Best golf driving ranges in the UK that now offer Toptracer Range
Toptracer Range is now available at 58 venues in the UK - find your nearest venue...
Ready to take your driving range session to the next level? Let us introduce you to Toptracer Range - technology that offers golfers of all abilities a more dynamic and fun experience.
Conceived by Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Forsgren in 2006 to enhance televised golf coverage, Toptracer (formerly Protracer) is a camera-based system that tracks ball flight and adds on-screen graphics to make trajectory and shot shape visible to viewers.
It has quickly become an integral part of the broadcast experience for fans, having been featured in coverage of numerous prestigious tournaments including The Open, Ryder Cup and US PGA Championship.
Topgolf acquired Protracer in May 2016 and rebranded it as Toptracer. The global sports entertainment leader is using this breakthrough technology in a variety of ways, most notably by helping driving range operators transform traditional facilities into practice destinations through Toptracer Range.
GolfMagic experienced Toptracer Range for ourselves recently, and we were blown away by the experience - READ OUR REVIEW HERE.
But it's not just us that have been impressed. Far from it.
One particular venue at Lytham Golf Academy has seen its ball revenue increase by 40% in the last year. Since April this year, there have already been 1 million balls hit as opposed to 750,000 this time last year.
Toptracer has been the biggest impact to the business over the last seven years, and many other venues are seeing similar trends.
"The feedback from our Toptracer Ranges have been extremely positive," said Paul Williams, general manager of Toptracer Europe.
"Existing golfers are coming back more often and are also introducing their friends and family to the technology.
"All of our Range partners are seeing significant changes in attracting new customers, their existing customers are staying longer, and we are committed to their success.
"Having a games-based facility is making the experience more enjoyable for golfers and non-golfers alike, so the word spreads quickly amongst peer groups and especially over social media."
What we love most about the technology is that you can not only use it to improve your game and lock in your distances, but you can also play different golf courses to essentially make every shot you hit on the range count - rather than just bash balls without an end goal to your shot.
We also love the fact you can play games to encourage a more competitive edge with friends to your range session, whether that be in the form of nearest the pin or longest drive.
If you fancy giving Toptracer Range a try for yourself, there is a good chance there is one near you given there are 58 venues in the UK currently offering the service - check out the full list of venues here.
"Each venue is pretty unique, whether it be through geographical location, local demographics or the size of the range," said Williams,
"Our Toptracer venues are all reporting great success and feedback, both from a revenue perspective as well as seeing a cultural change with guests enjoying their time a lot more.
"My favourite comment from one of our venues is: 'The driving range is now a fun place to be!'"
The constant pursuit to grow the game while improving its technology continues all the time.
"Our vision is to continually develop what we offer to the golfer," said Williams.
"The practice and play experience that we can achieve in the technology environment has so many possibilities.
"In a time where golf facilities are generally losing golfers to other pursuits, we are seeing the trend reverse and our goal is to encourage more people to take up the game and to remain in golf.
"We also anticipate strong growth across the UK and also Europe with new countries like Norway and Portugal installing Toptracer."