Driving Range

The driving range at Celtic Manor sits just outside Chepstow in Monmouthshire, and it's a proper setup if you're looking to loosen your swing without committing to a full round. You get a decent-sized hitting area with balls provided, the kind of place where you can chip away for twenty minutes or burn through a couple of hours depending on how serious you want to be about it.

It's honest work, really - you hit balls, you watch where they land, you hit more balls. The range caters mostly to golfers wanting to sharpen up before taking on the championship courses, but casual players won't feel out of place either. Weather permitting, it's a sound way to spend a morning, and the opening hours are generous - they're open from half seven in the morning through to half eight at night on weekdays, which is handy if you're fitting it around other plans.

If you're staying at Penhein Glamping just down the road, it's close enough for a convenient outing without being a pilgrimage. You're not looking at buckets of balls and nothing else - Celtic Manor's got the infrastructure of a proper golf academy behind it, though the range itself is the accessible bit for most visitors. Allow thirty minutes to an hour, depending on your pace and how many balls you fancy hitting. Free admission doesn't appear to be the case here, so factor in costs for the bucket.