Where Can I Practice Bunker Shots and Putting for Free?

Most strokes are lost inside 50 yards, and most golfers never practice there because their local range is a row of mats and a net. Golf Center of Arlington is different: buy any bucket and the short game practice area, with its putting green, chipping green, sand bunkers and uneven-lie stations, is yours for the visit at no extra charge. Here is what is there, how to use it, and a practice plan that fits inside a single bucket.

What is in the short game practice area?

The area sits alongside the main range, which has 18 covered, heated bays with Toptracer and Power Tee, and 28 natural-grass hitting areas. Balls come from your bucket; there is no separate short game fee, no time slot and no reservation. Hours match the range: Monday–Saturday 8 AM–11 PM and Sunday 8 AM–10 PM, with the last bucket sold one hour before closing.

How much does it cost to use?

Nothing beyond the bucket. Any size unlocks it: a medium bucket of 60 balls is $21 ($15 for members), a large of 90 is $28 ($20) and an extra large of 120 is $35 ($25). During the 8–9 AM self-service Early Bird hour everyone pays the member price at the dispenser, and from 9 AM to 6 PM regular bucket prices are 30% off when you mention it at check-in. The full breakdown is on the bucket prices page.

What does a good 45-minute short game session look like?

Practice without a plan turns into aimless chipping. This sequence uses one medium bucket and works the green from the hole outward, which is the same order Golf Center of Arlington's Golf Integrated Skills Program teaches: putting first, then chipping, then the harder lies.

1. Putting, 12 minutes. Start with ten 3-footers around one hole; make eight of ten before moving on. Then lag five balls from 30 feet, aiming to leave every one inside a club length. Pace, not line, is the goal.
2. Chipping, 12 minutes. Pick one landing spot on the chipping green and hit 15 balls to it with one club. Change the club, keep the landing spot, and watch how far each one rolls out. That is the whole skill of chipping.
3. Bunker, 10 minutes. Draw a line in the sand two inches behind the ball and hit 15 splash shots, entering at the line. Ignore where the ball goes for the first ten; get the sand right, and the ball follows.
4. Uneven lies, 8 minutes. Five pitches each from uphill, downhill and sidehill. Match your shoulders to the slope and swing along it. These are the shots that ruin a scorecard on a real course.
5. Pressure test, 3 minutes. One ball, up and down from the bunker. Miss, and you owe yourself a lap of 3-footers. Make it, and you're done.

Take the remaining balls to a covered bay and finish with wedges on Toptracer's Approach Challenge, which scores your carry distance and accuracy to a target. It closes the loop between the greens and the full swing. Do this session once a week for a month and you will know your carry distance with every wedge, which is the single most useful number a recreational golfer can own.

How do you practice bunker shots if you've never hit one?

Start in the sand, not at the bay

Bunker fear is almost always a lack of reps, and a public range with real sand is rare enough that most amateurs have hit fewer than a hundred bunker shots in their lives. At Golf Center of Arlington you can hit a hundred in a single visit. Open the face of your most lofted wedge, dig your feet in, play the ball forward and hit the sand two inches behind it with a full, committed swing. The mistake beginners make is decelerating to be gentle; the sand slows the club for you. If you would rather learn it with a coach standing next to you, the Development Program covers sand and flop shots at Level 3, and golf lessons at the facility are built from the green back to the tee for exactly this reason.

What should you bring to the short game area?

• A putter, a wedge or two, and a short iron. Bring your own if you have them; if not, ask about options at the counter when you arrive.
• A few tees or a coin to mark landing spots on the chipping green.
• Your bucket. Balls for the greens and bunkers come from the same bucket you bought for the range.
• Food, if you want it. Outside food is allowed; coolers and outside drinks are not. Drinks are at the snack bar.
• A plan. The 45-minute session above, or your own. Aimless chipping is the one thing the area can't fix.

Rules on food, dogs, groups and reservations are all on our guide to planning your visit. If you are new to ranges in general, how a driving range works walks through bays, buckets and etiquette, including how to share the greens politely when the area is busy.

Why practice short game at a driving range instead of a course?

Three reasons. Cost: a course charges a green fee whether you play or practice, while here the short game area is free with a $21 bucket. Access: course practice greens are often reserved for players with a tee time, and many DFW courses have no bunker to practice in at all. Repetition: on a course you hit one bunker shot per hole, if that; here you hit 15 in a row from the same lie until the motion is automatic. Add covered, heated bays and night lighting on the adjacent range, and you can work on your short game on a January evening or a July night when no course is an option.

When you are ready to take a sharper short game to a real round, the Texas Rangers Golf Club, a public course, is nearby. Until then, the greens, the sand and the slopes at Golf Center of Arlington are open seven days a week, and everything else about the range, from the 18 covered Toptracer bays to the 28 grass tees, is in our complete guide to the Golf Center of Arlington driving range. Want a coach to build the plan with you? Group clinics run one hour at $30 for members and $37 for non-members and cover short game and putting; see the golf clinic page.