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Range balls at courses

Thechosen1

Thechosen1

#Thistagwilltravel
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What's your opinion on range balls- should they be included in your round total(free in a sense.) just always seems as if all the nicer courses around here have them included in your round compared to some other places where in order to hit the range you have to pay. Not that I have any problem with it I'm just curious of most people like me would prefer it in the round total or something. Not to sound cheap but I'm just curious on how people think about this.

Because of you're local course always offered free range use for rounds some might now always use it but it's there since I know some just get out of their car and go play. Hope I make sense!
 
You're paying either way when it comes down to it.
 
I've played at courses that include it and courses that don't. It's nice if a course includes it. Maybe just a small bucket, not unlimited, would be a good thing because you're just trying to warm up, not practice.
 
my previous course didn't have a range, just a small area and you had to shag balls. The one we joined this year offered a range membership which was only 180 bucks extra. Figured that was well worth it.
 
A small bucket would be nice to have either before or after a round. They could give you a poker chip or something to claim the bucket whenver you wanted it. I can see how some courses wouldn't offer it. But if I'm paying $75+ for a round, it's the least they could do.
 
TPC Deere Run always has small bags of balls in the cart, so my assumption was that they were 'free'. Well, I played there in the late fall after the range was shut down and they actually refund the 'range fee' on the receipt.
 
Some do, some don't. Around here, it's only the "upscale" courses with greens fees over 50 bucks that include the range. That's a 2-3 times a year thing for me. The country club we were at last year obviously had unlimited range use. The course I'm a member at now offers steeply discounted range balls for members, but still cost a little. Any outing or league night I'm at has unlimited range balls prior to the round.
 
Yes I think range balls should be included in the round. I think it will bring folks to course early to practice and possibly spend money on other items such as food, drink and gear in the shop.
The top end clubs in Orlando include them but the trend is moving toward charging for them at the middle tier and lower tier course. Hell even a few CC charge for them
 
Hawk said:
TPC Deere Run always has small bags of balls in the cart, so my assumption was that they were 'free'. Well, I played there in the late fall after the range was shut down and they actually refund the 'range fee' on the receipt.
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the course where my wedding was at was like they, they had a free well. Another high end course around me you can use the range all day when you play a round of golf.
 
I think it should be included and if you come and play as a member guest or a resort player at my course range balls are included in your round and are already in buckets down on the range. I think they should be included but most don't.
 
I wish my course had a range. I'd love to see them put in an area like the course we played in Nebraska a couple years ago at the Midwest outing. No room for a range where I play.
 
Between the initial cost of keeping quality range ball, washing them after use, paying someone to round the up, reseeding/mowing the range and staff inside selling their use, it all becomes a pretty pricey offering for any course. I don't mind paying to warm up and practice, I know my course really just try's to break even on the process.

s someone above said, you pay for it one way or another.
 
thedue said:
Between the initial cost of keeping quality range ball, washing them after use, paying someone to round the up, reseeding/mowing the range and staff inside selling their use, it all becomes a pretty pricey offering for any course. I don't mind paying to warm up and practice, I know my course really just try's to break even on the process.

s someone above said, you pay for it one way or another.
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I just think thats part of the cost of running a course though Duey, I think it should simply be hidden in the cost of a round so that people think that if you play there, range balls are free. IT would seem like a great perk for playing there.
 
Hawk said:
You're paying either way when it comes down to it.
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Correct. My home course does not include this in a round simply because many people don't go to the range first. We do by the bucket (two sizes) or a yearly range pass.
 
There's a range around here that I despise, but I had to use it once cause it was a big round and I needed to warm up. To get balls, you had to go inside the clubhouse and buy them, ridiculously high price, and they gave you a receipt with a 12-number code on it. You could only get codes for a dozen balls. So I spent 8 bucks on 4 dozen balls, then you had to walk out to the range that was a half a mile away and punch in every code individually and it filled a bucket. It was a very nicely maintained range, but there were no yardage markers and it was too short (~220 yards). All in all it was worht it cause it warmed me up for the round which I ended up shooting one of my best rounds of the year, but for a course as expensive as it was, it was too much.
 
IceJack said:
There's a range around here that I despise, but I had to use it once cause it was a big round and I needed to warm up. To get balls, you had to go inside the clubhouse and buy them, ridiculously high price, and they gave you a receipt with a 12-number code on it. You could only get codes for a dozen balls. So I spent 8 bucks on 4 dozen balls, then you had to walk out to the range that was a half a mile away and punch in every code individually and it filled a bucket. It was a very nicely maintained range, but there were no yardage markers and it was too short (~220 yards). All in all it was worht it cause it warmed me up for the round which I ended up shooting one of my best rounds of the year, but for a course as expensive as it was, it was too much.
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$8 for roughly 50 balls doesn't seem that high to me. At least not around here
 
coolbreeze said:
I just think thats part of the cost of running a course though Duey, I think it should simply be hidden in the cost of a round so that people think that if you play there, range balls are free. IT would seem like a great perk for playing there.
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I completely agree with a higher end course that can justify a bit higher course rate, but so many smaller local courses are really competing against each other on the price scale. Our course is pretty much in the middle here, price wise, at $24 per 18 holes w/o cart. To be honest, the only thing that keeps us afloat is alcohol sales, lol. There has been some talk of raising prices to match some of the other course's here and make the range free with rounds and might just work, but while we have a solid course our range is pretty ho hum.
 
ddec said:
$8 for roughly 50 balls doesn't seem that high to me. At least not around here
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Really? The range at my course (also too short) I get them for $5 for a large bucket of 80 and the big range is $10 for 4 tokens of 30 balls each. I guess ranges are just cheaper here.
 
thedue said:
I completely agree with a higher end course that can justify a bit higher course rate, but so many smaller local courses are really competing against each other on the price scale. Our course is pretty much in the middle here, price wise, at $24 per 18 holes w/o cart. To be honest, the only thing that keeps us afloat is alcohol sales, lol. There has been some talk of raising prices to match some of the other course's here and make the range free with rounds and might just work, but while we have a solid course our range is pretty ho hum.
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I gotcha, I think just mentally I would rather pay $26 for a round and get "free" range balls then pay $24 dollars and not. I don't know why but it makes me feel like a deal. Plus, now everyone "pays" for the range every time that they play. So the guys that choose not to use the range before their round are actually helping out with the costs of maintaining the range without actually using it.
IceJack said:
Really? The range at my course (also too short) I get them for $5 for a large bucket of 80 and the big range is $10 for 4 tokens of 30 balls each. I guess ranges are just cheaper here.
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Ya, here you get 30 balls for about $8 that was a pretty cheap price IMO.
 
$3.50 for a bucket here, around 30 balls or a few more. We have a couple members who pick them up for us and its my job to toss them in a machine that cleans them before going back out to the range. It's a pretty good bargain in my opinion as is.
 
just checked the info at my new course and its 5 bucks for 30.
 
thedue said:
$3.50 for a bucket here, around 30 balls or a few more. We have a couple members who pick them up for us and its my job to toss them in a machine that cleans them before going back out to the range. It's a pretty good bargain in my opinion as is.
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That's about the going rate around here, though you will find them cheaper or more expensive occasionally.
 
thedue said:
$3.50 for a bucket here, around 30 balls or a few more. We have a couple members who pick them up for us and its my job to toss them in a machine that cleans them before going back out to the range. It's a pretty good bargain in my opinion as is.
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Thats a good deal on range balls for sure, especially for a grass range.
 
Just assumed range balls with a round were always free lol. Don't know if I have ever played a course that charged for them yet.
 
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