Over the past few years, many well-established driving ranges have taken the plunge and opted to upgrade their facilities to include interactive ball-tracking technologies, and at the forefront of that with over 75% of the market share is Toptracer range. With over 1,000 Toptracer ranges worldwide, it doesn’t feel as if you are ever far from one, so I decided to check out my local facility to see what all the fuss is about.
Essentially, Toptracer is an optical-tracking based system, with cameras mounted discreetly above every bay to accurately track the journey of the golf ball, which the clever software can then translate into a multitude of functions and games.
My local Toptracer range is Portmore Golf Park, just outside Barnstaple in North Devon, and for many years it was a very traditional wooden shed, with concrete flooring and some fairly tired bay dividers. Walking in now is a very different experience with high-tech screens at both eye level, and above each bay, modern flooring, and tables and benches behind each bay for food and beverage offerings.
It’s not just the aesthetic that is different either, the clientele seems to have changed massively. Generally from my previous visits, the standard user was clearly a devoted regular golfer or someone warming up for a round on the course. On the particular day I went, however, I saw a much broader spectrum of users, from kids as young as around 5 years old, to teenage couples on a date, all the way to the dedicated practitioner I mentioned before.
After my visit, I was left with no doubt that this was down to the Toptracer software and the variety of entertaining features on offer. One of the most impressive things about the technology for me was that I could quite happily practice my wedge distance control in one bay as my two young daughters were busy trying to whack digital sharks with golf balls in the next bay! The sheer variety on offer is extraordinary and is undoubtedly contributing to the diversity I saw on the driving range.
But as a somewhat(!) serious player, I wanted to know that the data I was looking at was correct, so to test out the accuracy of the data, I took along my FullSwing KIT launch monitor and set it up in my bay. Of the 20 or so shots I measured, only one had more than a 3-yard discrepancy in carry distance which was very reassuring.
Speed of play was another feature that really impressed me with Toptracer range. After playing around with the longest drive function, and the practice mode, I decided to tackle one of the numerous golf courses on offer. I must admit I was a little skeptical as to how realistic it would be, but I genuinely enjoyed it. I completed 18 holes on my own in little over 40 minutes which for a full-time working, time-poor father of two like myself is amazing! It was easy to pick and adjust targets, and the reaction time of the software was also very impressive, with hardly any lag between the strike and the visual, which really enhanced the experience.
I will say that the driving range was a lot noisier than it ever used to be, with loud shouts and laughter echoing around the structure, so concentrating on a serious practice session was a little more challenging than I was used to, but that was a small price to pay for seeing so many different ages enjoying the game, and something easily rectified with a decent pair of headphones!
One of the other notable areas in which Toptracer excelled was the quality of graphics. Toptracer uses 3D graphics as opposed to 2.5D graphics that feature on other systems. This is most visible in Virtual Golf in Toptracer whereby the camera moves to follow the ball's flight mid-air until the ball comes to rest. With other systems, the rolling ball comes into view in static / fixed cameras at the end of a ball flight. All of these seemingly small touches genuinely added up to an enhanced experience for both me and my kids.
All in all, I was extremely impressed with my Toptracer experience. It has revolutionized my local range from a quiet and dull shed to a hive of family-friendly fun. Not only has it given us a new family activity for rainy days, but it is also actively bringing new people to the sport which can only be a good thing.
