Stone Driving Range

Millionth Ball Vended

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Monday, October 31, 2011

Stone Driving Range Millionth Ball Vended

Stone Driving Range has just celebrated its millionth golf ball being hit since it opened in March. Ray Langhorne, who has been the seniors’ captain at Barlaston golf club for the last fifteen years, was the surprised customer to hit the ball, when he turned up at the range with his grandson for the first time.

    Owner, Jim Ball, was delighted that they had reached the milestone sooner than anticipated. “We have been open since March, and things have gone better than we had hoped for. Traditionally, the busy time is when the nights draw in, and we are just getting into the busy period now as people can’t play after work. So, we are really pleased that so many people have visited us already.”

    Seven staff now work at the range, including full time junior organiser, Chris Milward, who visits the local schools, giving taster sessions in tri-golf, as well as running regular weekend golf schools and junior tuition camps in the holidays.

        Head professional, Rob Grier, coaches Rachel Jennings, and she has made an excellent start to her professional career by being placed second in the Rookie of the Year race. Another regular visitor is Simon Wakefield.

    The range has also been awarded the accolade of being made the second Srixon / Cleveland centre of excellence in the UK. As the other one is in Maidenhead, Stone Driving range will now be the centre for custom fitting all Srixon / Cleveland clubs in the north of the country, stocking their complete range of demo equipment.

    Chris Long specialises in custom fitting, and thanks to the highly sophisticated custom fit room, complete with Flightscope technology to track every aspect of the ball’s flight, spin, speed and launch angles, he claims to be able to add ten to twenty yards onto a driver’s distance. He said, “As well as having the full Cleveland range for men and ladies, we also custom fit for Ping, Taylor Made, Callaway and Mizuno. Whether people are looking for more length, or more accuracy, we are certainly able to help them achieve that here now.”