Public grass ranges & short-game practice areas on LI

[guisician]

I'm a Nassau County / Town of Notrh Hempstead resident, don't belong to a private club & do most of my practicing @ Harbor Links in Port Wasnington. Love it there, but they rarely open the grass range & don't have a short-game practice area beyond the putting-only practice putting green. Does anyone know of any facility offering either of these on Long Island (or even in the tri-state area) that's open to the public? Would love to have practicing things like bunker shots become a part of my routine rather than an occasional treat when I'm lucky enough to play somewhere that offers such amenities!

 

Thanks,

Pete S

[chas521]

[quote name='guisician' timestamp='1342074163' post='5260882']
I'm a Nassau County / Town of Notrh Hempstead resident, don't belong to a private club & do most of my practicing @ Harbor Links in Port Wasnington. Love it there, but they rarely open the grass range & don't have a short-game practice area beyond the putting-only practice putting green. Does anyone know of any facility offering either of these on Long Island (or even in the tri-state area) that's open to the public? Would love to have practicing things like bunker shots become a part of my routine rather than an occasional treat when I'm lucky enough to play somewhere that offers such amenities!

Thanks,
Pete S
[/quote]

As I recall, Wind Watch has what you need. I think the're off exit 57 on the LIE. They should have an online site. Also, Spring Rock driving range on Denton Ave. in Mineola [I think that's the town] has a practice bunker.

[guisician]

[quote/]
As I recall, Wind Watch has what you need. I think the're off exit 57 on the LIE. They should have an online site. Also, Spring Rock driving range on Denton Ave. in Mineola [I think that's the town] has a practice bunker.
[/quote]

chas521,

Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely check out WindWatch; played it years ago & don't remember the practice facilities. I live right near Spring Rock; their practice bunker was in pretty rough shape last time I was in it a few years ago but it's certainly worth a fresh look.

Pete S

[dporto]

I've rarely played at a public facility with a "good" grass range. I play quite a bit at Cherry Creek in Riverhead (I'm a member there) and their range is embarrassing in addition charging like $8.00 fort a small bucket of balls. I can count on one hand the number of times I hit balls there in the six years I've been a member. Anyway, that's just one example. There are also several ( Long Island National, Pine hills etc...) that have grass ranges but rarely open them - you still pay the same for balls however... All this being said, I don't think it's necessarily the courses fault - I think it's just too labor intensive/expensive to offer a grass range at a public course.

[asong77]

[quote name='guisician' timestamp='1342225244' post='5271298']
[quote/]
As I recall, Wind Watch has what you need. I think the're off exit 57 on the LIE. They should have an online site. Also, Spring Rock driving range on Denton Ave. in Mineola [I think that's the town] has a practice bunker.
[/quote]

chas521,

Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely check out WindWatch; played it years ago & don't remember the practice facilities. I live right near Spring Rock; their practice bunker was in pretty rough shape last time I was in it a few years ago but it's certainly worth a fresh look.

Pete S
[/quote]


Yup, Wind Watch is probably your best bet. They have a nice grass range (though only open Thursday through Sunday), as well as a short game practice area complete with bunkers, chipping practice green, and you can hit 50-80 yards pitches onto the main range. For the short game practice area, its costs $25 and you get a bucket of about 120 balls and a shag bag. The grass range is the normal price for balls.

The other public LI courses that have a grass range are Hamlet Willow Creek and Pine Ridge, both are exit 63 off the LIE. They are very nice grass ranges but both are only open on the weekends. Willow Creek has a practice bunker and a practice green that you can hit chips and short pitches, and Pine Ridge has a massive practice green that you can pitch chips onto.

Like someone has already mentioned, Pine Hills and Cherry Creek both have grass ranges. I haven't played Pine Hills so I don't know what their range is like but Cherry Creek has a TERRIBLE grass range...I would rather hit off mats than to use what they consider a grass range.