At Home on the Range
Dan Doolin is back at the Columbia Super Range near Everett for the first time since being attacked by three alpacas and a Peruvian llama. The quartet of 250-300lb beasts got agitated when the 61-year-old took his time feeding them grain and knocked him to the ground, tearing the muscles in his back. ‘That was a few months ago and I haven’t swung a golf club since,’ he says. ‘To be honest, I was a bit worried about how my back would react.’
It would be a reach to suggest talk of alpaca attacks is typical urban driving range conversation, but it is just the sort of bizarre anecdote that seems to crop up only at places like Columbia (the range, not the country).
And Dan’s encore could only have come from an avid urban golfer, the type of sports-mad fan who grew up listening to baseball games on a transistor radio under the blankets at night, or cycling to the local muni at dawn with a golf bag slung over his back and playing 54 holes before returning home for supper. ‘I think Tiger’s got it wrong,’ he says, apparently in all seriousness. ‘He seems to take it very easy the first two or three rounds, build a slim lead, then just sort of hold on to it on Sunday afternoon. Why doesn’t he go out on Thursday and shoot a 63? He’d find Sundays a lot less stressful.’
You would think there would be nowhere to go from here, but Dan is really only just getting started. He tells me about the time a famous local sports star came into the home design showroom where he works and asked a number of intelligent questions about how the remodel of his kitchen would turn out. ‘The guy was smart,’ says Dan. ‘He asked me questions the average guy just wouldn’t ask, like if it would be better to install a massive professional range or separate cook top and wall ovens located in different parts of a kitchen, and what the pros and cons are of fully integrated versus freestanding. He was such a perfectionist.’ Then there’s the story of his great-grandparents who were either responsible for burning down a castle in Ireland a hundred or more years ago, or were the last people to flee the building when somebody else set it alight - he isn’t quite sure which.
This is not what you expect every time you hit a bucket of balls. Some people would find it a distraction and prefer to set up at the end of the range where they can conscientiously work on their game. For me, however, it’s all part of the experience. I’d come to Columbia just to listen to Dan’s stories, moan about the latest Mariners trade and maybe hit a ball or two every half-hour.
Built in 1990 and now owned by Columbia Athletic Clubs, the range was originally developed by AP Simon of Everett and recently named by Golf Digest as one of the nation’s top practice facilities. There are 50 stalls at the 16-acre property, a nine-hole chip and putt course called the Par 2, two indoor teaching studios, a fully stocked pro shop called Class A Golf, and a snack bar. As befits a range that Golf Digest deemed worthy of mentioning, the mats and balls are top quality; chipped remolds or mats riddled with holes do not exist here. A fine compliment to this facility are four experienced PGA teaching professionals who are available for lessons; Steve Reuhl, the head pro, who has been at Columbia since 1993; Kevin McKay who joined a year earlier; Ric Colling, at Columbia for 14 years; and LPGA Class A pro Kathy DeNeui who is in her tenth year at the Silver Lake site.
On Columbia’s walls are plaques, awarded by Golf Range Magazine and dating back to 2002, which proclaim it among the top 100 ranges in the nation.
Hitting balls here is a great way to spend one, two, maybe three hours (depending on what sort of conversations you get into) but, of course, it’s not the only first-rate range in the Seattle area.
Superior even to Columbia is Interbay at the bottom of Queen Anne Hill, on Elliot Bay. Here you find a two-tiered range with 80 stalls, 40 of them heated, seven teaching professionals, a very nice nine-hole Par 3 course (with one Par 4), better than decent food, and a golf shop rated in the country’s top 25 by the Golf Range Association of America, publishers of Golf Range Magazine.
For executives in need of something to hit, and a little breathing space following a morning of dreary meetings, it is ideal. Beginners are well catered for with a range of lesson packages, including the popular Learn to Golf series that provides groups four hours of coaching - introduction to full swing, chipping, and putting - for $99.
On the old Highway 99 is the Puetz golf store and driving range that opened in 1945. First-time visitors, already a little skeptical there could possibly be a full-length range in amongst all the buildings on Aurora Avenue, will become doubly unconvinced as they approach. But there, opposite the Evergreen Washelli Cemetery and behind the original Puetz clubhouse and store is a fine range with good mats and decent balls. The only slight misgiving is the hanging nets between each stall. Sometimes an intended draw or fade (more like a wild block or pull) will fly into them and the ball drops to the ground giving you little or no idea of what might have become of your shot. ‘My only problem with the Puetz range is that you have to hit out of the chutes,’ says John Christenson from Seattle. ‘That makes it safer, sure, but they look a bit out of place so don’t really offer a realistic experience. I suppose if I had to choose between making the practice experience more realistic and not getting hit in the face by a golf ball traveling at 150 miles an hour, I’d go with the latter, but still. Anyway, the balls are good quality and the cost of a bucket reasonable.’
Also worth a visit if you’re in the area is the range at the University of Washington, wedged in between NE 45th St, Clark Rd and Walla Walla Rd. Unfortunately the 43 stalls (20 covered) don’t look out on Union Bay, Portage Bay or Lake Washington, or at Husky Stadium, but instead toward Parking Lot E2 and the University Village Shopping Center. A large bucket of balls costs about a dollar less than most city ranges and firing off a quick bucket is always a good way to spend the idle minutes before class (big discounts for UW students) or a big football game.
Southcenter Golf Center in Tukwila, open since 1996, features a two-tiered range with 65 stalls. There is a short-game practice area and a 5,000 square foot putting green.
The range at Jefferson Park has improved immeasurably in recent years and affords the hitter great views of downtown. And plans are afoot to turn it into another Seattle mega-range by adding another tier. Jackson Park will have a two-tier range of its own if the Seattle Golf Masterplan can survive the current economic turmoil, as will West Seattle where you have to hope the range will be built looking north towards downtown and the Sound.
For something a little different in downtown Seattle, try the golf simulators at Hotel 1000 where you can practice on a virtual range, although it might be more fun to ‘play’ one of the over 50 courses available, including the Old Course at St Andrews, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst 2. And if you are in the Bellingham area, look in on Joe Holdridge’s Professional Golf Lab where you can play virtual courses, take lessons and get your clubs refitted. Brandon Proudfoot also has an indoor training facility and virtual range at Mt Si Golf Course in Snoqualmie.
South of Seattle down the I-5 corridor is the well-known Vanco Driving Range in Vancouver, WA. Owned by PGA professional Jack Young, who has taught the game in Portland and Vancouver to over 20,000 golfers over the last 20 years, and PGA professional Chuck Milne who played on the European Seniors Tour in 2005, recording two top-ten finishes in his first two events, Vanco prides itself on being the ‘Cheers of Golf’ - a place where everybody knows your name. A large bucket here costs $8, as much as $3 less than some of Seattle’s ranges and, though the target area isn’t exactly picturesque most people would go for cheap buckets and a drab target over well-maintained turf targets and more expensive buckets.
Vanco always attracts positive reviews for the professionalism and friendliness of the staff, top-quality instruction and the well-stocked pro shop.
Across the state line, the first really notable range might be Red Tail’s in Portland. ‘There are 78 individual hitting stations, 40 on the upper level, 38 below,’ says General Manager Craig Zimmerman. ‘They are all covered and 20 are heated. It’s always 70 degrees and sunny under the covered, heated stalls at Red Tail.’
Unlike some ranges where you have to be careful not to overshoot the target with a
5-iron, Red Tail’s extends to 350 yards which means every golfer in the world except for Alvaro Quiros, JB Holmes, Bubba Watson and some of those Remax Long Drive guys will be able to smash a driver to their heart’s content. There are also nine targets for those who come to work on accuracy as well as distance. The yardage charts showing the distance to each of the targets from each of the stalls are a nice touch.
‘I would call Red Tail a Super-Range’ says Eric Yaillen, Director of Communications at the Oregon Golf Association. ‘It’s definitely one of the best in Oregon, and there’s a superb pro shop too.’
There are 14 certified teaching professionals at the on-site academy, a short game practice area and a snack bar called Bunker’s which serves up hot dogs and burgers next to the 10th tee. There is also a very comfortable restaurant called the Stockpot Broiler serving lunch and dinner adjacent to the parking lot. It is likely a visit to the range will precede 18 holes on the Red Tail Course, previously known as Progress Downs which was redesigned by Portland Public Golf Manager John Zoller in 1999. The facility was renamed Red Tail in honor of the Red Tail Hawks that call the course home, and is a great addition to the range - or is it the other way round?
A little further out of Portland on 99W you come to Tualatin Island Greens which Yaillen describes as ‘one of the best stand-alone ranges in the state.’ Like the range at UW, it has 43 stalls, 25 of which are covered and 12 are heated. There are also 15 grass tees. Putts roll true on the practice putting green thanks to the bent grass turf and there is a short game practice area too.
Another Oregon range to have appeared on Golf Range Magazine’s list of America’s top 100 ranges is Fiddler’s Green, which also claims to be the site of the largest on-course golf shop in the United States (the course being a 2,378-yard executive layout). Located just north of Eugene on Hwy 99, Fiddler’s Green has 20 club-fitting specialists, 250+ models of demo clubs and perhaps the cheapest range balls you’ll find; $1.50 for 30 balls which is approximately $5 for 100, or about half the price of a large bucket elsewhere.
Another favorite place to warm up for a round in Oregon is at the 60-acre range at Bandon Dunes that is actually more of an old-fashioned practice ground than a driving range. Not only is it all grass, but also breaks current convention with the absence of bays. The balls are free, provided you’ve paid your green fee, of course. The absolutely enormous putting green offers up the chance to hit some St. Andrews-length putts, which is great fun especially if you usually play a course whose practice putting green is the size of a blanket.
Another amusing range, and certainly the most unconventional, is in the Pacific Northwest at the Coeur d’Alene Resort in Idaho. The driving range greens are actually blue since you get the privilege of striking low-density balls into the lake. Since the balls used at the range are clearly different from the ball you will on the links, it makes for a great debate over the value of time spent on your swing. However, the Coeur d’ Alene facility is amazing. The range humored David Handley, a recent patron of the resort, yet impressed with the whole experience. “I enjoyed the driving range experience thoroughly. Intentionally hitting a bucket of balls into the water was a first for me and the pre-round massage was a very nice touch.”
Looking at these quality facilities, it is pretty clear what makes a driving range good; a safe, secure hitting area, good balls, good mats, friendly pro-shop staff and ideally a snack bar. If you can throw in a great view, lessons, a pro-shop where the latest clubs can be tested and, of course, some fascinating conversation about being thrown to the ground by wild animals from South America, then so much the better.
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