Peter Williams: Upmarket range for inner city

An acquaintance who's a member of the PGA once told me about professional golf's social strata. "On the top is the touring professional. In the middle is the club pro and at the bottom the driving range pro," he said.

"The funny thing is that, apart from the very few who actually make a living by playing tournaments, the lower you go down the pecking order, the more money you make."

Driving ranges are golf's places for everyone. No membership's required, no dress code and sometimes, no need to behave. There are even driving ranges where drunks can go to get a big hitting fix at two o'clock on a Sunday morning.

Because they need so much space, driving ranges aren't often found close to the city. Around Auckland they're at places like the airport, East Tamaki, in the middle of Ellerslie racecourse and next to the motorway in Takapuna.

Ranges are great cash-flow businesses as golfers of all abilities file through, pay $5 or $10 for a bucket of rock-hard cheap balls, safe in the knowledge that it doesn't matter if they duff, hook or slice.

But the world of the driving range is about to get a very upmarket member when City Golf opens in Albert St this week.

Zaine Mikkelson, a PGA member who took the step (down?) from club pro at Waitemata to driving range teacher in Takapuna, has joined businessman Matthew Webber to develop an enclosed facility offering practice and coaching for both long and short game skills.

They have invested around $750,000 on computerised hitting booths, a synthetic putting green, a sand bunker and a chipping area in the old Simpson Grierson building.

A virtual round on some of the more famous layouts in the world, like the Old Course at St Andrews and 2008 US Open venue Torrey Pines in San Diego, is also offered.

The concept is popular in London and Tokyo and Mikkelson and Webber believe enough city workers, not to mention the growing number of residents, who'll want to hone their skills or learn the game without heading to the suburbs.

It's not cheap and based on time. I figure half an hour at City Golf would cost you about four times as much as anywhere else. On the virtual courses, it's pricier still.

But if you work or live in the city, you won't have to drive for 20 minutes or more to hit golf balls. Golf practice in the lunch hour could actually be viable.

New Zealand golfers are notoriously stingy and the vast majority won't use this facility. But those who do seem set to enjoy a level of driving range sophistication not seen before in this country.