Night golf is an incredibly fun experience. To describe it simply, it’s playing golf at night. Typically, you use various equipment to make it easier to see. This equipment includes LED lights, GPS watches, glow sticks, glow balls, and more.
More and more people are learning about the excitement that night golf can bring. Some may not have known it was possible until now. You can find a lot of night golf courses popping up more and more across the globe. These courses are packed full of floodlights and other equipment making it possible to have fun on the course at night.
In this article, you will learn about some of the top tips to ensure you have a great time golfing at night. It’s also going to give you key advice you can use to ensure you are adequately prepared.
Night Golf – The Course
The first thing you need to do is find a golf course that offers night golf. The majority of the courses you will find scattered across the globe don’t offer night golf. For these courses, the fun ends when the sun goes down. However, with night courses, the fun doesn’t have to stop. Some courses will turn on floodlights and have other lighting to ensure you can continue to play well into the night. This is not only a good way to play more, but also to get an entirely new and fun experience.
Night golf is a concept that originated on the European tour at the Dubai Desert Classic. On the tour, you could find innovative floodlights installed on both the halfway mark and the final green. These floodlights are usually installed ranging from the tees to the greens. However, they don’t typically extend outwards to the rough. Because of this, you’ll need to keep your shots tight. If you are someone that enjoys hitting wildly into the rough, you may have a tough time.
Here are some of the top night golf courses you will find worldwide:
– Yas Links (found in the United Arab Emirates)
– Abu Dhabi Golf Course (found in the United Arab Emirates – 9-hole course)
– Emirates Golf Course (18-hour course)
It gets very costly to run a golf course at night. After all, you have to spend a lot of money on state-of-the-art lighting. You also need to pay the ongoing costs to power the lighting throughout the night. There’s also the cost of staff. You’ll need plenty of staff to keep the course operating at night. This is generally why a lot of courses opt for night golf equipment instead. With night gold equipment, you don’t necessarily need to invest all of the money into state-of-the-art floodlights. Instead, you can get away with cheaper and more affordable alternatives.Â
What Is Night Golf Course Equipment?
– Night Golf Balls
If you are looking to play golf at night, you’ll need balls that you can see in the dark. It can be tricky to spot a ball in the daytime. Needless to say, you’ll need one that glows at night. Having a visible golf ball at night means having one that illuminates. It needs to either inherently glow or be lit. A golfer will need to see the ball to find it and hit it. This can help reduce lost balls. You will find a wide range of options available for golf balls with LED lighting. These are balls that can illuminate to make them visible in the dark. Some of the best examples include the Dark 4 Nighthawks, the Glow V1 Golf Balls, and more. Get all the night golf accessories for every tournament.
There are primarily 3 different types of glow-in-the-dark balls that can be used for night golf:
– Glow stick balls
– LED-lit balls
– Solar/UV-powered golf balls
The balls that are solar-powered are generally the best type of golf balls you can find.Â
The Best Balls For Night Golf: The Glow V1 Night Golf Balls
These balls have become the absolute best balls you can find in the marketplace. They are UV-powered. They come with a UV light that can be used to charge the ball. They need to be charged for 1 minute to stay bright for 15 minutes. This can make it incredibly easy for a golfer to locate their ball before it needs to be recharged. This golf ball has been fully designed with the golfer in mind due to its ample battery life. The UV light is powered via an AAA battery. You’ll probably need to re-charge the ball after every hole to ensure it stays lit throughout your playing session.
The Best Watch: GolfBuddy Voice 2
When you start to play golf in the dark, you’ll need to be able to locate it. You’ll also need to know the distance from the ball to the hole whenever you are hitting. There are a lot of watches in the marketplace to choose from. However, you’ll need an accurate one that illuminates. The GolfBuddy Voice 2 stands head and shoulders above the competition. It is a much better option than the Garmin Approach G8 Handheld and the other GPS watches.
What makes it stand out is that it comes preloaded with a whopping 40,000 golf courses. It also features an auto-hole advance feature that will help automate the process of leading you to the next hole. While it is a small device that can be easily lost, it’s got an amazing 14-hour battery life, a push-to-talk function, and it’s waterproof.
Golf Headlamp
Anyone that is playing golf at night is going to need a headlamp. A headlamp is necessary to see what’s going on around you. You’ll need to have visibility for where you are stepping and hitting. It’s also a good way to see other golfers on the course to enhance safety. While a flashlight is a good resource, a headlamp is recommended. After all, you will be able to have it on while swinging and you can maintain that visibility without holding anything.
Flagsticks or Glowsticks
You will also need to have a lot of glowsticks around the flag, fairway, and more. These glowsticks are effectively used to mark the important areas on the golf course. This is so the golfers can see them at night. Otherwise, you would be hitting blindfolded. These glow sticks help to enhance the golfer’s experience and they can guide the golfers around the course easily. The downside is that it can get expensive to outfit the entire course with hundreds of glowsticks. After all, you’ll need to have a minimum of 10 of them bordering all of the greens, fairways, and flags.
