Practicing by the monuments

I recently learned that East Potomac, one of DC’s public golf venues, offers holes “for rent”. One hour of a small hole (about 110 yards) and some beat-up range balls retails for $16. If you return your shag bag of range ball (which you need to do – they hold your ID hostage), you also receive a range token afterward.

I wish the balls were better, but it’s otherwise a great deal, and much better practice than hitting balls off of their rock-hard mats for an hour.

I rented my hole an hour before sunset, yielding comfortable temperatures and a beautiful pink sky as I practiced, with views of the Potomac and the monuments surrounding me.

I practiced some full and half wedges, with my iPad videoing swings and my Mevo measuring them. Yardages were sort of irrelevant because of the balls given, so I mostly focused on contact and consistency. All in all, it was a fun way to practice.