Diversey Driving Range

Expensive. But hey, you’re in the city of Chicago! Where else would you go for a golf range/​mini golf experience?
Balls are kinda crappy, you can bring your own clubs or rent the ones at the facility, and parking is additional.

It’s a double decker driving range. About what you would expect in a city. Usually spaces are open. The downside is that you’re hitting off mats instead of grass, and the mats are in pretty good shape. Also, the balls are extremely beaten up. Parking is pretty easy, haven’t had a problem, but you do need to pay and they don’t validate.

The minigolf course needs a serious facelift. The turf is in horrible condition, torn in many places and worn way down. There’s also not enough space between holes for people to wait for the hole to open up. We had a large bunch of rowdy boys basically on top of us while we tried to putt. Made for an extremely unpleasant experience. We probably won’t be back.

I was glad to find a driving range in the middle of the city so I could take a break while visiting family and work on my swing. It was also a pleasant surprise to find staff that were nice and gave you service with a smile. Convenience and good service, that’s where the positives end for me.
The biggest negative is cost. You’re going to spend a lot of money to hit a bucket of balls at this place. Starting with parking… it’s $ 3 for one hour, or $ 7 for up to 4 hours. Well, if you’re hitting a large bucket (and who would through the trouble of driving thru city traffic to hit a small bucket) you don’t want to rush through 100 balls. So, at least for me, the 1 hour option was out right off the bat. So, that’s $ 7 for parking. Then there’s the actual bucket. Again, I didn’t go thru all that traffic to hit a small bucket. So, it was $ 16 for a large… yes, I said $ 16! If you happen to not be traveling with your clubs, you’re going to have to rent them. It’s $ 1 for an iron, $ 2 for a wood, and $ 3 for a driver. The good thing is that you can exchange a club for another of the same kind at no charge. The bad thing is that the clubs themselves are pretty crappy. I actually saw a 4 iron break its head off after hitting the mat. Also, the balls you get from the machine look just downright awful. I don’t expect to find brand new balls at a driving range. But, I do expect them to be reasonably clean and in decent shape. Most of these balls looked like they’ve there for the last five or six years. I know it’s a mental thing, but it’s just not the same hitting an old dirty ball than one that at least looks clean.
As for the range itself, it’s okay but not great. I read some of the reviews mention what a great view you get from the upper deck. Personally, I wasn’t all that impressed. You’re hitting from mats onto artificial turf. So, don’t expect realistic feel when hitting. Also, the turf is not flat, but rather curved. I imagine it’s designed like that for drainage purposes. But, it makes the balls roll to the left or the right and not straight forward like you would get on a flat surface.
So, in the end, is this place worth the $ 25 I spent ($ 7 for parking; $ 16 for the bucket; and $ 2 for a couple of irons)? No, it’s not. However, if you’re in the city and you’re desperate for a golf fix you really don’t have many other choices.

First off I did the mini golf, traditional but challenging. $ 8 junior rate and $ 10 for adults. Then I went to the driving range. I am visiting from OKC so I don’t have my clubs. The guy at the counter waived the charge of the rental clubs… a nine dollar value from the clubs which I chose to use. These range balls themselves were kind of expensive at $ 16 for 100 balls bit the range was really nice.

This is the definition of a love/​hate relationship.
I am a huge golfer, since I work from home I’m able to play in the summer months 3 to 4 times a week in the early morning. I tend to stay away from courses on the weekends because of the crowds. That leaves the driving range for Saturday’s and Sunday’s.
This range is super convenient and is in a great location. It’s just on the westside of LSD at Diversey. They share the parking lot with Diversey Harbor, so parking can be really difficult during the summer, to the point where you’re stalking people as they walk to their cars. It’s not pretty.
Once you park, you enter the tiny little «clubhouse» to buy a small or large bucket. This year a large is $ 16 and a small is $ 10. Now, if you’re familiar with suburban driving ranges, this is a total ripoff. Similar sized buckets in the suburbs go for about $ 8 and $ 4, or so. Granted, we’re not in the suburbs and the demand is off the charts, so they can get away with their prices.
The range itself is 100% matts, which drives me nuts. But again, it’s a city range, so that’s what you get. It’s a two tiered range, so there’s an upstairs and down, and I’d guess there’s about 40 or so stalls on each level. The lower level is open (and heated) in the winter, so if you’re hardcore you can fine tune your skills year round. However, in the summer, it’s very common to find both levels 100% full. At that point, you’ve already parking lot stalked people, so why not driving range stalk people? Find someone who’s just about done, sit/​stand behind them and stare at them until either they finish or they’re so weirded out that they leave.
Once you finally get a bay, the view is beautiful and there are plenty of greens to shoot at. This year they added distances on the flags, so that’s a major upgrade.
Overall, I love that there’s a driving range smack dab in the middle of Lincoln Park, but apparently I’m not the only one. Parking is not easy with the Harbor being right there and the prices are steep (compared to other driving ranges).
Also, there’s a mini golf course. I haven’t played, but it’s pretty weak looking. I’m sure it’s great for kids.

Go here all the time and love it. But…
Curious if others think there’s an opportunity for someone in the city to develop an indoor facility that allows for chipping and putting on real grass. I have been wanting something like this for years. I agree that the facilities at Harborside are great but with traffic you can’t get a practice session in there unless you have a few hours to spare. I would love an indoor facility especially in the winter and would easily pay something like $ 15 for an hour of access. If anyone has thoughts feel free to message me.

I think this is a great driving range. Can’t beat the view and being a Lakeview resident this is super easy to get to when I need to work on my game.
Docking a star for two things: putting greens are not good at all and you have to pay for parking.
Staff is super friendly.
Some people say «just go to Harborside»… yeah I don’t want to drive halfway to flippin’ Indiana to PRACTICE. If you’re going to drive that far… just go play on an actual course, ya hoseheads.
I’ll be smashing smoke here at Diversey for many more damn years to come.

I love this place, been coming here with my son dice he was 5! He’s 22 now and we still love hitting balls together. Easy parking, late nite hours.

Way too expensive and given the price the facilities aren’t even that good. I suppose if you live close enough to walk over it’s almost acceptable, but don’t bother driving here. It costs $ 2 to park and overpay for lousy mats.
Take the time to drive to Harborside. Balls are silly cheap, you hit off grass, and they have a MUCH better chipping/​putting green.
²⁰³⁄₃₆₅

This facility is quite lackluster despite relatively high prices (approximately $ 0.15 per ball, about what Harborside charges for its much superior grass range). The hitting bays lack modern amenities like auto-​feeders and adjustable tees. The balls are poor quality, flight-​limited range balls. The range itself is rock-​hard astroturf – even soft high wedge shots will roll a long way.
There are a few good points. The staff is friendly. The mats are in decent shape, and there are a lot of bays. Waits are rare. Most importantly, its conveniently located in Lincoln Park. Ultimately, the location – rather than the quality of the facility – is what you’re really paying for.

Great spot for hitting a few quick balls. Tim is great and gave us a few tips at the desk!

So after reading some of the reviews I felt it necessary to correct some of the other reviews that may be misleading…
I have been going to this driving range for a little while now and I think its fabulous. Minus when its extremely crowded. Then it kind of stinks if your going with someone else, finding two spots next to each other is kind of hard. But I should specify if you wait then it is doable.
Some people in previous reviews specified that they were not being served when they arrived at 10pm and the driving range is open till 11pm. They also indicated that the place should improve on their customer service just because of them not serving them. However its posted all over their website that the last bucket sale is at 10pm. So that shouldn’t have been a shock to them if they had called prior or looked at their website. I am pretty sure they do this to allow enough time for people to finish hitting all of their golf balls that they paid for. So my opinion is don’t complain and do your research before you go…
The workers here are fabulous and some of them have already learned my boyfriend and I’s name because we have gone so often… Living in a city for a worker to remember your name is impressive to me… Kudos to you Diversey Driving Range.

My boyfriend and I come here about twice a month. The staff is always really nice! I’m a short, left handed woman so if I need to rent clubs it’s slim pickins. But I take what I can get! They usually have a decent variety for me to choose from. It’s a little pricey but I can’t complain because it’s convenient.
Also, I’ve seen rabbits here every single time I’ve visited!

One of the few options for hitting balls if you live on the North side of the city. Generally it’s not a great value if you can get to one of the surrounding ranges such as Skokie or Wilmette, but the convenience factor is hard to beat.
Parking is pricey and virtually impossible on a weekend afternoon. Half of the staff is great while the other half is terrible. There are a couple of putting greens with no chipping allowed, but there’s decent setup to practice sand shots. It is what it is.

Precursor — this is for the mini golf only
I sincerely had a great time at this joint. Its like $ 8 per person and not overly busy, mostly because people are hitting off the two story driving range which visually was cool. The greens are not well maintained, meaning the green is pretty wretched and worn through to the concrete and there are so many trees around that shit gets on the greens all the time and can, as my boyfriend claimed, really impair your mini golf game. Seriously though, its mini golf. No frills really, but its fun, relatively cheap and about one of the only places you can go to play mini golf inside the city unless you want to fight the tourist crowd at the pier.

This is Chicago. These cats can charge $ 15 per bucket of balls and idiots will continue to patronize this location.
I (a one-​time idiot) did, for the convenience of entertaining a friend. Won’t be back…

Pros: Ample Parking (we went at 2:30 pm on a Saturday and had no problems finding a spot — but you do have to pay)
Friendly Staff
Two tiers of individual driving range boxes (plenty open spots when we went)

Cons: Similar to the other reviews, my only gripe is the price. It was $ 15 per large bucket. The bucket was fairly large but $ 15 is still kinda pricey. Then again, you are paying for the location and convenience. I think it was worth it.

This place relies solely on monopoly and location. The place is not well managed or maintained. The balls are in need of upgrading as are the mats. The other issue is yardage– it’s anyones best guess to the pins and there are no posted or displayed distances.
Is worth driving to a public course. Did I mention over priced and price gouging? Place sucks.

Trying new stuff makes brain cells grow. A fabulous man gifted me a set of golf clubs (Sportmart’s AWESOME half price sale!) so. .. now all I have to do is learn to golf. And get some athletic shoes. And cute golf outfits!
I digress. .. we came here to hit balls. AND IT WAS FUN! Got a bucket of balls. Got all my 15 year old boy jokes out of the way. Secured two slots next to each other, and pondered all the weird clubs in my new bag.
The facility itself is fantastic. Clean, fun, green, well located. Just great. You’ll see me here perfecting my skillz all summer.