If you own or manage a country club or driving range, or you’re thinking about starting one, then you undoubtedly have an appreciation for what these types of facilities can provide your members and guests. Above all, your facility should serve as a place where people can unwind from the stresses of everyday life.
Many factors play into how well your course or range accomplishes this: from the overall course design to the irrigation methods you use, from the quality of turf on the range to how well you maintain the putting greens. But one of the most important parts of running a safe and relaxing golf range is installing the right kind of netting.
Along with protecting people from injury, golf range netting protects your business from liability and creates barriers between different sections of your course. Below, Carolina Sports Concepts covers the benefits and types of golf range netting in more detail!
Why Do You Need Golf Range Netting?
All and all, owners of golf ranges and other sports facilities can see a major return on investment by putting up the netting their facilities need. Let’s take a look at how safety, liability, separation, and other factors make netting such an essential part of providing your customers with a top-notch experience:
Safety
The top priority of any country club or driving range is always safety. If you play golf for long enough, you will have your fair share of close calls. This is only natural considering you are hitting a golf ball around other people who are also hitting golf balls! If your golf course is designed so that certain fairways are in close proximity to one another, you will need to install netting to minimize the risk of people getting injured or golf carts being damaged.
Unsurprisingly, it is crucial that you have the proper netting surrounding your driving range; ranges have a high concentration of golf balls flying around in a single area, which means it’s more likely for a golf ball to go off-course from time to time. Your golfers should never have to worry about hurting someone else or causing property damage.
Location
If your golf course is located on an open plain, you may not have to worry about installing netting in certain places. But if your course is like most others, there is probably a nearby highway, street, or residential area. And since golf balls can travel a long distance at high speeds, chances are pretty good that a golf ball from your course will occasionally travel in the path of a vehicle, home, or person.
To prevent serious damage or injury, it’s imperative that you put up barrier nettings in areas near roads, parking lots, residential properties, businesses, and other high-traffic places. Along with fulfilling your moral obligation, this will help to minimize insurance claims and keep your profits growing.
Liability
Your golf course could face some serious legal woes if a lack of golf range netting leads to death, damage, or injury. And throwing up netting without understanding state and local laws is a quick way to gain false confidence that you are protected from liability. You must make sure that you have the right type of netting in place for your operation while ensuring it is installed legally in a way that complies with all state rules, regulations, and safety standards. Otherwise, you could be hit with insurance and legal problems.
Carolina Sports Concepts adhere to all specific laws in every area that we install our netting. Our systems will meet the building wind code for your area and ensure that your property and customers are safe.
Separation
No matter how your course is designed, it’s critical that each area is separate from the others. The easiest way to create barriers and differentiate between golf course areas is to install netting. Don’t worry—the right type of netting will not block your golfers’ sightlines!
Also, you will need to put up netting if your driving range is in close proximity to the main course so that balls are not constantly flying onto the fairways and greens. And if you can’t build the clubhouse, restaurant, bathrooms, and other permanent structures far enough away from the course, you can keep everyone and all property protected, plus keep people off the course, by establishing a barrier between them and the players.
Convenience
Installing golf range netting can also give your golfers a more convenient and enjoyable experience on your course. Some golfers may not always be able to hit their intended target or keep their balls on the green. When a golfer pulls or slices a swing, netting can prevent their ball from exiting the area of play. Thus, golfers will not need to replace a lot of lost balls (or spend the time looking for them).
Furthermore, think of your customers who do not want to play a full round of golf. Maybe they just want to work on certain skills or enjoy a day hitting their driver at the range. By installing netting, your golfers can practice safely within a small area without having to worry about losing their golf balls.
Acquiring the Right Netting
Many kinds of sports facilities use netting for the reasons highlighted above. Polyester, polyethylene, and nylon are the most common materials used to fabricate netting. For lighter applications, such as youth baseball, polyester netting is typically used. Polyethylene is the easiest type to see through, which makes it ideal for protecting spectators while still allowing them a full and clear vision of the playing field. The most durable and long-lasting netting you can buy is made from nylon, which is also UV-protected and is installed to prevent the heaviest and fastest objects from flying into the stands of a stadium.
When choosing what kind of netting to get for your golf range, you will want to consider several details. The material used will make a difference in whether or not the netting serves your purposes, as is the spacing size between the webbing, how much impact it is designed to absorb, and whether or not it is knotted.
Height is critical when it comes to installing netting because it can only be built so high, but the risk of injury or damage increases if the netting is too low. Usually, 125 feet is a sufficient height for a country club or driving range, and Carolina Sports Concepts can install netting up to 140 feet if necessary.
Perhaps the most important part of selecting your netting is choosing a reputable company to do the work. You don’t want to go with an off-the-shelf product and attempt to install it yourself with no prior experience. We will help you choose the right netting for your golf range, from the overall design down to the specification of the webbing. And we will also provide all the necessary hardware for the project and take care of the installation. Don’t hesitate to reach out to our experts at Carolina Sports Concepts!
Picking a Residential Golf Net
If you own or work at a country club or driving range, chances are you are passionate about the game of golf but may not want to spend extra hours away from home. And that means you could benefit from being able to practice at home, free of any worry that you will cause property damage or injure another person. There are a lot of golf nets on the market designed for home use, and here are some factors to consider when choosing which one is right for you:
Size
First of all, consider what you need your golf net for so that you know how big it should be. Along with planning for the net itself, you will need to add a few feet to your measurements to account for the golf mat, as well as space behind the mat to accommodate your swing. If you will be practicing with your driver, you will need a bigger net and more space than if you’re limiting your practice to irons.
Ease of Use
You want your driving net to add joy to your life, not stress. So, it matters how long it takes to set up your net, especially if you only get to use it occasionally and don’t want to spend more time installing your net than you do practicing. Depending on which product you choose, it could take anywhere from two to twenty minutes to install it and take it down each time.
Also, consider where you will be setting up your net; if you plan on practicing outside, you won’t need to take it down as often and you can invest in a sturdier one. And if you will be wanting to use the net for activities other than golf, you will need to ensure that you choose one that is up to the task; that way, you will know that your golf net will not be destroyed by a baseball or hockey puck.
Main Function
There are several different types of golf nets to consider when purchasing one for the home. Driving nets are those that accommodate practice with a driver, iron, and all other clubs. Chipping nets are primarily used for honing your chip shot, and they are less expensive and smaller than your typical driving net. Then there are golf cages, which are not common for homes due to their sheer size; you commonly see golf cages at courses that do not have a driving range.
Durability
As with any kind of golf gear or equipment, you will get what you pay for when it comes to nets. In most cases, you can predict the longevity of your golf net by how much it costs, though the frequency of use also plays a role. Getting a golf net that will hold up through many years of regular practice can be well worth the investment, especially if it comes with a lifetime warranty!
Baseball Netting
While there are extremely rare cases of people getting seriously injured from a flying golf ball, it’s not so rare at baseball facilities. Baseballs are much heavier and carry significantly more kinetic force in the air than golf balls do. And there are thousands of examples of fans being struck by a baseball in the stands, some of them proving fatal.
Installing sports netting at a baseball field can make it much easier for the players to play without interruption, but more importantly, it keeps people sitting in the stands safer. With the proper netting in place, chances are lower that someone will be harmed by a foul ball. It will also reduce the risk of people getting hit by a ball in the parking lot, as well as help protect vehicles from dents and smashed windshields!
Conclusion
Installing high-quality netting is paramount if you run a golf course or driving range. Along with helping you choose the right type of netting, Carolina Sports Concepts can take care of your installation and much more. That way, you can gain peace of mind knowing that both your customers and your business are protected!