Top Silicon Valley Driving Ranges
Silicon Valley's temperate weather means that golf at the driving range can be a year-round activity. While there are plenty of public ranges where you can hit golf balls in the Bay Area, these stand out.
Shoreline Golf Links - Mountain View (Best Scenery)
Located in the expanse of natural beauty that is Shoreline Park, the Shoreline Golf Links driving range is less about mechanically hitting balls and more about enjoying the outdoors and being near the water. During the summer, access to the range is often difficult or restricted because of events going on at the nearby Shoreline Amphitheater, and on weekends, there's often a wait. The flagsticks are laser-measured and each stall has its own distance chart so you can more accurately gauge your shots' distance. All stalls are grass on the weekends and mats on weekdays.
San Jose Municipal Course (Most Availability)
The driving range at the San Jose Municipal Course follows the intention of the folks who designed the course itself: make it accessible, straightforward, and readily-available. While there's nothing spectacular about this double-deck range, and there's a pretty heavy crosswind on many days, you will almost always find an open, well-kept stall during its generously long hours of operation. There's something to be said for its consistency, no-nonsense practice greens, and frequent demo days. Mosquitoes do come out at night but maybe they're looking for the 20% discount cards offered at the pro shop.
Mariners Point - Foster City (Best Value)
This driving range offers an inexpensive, quality experience for people looking to hone their shots by hitting the large bucket of 160 balls. Mariners Point is close to the San Francisco Bay and the San Mateo Bridge so the views are impressive and the wind is rarely as much of a factor for golfers on the range as it is on the course and for the windsurfers nearby. Trampoline sized target nets act as a surprisingly fun way of practicing your accuracy and grass stalls are available next to the massive double-deck structure.
Burlingame Golf Center (Best Stalls)
The Burlingame Golf Center driving range reserves several hitting stalls specifically for lefties so that people can more easily choose not to hit while facing each other. The spaciousness of the stalls and concrete dividers allow for a little more distance between you and the other golfers practicing, which helps some people with their concentration.
Palo Alto Golf Course (Easiest Access)
The no-nonsense Palo Alto Golf Course driving range located right off 101 on Embarcadero is a convenient stop for many commuters after work who would otherwise be stuck in traffic headed towards the Dumbarton Bridge. While not as beautiful as the Shoreline range located nearby, this range features good highway access and a simple token system on the ball dispensing machines so that, once you've bought a set of tokens, you can get in and out relatively quickly.
