WET AND WACKY : There’s Water Everywhere, but the Golfers at This Driving Range Don’t Seem to Mind

Emery Belyea hit a couple of dozen golf balls off the tee. Every ball went into the drink.

Belyea didn’t get upset. He didn’t swear. He didn’t toss his club in anger.

Quite to the contrary he was rather pleased with himself. So was his wife Jeanne.

“You’re really hitting the ball exceptionally well,” Jeanne said.

Emery was all smiles.

The fact that he hit every ball into the water meant nothing to him.

Belyea was hitting ‘em at the Aqua Driving Range in this Northern California city.

The 17 tees at the Aqua Driving Range are on the Western shores of the Sacramento River. The river is a quarter of a mile wide at this location in Redding.

Every ball hit at the driving range lands in the water. But the balls don’t sink.

Especially made by McLaughlin Golf Ball Company in Crown Point, Ind., the balls have less compression than regular golf balls. The balls float.

Twice a day owners Dave and Sheri Nelson, their daughter Cindy, or someone else at the driving range on the river go out in a boat and scoop the balls out of the water with a fishing net.

A 3-foot net attached to empty metal drums 240 yards from shore and bordering each side of the driving range prevents the balls from floating downriver to Sacramento.

“One time I lost $900 worth of golf balls when a beaver poked a hole through the net,” recalled Nelson.

Any golfer hitting a towering drive over the net pays Nelson $1 for the lost ball. “The balls cost me 80 cents each,” he explained. “If I catch someone knocking a ball out of the range I collect a dollar from that person.”

Because the balls are lower compression the distance the ball travels is about 10% less than a regular ball.

“The big hitters gladly pay the dollar. It’s a thrill to whack one net far,” said physician Dave Civalier, a regular on the range. “I hit one over the net once. It made my day. Some of the big hitters slip in a regular ball into their bucket and drive it over the net to make themselves look good.”

Asked what effect hitting practice balls into the water has on his game when he plays a waterhole on the golf course, Dr. Civalier said:

“No effect. Waterholes are just as intimidating for me after hitting buckets of balls into the Sacramento River as they always are.”

“It’s all psychological,” insists Belyea. “I get near a water hazard on the course and I’m convinced I’m going in. It’s like Murphy’s law. When you’re near water, the water has a tendency to attract your ball.”

On this particular night it is hot and humid in Redding. To cool off, Mel Goetting piles his four sons, Jerad, 12, Matt, 11, Sol, 9 and Mell 6, into the family car and off they go to the Aqua Driving Range to cool off.

“Coolest spot in town,” Goetting said. “It’s fun seeing the balls splash in the water,” chimes in son, Mell. There is no roll on this driving range. Just a big splash or low balls skipping over the river like pebbles.

No ball washers at this driving range.

The driving range is popular with the lunch bunch. At noon break many eat by the water and hit a bucket of balls.

On rare occasions a golfer will hit a ball and his or her club will slip from their hands and fly out in the water.

The water is deep. The bottom is covered with weeds and silt.

“It is virtually impossible to retrieve a club,” Nelson said. There must be at least 100 clubs on the bottom. I have hired scuba divers to dive and try to find the clubs. Even scuba divers with giant magnets. No luck.”

He said he has never seen another driving range over water but has been told there are a handful scattered around the country.

The Aqua Driving Range is about 10 years old. Nelson was a contractor in Escondido for 25 years until he retired 4 years ago, moved to Redding and bought the range.

One thing about Nelson, however. He doesn’t play golf.