Golf in Kinnelon

A two-tiered driving range and two 18-hole miniature-golf courses welcome visitors to Branchburg Family Golf Center’s 27-acre golf complex for game improvement and friendly competition. Each tier at the range comprises more than 30 hitting stalls and features a natural-grass tee area that remains open from April through September. In colder months, 12 recently installed heaters keep golfers cozy or help them sweat off pounds to drop a weight class in golf-cart jousting. Professional instructors roll in when players reach an improvement plateau, offering their keen expertise to develop consistent swings that lead to lower scores.

The center’s two miniature-golf courses summon putts past crashing waterfalls and through lush landscapes, fostering a sense of friendly competition in a pint-sized oasis. When swatting stationary spheres becomes too easy, visitors can head over to the batting facility to work on baseball swings and tackle techniques when charging the mound at a cyborg pitcher.:m]]

Turtle Cove Golf Center sprinkles summer with the pixie dust of outdoor activities ranging from miniature golf to smacking fastballs in batting cages. A course with 18 mini-golf greens peppered between bright flowers and rippling water lures putters, and the 55 hitting stations at the center's 450-yard grass driving range beckon players looking to vent aggression through full-force swings or whispered threats to their tees. After bagging their clubs, guests can swing into batting cages to whack baseballs and softballs or relax at the Turtle Cove Café and munch on a hamburger.

In addition to practice facilities, Turtle Cove offers professional guidance on the art of the swing during lessons. PGA professionals employ high-speed digital-video analysis to break down each pupil’s form and technique as they drive, chip, and drop-kick golf balls into the hole.

Mt. Freedom Golf encourages golfers to fine-tune every aspect of their game with a 39-stall driving range, a miniature-golf circuit, and a nine-hole par 3 course. The par 3 layout features several holes that span at least 100 yards from the tee to the bentgrass greens, showcasing a verdant expanse for clubbers to work their short irons. Players bogey-proof swings at the driving range, where natural-grass hitting areas cater to those who favor a natural feel and provoke artificial mats to crow about how photosynthesis is overrated.

After grappling the yips at the safari-themed mini-golf course, players can seek out putter advice from one three ace instructors. Mt. Freedom also offers a nine-hole Frisbee-golf course that favors those with disc-hurling prowess or enough money to hire a pizza maker as a caddy.

A Class-A PGA professional with more than 25 years of experience, Rick Nielsen applies his time-earned expertise to help golfers shave strokes during lessons at Randalls Island Golf Center, where he's been the head pro since 1998. Rick employs the latest technologies to aid in instruction, including The Golfing Machine system⎯which takes a geometric approach to swing mechanics⎯as well as digital-video analysis and FlightScope 3-D doppler radar launch monitor. These sensitive instruments measure each shot on a number of parameters, from club-head speed and launch angle to total distance and nougat ratio of the ball’s core. Meanwhile, Rick observes and isolates specific areas in need of improvement so that players can develop muscle memory and consistently repeat a successful swing motion. Ultimately, with Rick's pointers, players leave lessons equipped with the tools to reach their full potential on the course without temptation to modify their 9-iron into a bedazzled baton.