Range balls vs real balls

Why you're a world-beater on the driving range but a beginner on the golf course

- Rahil Gangjee

IF GOLF EVER needed proof that it has a wicked sense of humour, look no further than the driving range. That sacred strip of artificial grass where dreams are born, handicaps are murdered, and grown adults convince themselves they’re “really close” to figuring it out.

On the range, you are exceptional. A pure striker of the golf ball. Your warm-up starts cautiously, but by bucket ball number 14, you’ve found it. That effortless rhythm. That sound. The ball launches high, straight, and proud, disappearing into the distance like it has places to be.

People notice. They always do. Someone pauses mid-swing to watch. Another gives you that respectful nod. Someone eventually asks the most dangerous question in golf: “Good swing... you play much?”

You shrug, pretending not to care. Inside, you’ve already pencilled yourself in for the club championship.

Fast forward three hours. Same swing. Same clubs. Same human being. You are now six over through five and Googling “sports psychologists near me.”

Welcome to the great mystery of amateur golf: why you’re a world-beater on the range and a complete beginner on the course. The obvious suspect?

Range balls versus real balls.

Let’s talk about range balls first. These things have lived many lives. They’ve been hit thin, fat, sideways and occasionally backwards. Their dimples are tired. Some are smoother than a politician’s answer. Aerodynamically, they are closer to potatoes than golf balls.

And yet, they are incredibly kind.