-moving arctic air mass a "polar pig"? Oh well, in Gainesville I had what may have been my final practice session of 2000. And although the last month has been practically golf free, the year as a whole has been a range rat's nirvana. From Week 1, when my driver swing magically reappeared on the range of the new Kapalua Golf Academy, to Week 45, when I got to warm up at a trio of pristine ranges at Reynolds Plantation, I kept finding green grass and rainbows. Here, then, are my top 10 practice plots of the year: 1) Woody's Golf Range, Herndon, Va. Yes, the Mats Only Range of the Year is a commercial range, complete with miniature golf, batting cages and a horseshoe pit. Woody's gets the nod because owner Woody FitzHugh invented a game called The Ironmasters Challenge and built the most novel range targets in the country -- conical platforms that light up like pinball bumpers when struck by a golf ball. Augusta National it's not, but Woody's is just plain fun. 2) Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, Ga. Every golf course at this superb resort/residential development has a five-star practice facility. The range at the Bob Cupp -designed Plantation Course is an intimate, tree-lined delight. The range at the Tom Fazio -designed National Course is more sprawling and works slightly uphill for a variety of shot challenges. The range at the Jack Nicklaus -designed Great Waters Course is made of magical grass -- how else to explain a teeing ground without a single divot or blemish? (At Great Waters, by the way, they keep the range balls in drawstring bags in wood-paneled drawers in the pro shop. Jewelers could learn from these guys.) 3) The 19th Tee Golf Range, Nepean, Ontario. A huge facility with multiple grass teeing areas and well-maintained mats. Buy a bucket of balls from the well-stocked golf shop and you're free to practice on either of two pitching and chipping practice greens. (Management supplies both the balls and a push-style, wheeled ball picker.) 4) Isleta Eagle Golf Course, Albuquerque, N.M. If you think Notah Begay is the only Native American with the golf gene, think again. This Indian-owned facility was built with profits from the casino across the highway, and the golf course is high-end-resort quality. The practice range is even better, with terraced tees overlooking a green valley and beautiful target greens. 5) Rocky Gorge Golf Fairway, Laurel, Md. Gus Novotny's classic commercial range is famous for its junked-automobile target, but I love the carnival-meets-Disney ambience and the wonderful mix of people you meet there. If I were a teenager, this is the range I'd pick for a date. 6) Hank Haney's Golf Ranch, McKinney, Texas. You want rustic charm? How about a golf shop, locker rooms and even hitting stations in an authentic horse stable? One end of the Ranch is open to the public; the other harbors a private lesson tee for golf schoolers and private students of the nationally known swing coach. 7) Maderas Golf Club, Poway, Calif. The main range at this brand new development course is nice enough, but the short-game area is to die for. Two elegant practice greens are separated by about 80 yards of fairway, rough and sand, and there's even a pitching tee up on a hill. You could spend hours here and never get bored. 8) Puerto Del Sol Golf Course, Albuquerque, N.M. The course is a modest nine-hole muni, but the lighted range is a four-star surprise. The north-facing grass tees are used in the morning, then everybody moves to the east-facing tees as the sun crawls to the mountains. The sunsets can be breathtaking. 9) Kapalua Golf Academy, Maui. Good, soft turf, multiple teeing areas, a snazzy golf shop, covered teaching stations, and a gorgeous site between the mountains and the sea. I liked everything about Kapalua but the wind, which kept trying to blow my cap to Molokai. 10) Harry H. Semrow Driving Range, Des Plaines, Ill. Another mats-only range, but it gets everything else right. Some 70 stations curve around a well-maintained grassy field backed by the Cook County Forest Preserve. The uncluttered look is a triumph of minimalism; the mats and balls are great, too. That's my list. Next week I'll look at the worst ranges I visited in the millennial year (although I'm not sure I can muster the traditional 10). If you have some best and worst ranges to share, let me hear from you by e-mail. It makes for great reading on a cold winter night.
Watch this space for another installment of Mats Only. To send John Garrity advice, share your experiences, or suggest a driving range, click here.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
