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| - In the interest of full disclosure: my review is strictly regarding the practice facility as I have not had the chance to play the course yet.
Some background: my 10 year old son recently took up an interest in golf and we got him lessons (at a different facility) and a set of kids clubs. Until recently, I had not played in about 15 years, so we've been touring around town checking out practice facilities and 9 hole courses. I saw Desert Pines on Groupon and before biting the bullet and getting a $55 range pass, we decided to check it out and just get a couple $10 range cards, which basically gets you 100 balls each.
The practice facility is easily the nicest I've seen in Las Vegas. It was well worth the 15 mile drive from our home. Though the machine that controls the automatic tee up ball relay was a bit worn, this little feature addition was the main driving force (no pun intended) that prompted us to try it. The balls automatically tee up for you and the machine tracks how many balls you play. You can play as many as you want and take the card to finish your pre-paid amount later or add on.
The facility itself was clean, well lit, and spacious. I particularly liked that the facility had tables and benches behind each bay for visitors (in my case, my tag
-along daughter). The turf didn't show much wear, though you may need to adjust the mat when you get there so the automatic balls don't get stuck. A major advantage of this driving range as well is that it is open late, since it is lighted. On the night that we went (Wednesday night) it was open until 11pm. I found that many ranges I called closed at sunset due to not being lighted. This is convenient for after work practice, obviously. Players can get range cards at the snack bar and choose the upper or lower range. Those that already have cards can just walk right in.
We also checked out the putting green. It was well maintained and offered different slopes to practice your short game.
Having visited the practice facilities at TaylorMade Experience, Aliante, and a couple others, this one is by far our favorite. I look forward to checking out the back nine on a future trip.
Though it is not located in the best area, it is well guarded and is truly an urban oasis. I would highly recommend Desert Pines and I will definitely be returning.
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