Don’t waste time bashing balls into a field… a Toptracer Range will transform your practice
What does your average visit to the driving range look like? If it’s anything like ours, you’ll head there with all the right intentions, but end up hitting your favourite club your favourite yardage 30 times… and a load of drives into a field. It’s monotonous, boring and it doesn’t help your game. But imagine how much fun – and useful – a range session would be if you could play a virtual course like St Andrews. Or access numbers like spin rates and carry distance. Or even benchmark your stats with each club in the bag, to really understand your game and track improvements. If you fi nd a Toptracer Range, you can access all those features – and more. Over the page, TG coach Deana Rushworth shows you exactly how you can get more from a range visit next year, plus where to fi nd the nearest Toptracer Range to you.
HOW IT WORKS
Toptracer is revolutionising the world’s driving ranges. Cameras above the hitting bays track every shot and feed data back to a screen and app. You can play games on it, play a virtual course with friends or just practise with it.
AS SEEN ON TV
Toptracer’s ball tracking tech started life as ‘Protracer’, invented y Swede Daniel Forsgren in 2006 to improve televised golf coverage. Topgolf bought the camera-based system in 2016 and started rolling out its range-friendly version in 2017
TOPTRACER’S NINE PLAY MODES
Warm-up
Analyse multiple data
points, including ball
speed, launch angle,
distance and more
Driving Challenge
A nine-hole game scoring both distance and accuracy. If you don’t hit the fairway or a pin is obstructed for the next shot, there is a penalty
Approach Challenge
Take aim at the fl ag
as consistently
close approach
shots are the name
of this game.
SHOT TRACKING
The software tracks multiple balls at once and assigns them to the right bay. It breaks the range down into triangles (like a grid) so your ball can be traced back to your bay by calculating the angle at which it enters and exits each triangle. Your numbers – including distance, speed, launch angle, shape and more – are recorded and displayed on a 21-inch touchscreen monitor and the app.
FULLY CONNECTED
Download the Toptracer Range app, register, scan the screen when you arrive and choose from six play modes. Then create a profi le to become part of a community. The app stores data from practice sessions, so players can monitor changes and fi ne-tune their swing over time. For users at Toptracer Range Mobile-enabled facilities, the app is also where they can access skill-based games
My Practice
Tells you all the key
stats – total distance,
carry, ball speed,
height, hang time…
It’s all relayed to an
app on your phone for
future reference
Closest to the Pin
Just want to work on
your iron play or wedge
game? Choose a real
target, tell the screen
which one it is and fi re
away. It’ll tell you how
close you got.
Virtual Golf
Play on real world
courses, using the
targets on the range,
including Pebble
Beach and the Old
Course. A great
option for groups.
Long Drive
Who can hit the
furthest? This game
lets you settle the
argument by turning
the range into a
proper long drive grid
for up to eight players
Points Game
This mode turns range
targets into points;
plus you can win
bonus points for
hitting a certain
trajectory through
an ‘In Air’ ring.
Go Fish
Child-friendly range
game that can be
played individually or
as a team where
players bid to capture
24 sea creatures in a
virtual aquarium.
