11501 Strathern St
North Hollywood CA 91605
(818) 767-1954
Hours: M-F 8am-10pm, weekends 8am-9pm
Medium bucket (66 balls): $7
Large bucket (120 balls): $10
Jumbo bucket (220 balls): $16
Big John (550 balls) $35
*Before 4pm, “all you can hit” – $20
The range is located off the 5 freeway in North Hollywood (although in reality it is more Sun Valley). It is not in the best of areas and overlooks the picturesque cement works. The range has a large parking lot and plenty of spaces. They claim to be one of the best public golf driving ranges in the Los Angeles area. I am not sure who/ how that was determined. I think it may be a tagline which John Wells created themselves to market the business.
This range is very large (60 stalls). It is single story and you hit off mats. The mats seem to be in decent condition. Whenever I have been to John Wells it has always seemed pretty quiet with plenty of stalls available. They use good quality balls and they seem to be replaced regularly. There are plenty of metal picnic tables and chairs behind the hitting area. Allowing you to rest while hitting, or for people to sit and watch.
The surface of the range is very unusual. As you can see from the pictures it looks like hitting on the surface of the moon. For whatever reason the entire hitting area is covered in what appears to be sand. I presume there is grass underneath. The hitting area is large and very wide with plenty of targets to hit at. I personally can not adjust to this hitting area. Call me weird, but I like hitting on regular grass. It just seems so unusual to look out at this landscape. There is a small putting surface, but it is pretty much useless. It is in disarray and need replacing.
They offer lessons at John Wells and have several professionals with bio’s listed on their website. Private lessons are $40 per half hour, 6 for $200. Which is reasonably priced. However if you want the video analysis they charge an extra $5 per lesson. From my experience the video analysis is a must. You can really see your swing mechanics and what needs to be corrected/ improved.
John Wells has a lot of promotions. They have an “all-you-can-hit” for $20 if you go before 4pm. Also they have a website and Facebook page where they have coupons and other promotions. I noticed they have a marketing campaign linked to hitting a lot of golf balls – with a basket containing 550 balls! I could not imagine hitting anywhere near that many in one sitting. When visiting a range it is about quantity not quality. You should take your time and think about each hit, using your usual pre-hit routine. If you just step up and fire off balls like a machine gun, you are not really going to achieve to anything from the practice session.
Overall the range is in good condition and very large. The back fence is 260 yards. I just wished they replaced the hitting surface with conventional grass. As it stands I would personally rather just go to the De Bell range which is 10 minutes down the road in Burbank.