Golf Driving Mats

Suburban Stadiums: Golf Center Des Plaines

This is the first installment of Des Plaines Patch’s newest series: Suburban Stadiums. Each week will feature a different local athletic facility, from fitness centers to neighborhood parks. We’ll dive into its history, current offerings and provide a calendar of major events that it will host.

Golf Center Des Plaines

For most people in the Midwest, golf season lasts roughly six months, give or take a couple weeks on each side of spring and fall. Golf Center Des Plaines is trying to change that.

With a heated driving range and a lighted nine-hole, par-3 course, the park district’s golf center gives residents more opportunities to golf. It has been ranked among the top 100 golf ranges in America by Golf Range Magazine and attracts thousands of golfers from around the Chicago area.

History:  The original Golf Center was not owned and operated by the Park District. It was opened in October 1997 by a group of investors at a cost of $7 million.

After only three years the Park District purchased 36.7 acres of land, including the Golf Center, in September 2000 and started making adjustments. The Park District completed some original renovations to the Golf Center, costing $600,000.

In fall 2006, the driving range turf was renovated and the automatic tee-up system on the driving range was updated. Rob Ward, former Golf Center manager, and Don Miletic, current superintendent of business and golf operations  went to Japan to research the tee-up system upgrade and write some of the software.

Current state: Although golfers are relegated to mats instead of grass in the three-tier, 80-station driving range, the automated tee-up system is a big advantage. Each station computer tracks the exact number of balls used so golfers can hit leftovers on another day.

The Golf Center’s prices for balls are comparable to other park district courses. The best deal might be the Golf Center’s short-game area. For only $6 anyone can use the practice area – which stretches 60 yards – anytime throughout the day.

The lighted par-3 course has nine holes that range from 80 to 200 yards and is open until midnight.

The Golf Center has seen a decline in traffic over the past couple of years, but a number of new initiatives are an attempt to draw people back in. A driving range special of eight cents per ball on Thursdays runs through August, and that's in addition to its ongoing promotion of six cents per ball on Mondays.

Golf Driving Mats

We all know that getting good at golf takes a lot of practice and that quality golf training aids such as golf driving mats can make a lot of difference to your game. When practicing golf, perhaps makeing use of a golf practice net , it is important to be hitting off of the right kind of surface. There are different kinds of golf mats of course, such as golf drving mats, depending on what kind of shot you want to be practicing.

Like any sport, in order to improve it is important to practice as often as possible. Golf training aids such as hitting nets and golf driving mats help to make it more convenient and easy for you to get as much practice in as possible from the comfort of your own home and garden. Golf driving mats are something that can really help improve your game and take you to the next level. There are many types of mats available on the market. We will talk about golf driving mats first before mentioning some of the other golf mats available.

If you’re looking to work on your long game and get some driving practice in you will need to look into getting a mat that will replicate the feel of the fairway or driving area. For this purpose you will want to look at golf driving mats. These are built finely to imitate the ground, but they are also very durable, as they can take a lot of abuse due to the nature of the golf swing. You will want to make sure you get good quality golf driving mats. Cheap golf driving mats can wear through quickly and will end up needing to be replaced. The best mats are specifically made to be short and just like most course surfaces and the ball will sit wekk so that you will have confidence in your shots.

The other side of golf, of course, is the short game. If you want to practice your putting, then you can purchase a putting mat for use outdoors. Putting mats vary in size, but all should recreate the feel of the putting green. Its going to be very short and should give you an even surface so that you can practice your putting technique easily. There are a lot of great putting mat products on the market from companies such as Izzo, made in all kinds of shapes in an effort to replicate what you may find on a real course. Putting mats are great and convenient, much like golf driving mats, and will benefit your game.

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