This past Saturday was one of those days that makes you question everything, especially why you chose to live in New Hampshire.

Yes, Live Free or Die is a cool state motto and enjoying no state sales or income tax doesn’t suck. But when spring has been teasing you like the Dance of Seven Veils, waking up on April 12 to three inches of snow is just another kick to the golf balls from Mother Nature.

Fortunately, we had a tee time.

In a never-ending pursuit to find fun in this golfing life, your intrepid scribe and two friends tried, for the first time, the Toptracer Pavilion at The Oaks Golf Links in the town of Somersworth. I’ve played the Oaks many times since moving here eight years ago. It’s one of the best (and most underrated) tracks in southeast New Hampshire but I hadn’t sampled the Toptracer Pavilion since it opened last summer.

You want even more fun? We decided to play a Toptracer golf range special for April: The Old Course Reversed.

As in backwards – because why the hell not?

Toptracer golf range: What golfers wanted Topgolf to be

Ask any self-proclaimed “real golfer” what they think of Topgolf and you’ll likely get a longer-than-you-want-to-hear diatribe about its failings as a practice facility, an entertainment venue and an eatery/drinkery. Hell, they’ll probably even complain about the parking.

Topgolf is what it is: an eating and drinking establishment where you can hit golf balls and play fun, albeit silly, games.

A Toptracer golf range is similar, but a lot different.

Toptracer is the driving range arm of Topgolf Callaway (and it will stay with Callaway when the two companies split later this year) and it combines real golf practice with Topgolf games and, to my surprise, real golf simulators. Want to play Pebble Beach in Somersworth, N.H.? You can.  Torrey Pines, Kiawah Island, Royal Troon? They’re all there, as is the Old Course in St Andrews.

In both directions.

You hit range balls into the range but Toptracer picks up your launch conditions with cameras posted on either end of the range. You then check your monitor to see the flight of the ball and the result of the shot.

It’s not real golf but with three inches of snow on the ground, it’s the next best thing.

The Pavilion at The Oaks

The Pavilion at The Oaks opened last year, next to the club’s regular practice range. It features nine enclosed and heated bays, each with two good-sized monitors plus a big screen TV, which we tuned to the third round of the Masters.

There’s also a full-service bar and a food trailer featuring some pretty tasty bar grub. Balls are unlimited when you book a bay in advance for $40 per hour. You can walk in if bays are available and you pay by the bucket.

Our three-man group reserved a single bay from 1 to 4 p.m. which gave us plenty of time to play the Old Course Reversed plus seven holes at Pebble Beach.

Getting started was pretty simple and the staff at The Pavilion was more than helpful. We started by setting the monitor up in driving range mode and hitting balls out into the snow.  The monitor was a great help because a white ball flying through a cloudy day into white snow is kind of hard to follow.

We ordered some lunch and drinks and set the system up to play The Old Course Reversed.

Backwards? Really?

We told you about the Old Course Reversed a couple of weeks ago but here’s the Cliff Notes version. Just last week, the real Old Course, the one in Scotland, was set up to be played backwards, the way it was played before Old Tom Morris updated the course in 1870. Toptracer, being the official driving range tech partner of the St Andrews Links Trust, equipped its 1,250 Toptracer-equipped ranges around the world with an Old Course Reversed simulation.

That’s what James, Mark and I tackled in the snow in Somersworth.

The Toptracer golf range touchscreen was intuitive and with a tiny bit of guidance from the staff, we had the Old Course Reversed loaded and ready to rock. Toptracer is holding a contest to win tee times for next year’s Old Course Reversed week so we decided to play the black tees with no handicaps or mulligans. We’re hardcore, my friends.

If you’ve played the Old Course, hitting from the first tee to the Road Hole green can be a little disorienting. On the plus side, the unique approach angle doesn’t make the 17th green any easier to hit.

The second hole is the 17th hole backwards. You start at the 18th tee and play to the 16th green. That means instead of hitting your tee shot over the Old Course Hotel, you hit your approach over the hotel. Mark put his approach shot into what I believe was room 431.

How “accurate” is a Toptracer golf range?

I’d say accurate enough. If you’re looking to dial in launch conditions in preparation for the next major, you might want more. It does, however, track the flight of the ball accurately enough for a snowy Saturday in April. Toptracer also gets spin close enough for reasonable hop ‘n’ stops on the green. It also has the terrain of the Old Course down very well. If you hit one of the thousands of fairway moguls, the ball will kick left, right or roll backwards accordingly.

Putting, however, is a unique adventure. You don’t putt. Once you’re on the green, Toptracer gives you a 68-yard pitch shot to a target pin. You have to hit your shot into a pair of concentric circles around the pin. If you’re on the green in regulation, hitting the larger circle on the fly gives you a par, while hitting the smaller circle gives you a birdie. Missing the circles altogether is a bogey. It took us at least five holes to realize there’s no roll with putting. You have to hit the circle on the fly.

About halfway through the front nine, we learned that the target pin was also the red pin 68 yards out on the driving range. I’m pretty sure the attendant told us that before we teed off but I’m also pretty sure none of us was listening.

By the end of the round, we referred to putting as “68 yards to glory.”

The Pavilion “vibe”

With a large grass driving range, a chipping, pitching and bunker practice green plus a huge, undulating putting green, The Oaks already had one of the best practice areas in the Granite State. The addition of The Pavilion and the Toptracer golf range puts it into another league.

The Pavilion is open year-round. Along with standard bay rental, it offers lesson packages and men’s and women’s leagues. It’s also open at night with lighted targets. The food and drink are on par with anything you’d get at an above-average pub. We ordered chicken tenders with a sweet chili sauce and some outstanding Bang Bang shrimp.

For the first hour or so, the crowd was rather raucous. A larger group at the far end was having itself a time, with back-nine Sunday-at-Augusta-like roars. Their enthusiasm may have been alcohol-related but I can’t be sure.

As for our little group, we had a hell of a good time. For James, it was the first time he’d picked up a club since September. For Mark, it was the first time since 2023. Expectations were appropriate and all of us enjoyed the four straight tee shots Mark hit on 18 into Unit 10A’s driveway at the corner of The Links and Gibson Place.

It was, in a way, an impressive display of unintentional marksmanship.

Toptracer Range: Final thoughts

Golf is a game, people, and can be played in many, many forms. It doesn’t have to be an 18-hole Bataan Death March test of your steely inner reserve. At least, not all the time.

Toptracer is, I think, a step above simulator golf. You get to aim at real targets (more or less) and see your full shot. Putting, if nothing else, helps you work on your short approach shots. Either way, it’s a video game that’s fun and lets you enjoy three hours with your best friend since Cub Scouts and his neighbor.

Toptracer has some built-in failsafes to move you along. The worst you can score on a hole is five over par. At that point, the system puts your ball in your pocket. Also, don’t fret over hitting the ball into the gorse. The system always finds your ball and gives you a good lie. And, as with any simulator, sand shots are regular shots. I remain disappointed, however, that none of us hit into the Road Hole bunker.

I’d say there’s only one drawback to the Old Course Reversed. After the second hole (18th tee to 16th green), the holes blend into one another until the final hole (2nd tee to 18th green). All in all, it was a fun experience and one I’ll gladly do again.

Where can I find a Toptracer range?

As mentioned, Toptracer has 1,250 equipped ranges worldwide. You can find out if there’s one near you on the Toptracer website. In addition to simulators, Toptracer offers a regular driving range function with basic launch monitor stats. It also offers a variety of games in case you want to bring the kids while you tackle Torrey Pines.

The Old Course Reversed is available through the end of April.

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