Practicing at the driving range is a great way to work on your game.
The problem is that it can get boring.
If you don’t know what to work on and how to stay motivated and entertained, you will end up leaving feeling unsatisfied.
Sometimes all you need to make practicing golf more fun is a game.
We have put together a list of the top 25 golf driving range games you can play.
These will help you focus on your long game, short game, and even your putting.
Top 25 Golf Driving Range Games
1. HORSE
Horse is one of the best games to play on a driving range.
You may have played this before with a basketball in your hand, and the game works the same way on the driving range.
First, you must decide on a shot you are going to hit, announce it to your partner, and hit the shot.
If you can pull the shot off, then your friend must do the same thing.
If your friend can hit the same shot, then you move on to the next one.
If they are not able to complete the shot, then they get a letter H.
The first person to spell out HORSE loses the competition.
This is a fun game, and all you will need is some targets to help make it possible.
2. Play the Course in Your Head
Most golfers have a favorite course or a home course.
You probably have this course memorized as something you could play in your sleep.
To improve how you play the golf course, imagine playing this course while on the range.
You will be surprised how much visualization helps you get better at golf and improve your scores the next time you play the course in person.
3. Nine Shots, One Club
The Nine Shots game is one that Tiger Woods has used in the past.
If he has used this to improve his game, it is certainly good enough for us to try.
This is a challenging golf game and will be best suited for those with lower handicaps.
You will have to hit Nine Shots while playing this game.
The nine shots are…
- Draw
- Fade
- Straight
- High Draw
- High Fade
- High Straight
- Low Draw
- Low Fade
- Low Straight
The idea is to be able to complete this in nine swings.
4. Closest to the Pin
When hitting the range with a friend, playing closest to the pin is a great choice.
Although it can be hard to tell precisely who is closer to the pin, you can usually call it a tie and move on.
One option is to play with three shots each and choose the closest.
There are lots of ways you can vary Closest to the Pin to make it a lot of fun.
5. Pretend Fairway
Fairways hit is a vital golf statistic.
If you happen to have a hard time finding fairways, then the driving range is a great place to practice.
Choose an imaginary fairway at the driving range.
You can use the area between two flags or something similar.
There is always a line or two you can use.
Hit ten shots and see how many you can hit in the fairway.
Turn that number into a percentage and try and get the highest fairways hit percentage you can.
6. 15 Points Chipping Game
This next game can be played on a chipping green or even when pitching to a target.
The idea is to create a point system where players get points for hitting it on the green, hitting the pin, and making the shot.
Usually, you would do something like five points for making a shot, three for hitting a pin, and one for hitting a green.
Play this game with a friend and see who gets to fifteen first.
7. Par 18
At a chipping green, you can create a Par Eighteen golf course.
The idea is that golfers should try and get up and down each time they are on a hole.
You go around the green and choose a bunch of chip shots.
Chip the ball on and then try and make one putt.
If you make one chip and one pit, that is par.
If you chip in, that would be a birdie.
Play nine holes and see how close to eighteen you can score.
8. Short, Middle, Long
Short, Middle, and Long is something you can play by yourself or with a friend.
All you do is choose a green and try and hit a shot to the front of the green, the middle, and the back.
When you do this, you will start to learn how to control the distance on your irons.
Controlling distance on your irons will give you lots more ability to score when on the golf course.
9. Make a Chip Before You Leave
There is always some shot at the driving range or practice facility that leaves you feeling accomplished.
This could be hitting a green, hitting a target, or making a chip shot.
Whatever this shot, maybe you could use it as your end goal.
Set some goals for yourself that you must accomplish before you can leave the practice facility.
This allows you to feel accountable as a player and hit shots that count.
This makes it much easier to carry over to the golf course.
10. Simon Says on Takeaway
This next game is challenging, but it can bring out a few laughs between friends.
This is similar to the kids’ game, Simon Says.
While a golfer is swinging the club back, their friend or partner will call out the shot they should hit.
If the person says, “Simon Says,” then the player should attempt to hit that shot (i.e., draw, fade, high, low, etc.).
If the person does not say, “Simon Says,” then you should not attempt the shot they call out.
11. Iron Accuracy
If you want to start zeroing in on your irons, the iron accuracy game is a great one to try.
For this game, you choose one green and one iron that you think will help you to hit it on that green.
Then you hit five shots in a row and see how many you can get it to hit the green.
Try to practice and work on it until you can get five out of five shots to hit the green.
12. Draw, Fade, Straight
Take three golf balls and try and hit a drive that goes straight, one that fades, and one that draws.
If you can do all three, you get a point for each one.
Play this game with a friend, and the first one to get to fifteen points will win.
You will have to learn how to hit different types of shots quickly, or you will only be getting the point for the straight each time.
You also must call out which kind you are attempting to hit before you swing.
13. Choose a Yardage
Choose a target that is 100, 125, 150, or 175 yards away.
Take five golf balls and challenge yourself to hit five golf balls on the green.
The key is you cannot use the same golf club more than once.
You will have to learn how to control the distance on each iron to be able to hit it properly.
14. Consecutive Greens
This is a simple game, and it works well as a self-challenge.
Pick one green and hit shots onto this green consecutively until you miss the green.
Did you get to three and then miss?
Now start over and try and beat your record.
The fun thing about this game is that you can go to the driving range every week and see if you can beat your scores from the previous week.
15. Two Shots Game
For the two shots game, you are going to need to come up with another imaginary fairway.
Choose what the fairway is and then take out a driver, fairway wood, hybrid or long iron, and then a short iron.
Hit two shots with each club and see how many you can get in the fairway.
For each shot you hit in your imaginary fairway, you get one point.
The goal is to get as many points as possible.
If you want to play this game with a friend, then you can just come up with a total point goal you will both have to hit.
16. Flagstick Challenge
For the Flagstick Challenge, you will have to pick a golf green or target that is a bit closer.
This is a challenging game to play when you are 175 or more yards away.
The idea is to take twenty golf balls and see how many of them you can get within one flagstick length of the pin.
The flagstick is an excellent measurement of a makeable putt.
Beyond the flagstick length, your chances of making a putt are much smaller.
You can play this game on your own, or you can play it with a friend and see who gets a higher score.
This game will help you get some great practice with your irons, where you focus on accuracy and not just hitting the golf ball.
17. 40 Golf Ball Straight-Line Challenge
For the, 40 Golf Ball Straight-Line Challenge, you will need that same imaginary fairway you have set up in some of the other games.
The idea of this game is to be able to hit every club in your bag on the fairway.
You start with the pitching wedge and work your way up to the driver.
The maximum number of balls you have to do this is forty.
Some golfers will find they are still on their five-iron when they are hitting their 40th shot.
If you can get through the bag with little trouble, then try lowering the number of golf balls.
18. 21
Twenty-one is a fun putting game you can play if your driving range has a putting green to use.
You will choose a twenty-foot putt.
If you make the putt, you get three points; if you lip out, you get two points; if you two-putt, you get one point.
You have to try and get to 21 without going over.
You can play this game as a challenge for yourself, or you can get your playing partners or friends involved as well.
The fact that you can’t go over twenty-one makes this game that much more fun.
19. Drain and Rotate
The Drain and Rotate game is good when you have three or four people practicing before they head out to play golf.
Pick three or four holes on the putting green and set up putts that are about eight feet from the target.
When you make a putt, you announce it to the other players, and everyone must rotate holes.
You can do this as fast or as slow as you would like.
You have to be the one to announce you have made the putt to move to the next spot.
When you are the one who made the putt, you get a point.
The first player to get to ten points wins.
This is a fun team game to play and can get everybody laughing and enjoying before the round starts.
In addition to being fun, the Drain and Rotate game will help you start making more putts under pressure.
20. Ladder
The ladder golf putting game is an excellent choice if you are practicing on your own.
All you have to do is set some markers on the putting green at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 feet.
You can adjust these distances to work for you, but you will want something that resembles a ladder.
The way this works is that you will start at the first rung of the ladder and then make a putt.
If you make the putt, you move to the next rung of the ladder.
You keep moving up the ladder until you miss one.
When you miss a putt, you must go back to the beginning and start there.
This is a great game to get you to control distances and learn what the difference between a six and a twelve footer feels like.
21. Gate
The Gate putting drill is something golfers on the professional golf tours will use.
You will set up a few “gates” on the putting green that you must putt through.
Pick a straight ten-foot putt and put a gate in the middle using two tees or two ball markers.
There is only enough distance between these two markers to get a ball to run through.
The gate is there to help you learn what it takes not just to get the ball in the hole but to have it roll properly as well.
You can do this drill as a game, and each time you hit the gate, you lose a point; each time you make the putt, you gain two points.
There are several ways to take this drill and turn it into more of a fun game.
22. Clock
The Clock drill is something that even Tiger Woods will use before running out on the course, but we like to think of it as a game.
You can play this with a partner or just do it on your own.
You set golf balls around the hole in a circle.
Choose something makeable, about four feet from the hole.
You can move further out when you get better.
You start at the twelve o’clock spot and then start making your way around the hole.
Each time you make a putt, you can move to the next ball.
Do not advance to the next ball unless you make the previous putt.
You should be able to get completely around the hole and see how many total strokes you had to take.
Then give a partner a turn and see how many it takes them.
If you struggle with missing short putts, you can do this from only two feet away until you get confident.
23. Ten, Ten, Ten
This is another game that can be used back out on the driving range.
You will take ten golf balls for drives, ten golf balls for iron shots, and ten golf balls for chip shots.
Pick a target and then a general area that is acceptable for a miss.
For the driver shots, you will use that artificial fairway you have created on the range.
For the iron shot, you can use a green, and for the chip shots, maybe try and do something within a flag length of the pin.
You have a total of thirty points you can get.
Hit one drive, one iron, one chip rather than trying to hit ten drives in a row.
See how close you can get to thirty and start competing against other players.
24. Lag Putting
Lag putting in golf can be difficult.
If you don’t get the ball close enough to the hole, you leave yourself no chance to make the putt.
For this game, you will want to create an imaginary circle around the hole that is about three feet across.
Take putts from across the green with ten golf balls.
How many of those ten can you get into the smaller circle?
You can play this game with a friend or on your own, but you will get a lot better at distance control in your putting game.
Take your time and focus on making perfect putts that you know you can two-putt.
If a golfer eliminates all of their three-putts, their score is sure to drop.
25. Two-Putt Game
The Two-Putt Game is where you and a partner go around the putting green trying to make two-putts.
You pick a hole, and then your partner picks a hole.
All putts must be greater than twenty feet.
If someone two-putts, they get the point.
If you one-putt you get two points.
If you three-putt, you get no points.
See who can get to twenty the fastest.
Practicing golf should be fun.
There are so many different ways you can add games and competitions into practice.
In addition to helping you pass the time on the driving range, making shots count while you practice will make you better at golf.
The next time you step up to a four-foot putt on the green, you will know that you made ten of those just the other day when practicing the ladder drill.
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