driving at toa payoh east


had the whole place to myself this morning, at about 9.00 a.m. 88 bays and only one in use. when i drove in, there was one other car in the car park. i thought the place had been abandoned. no one was in sight. the carpets on the range looked like they had been ripped. there was only a patch which looked serviceable, with a marker.

i did a check. the ball dispensing machine was still there. and there were balls in the dispenser. the empty baskets for the balls were all on the floor. the mat at the bay on which you do the driving did not have the holder for the golf ball. anyway, that is not essential. in actual play, the ball is played as it lies. only when you tee off, do you raise the ball on a tee.

anyway, there was this girl, with a filipino accent, manning the card booth. a single card costs $20 and allows you to get balls from the machine four times. in other words, for hitting 100 balls, you pay $5. for me, hitting 100 balls at each session is more than enough.

i think i am ready to go on to play on the course. i am hitting the balls farther and straighter. except for the occasional slice and hook, i am hitting the ball effectively, about 90% of the time. however, these shots are possible only when i am using clubs 7 and 9. i still need to master the other clubs, like 3 and 5, if i want to hit beyond 125m.