KINGSTON, N.Y. — There is something special and state of the art that is about to be constructed on the Wiltwyck Golf Club property.
Wiltwyck’s soon to be constructed 12-bay “Wyck Tracer” will transform the club’s limited driving range into a year-round, weather-protected range with ball-tracing technology not unlike the shot- tracking seen on televised PGA Tour events.
Bill Collins, a leading member of the investor group that purchased and saved Wiltwyck from extinction in 2018, said construction of the proposed driving range is scheduled to begin on Monday, Aug. 17.
The plan was unveiled at a special presentation at the Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed 18-hole golf course on July 6. The goal is to open the driving range by Oct. 1.
“We have been considering doing something like this for a very long time,” Collins said. “We’re real-estate constrained on our driving range. With the changes in golf ball and golf club technology and with golfers being stronger, we have golf balls leaving the driving range, sometimes landing in the parking lot and our tennis courts and even the swimming pool. So we had to limit the length of shots on the driving range. It became just a very limited warm-up range.”
The existing 10-bay matted teeing area on the Wiltwyck range will be abandoned and all of the existing poles and netting on the perimeter of the range will be removed.
The Wiltwyck Golf Club driving range is photographed on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at the Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed golf course at Kingston, New York.
Rick Remsnyder/Daily Freeman
A new 3,000-square-foot, three-sided building will sit atop 12 new hitting bays about 30 to 40 yards in front of the existing grass teeing area on the range.
The building is being sourced and fabricated by a Florida-based company, Cover the Tees, which has installed structures of this type at other clubs around the country.
The rear of the building will have sliding glass doors permitting the building to be completely open during the warmer months and closed during colder temperatures or inclement weather.
Immediately behind each hitting bay will be a furnished sitting area. The hitting bays and seating areas will be lit for use during evenings and will be heated, allowing use of the facility during colder winter months.
In front of the “Wyck Tracer” building, a fully-encapsulated netting complex will be 40 yards wide, 50 yards deep and 40 feet in height. The netting complex will have a removable netted ‘roof’ so all golf balls hit from the hitting bays under the cover will remain inside the complex.
The roof will be removed when there is the risk of accumulated snow, so the facility will likely be closed from early December through mid-February.
The hitting bays will be supported by advanced technology provided by Toptracer, the Dallas, Texas company that tracks golf balls and provides data on golf telecasts. Golf ball speed, launch angle, curve and carry distance will be available on monitors in each hitting bay.
Golfers will be able to track data about their swings on the monitors and a companion mobile app, helping them analyze and improve their golf games over time. They can also enjoy playing simulated rounds on world-famous courses and participate in point-based challenges such as closest-to-the-pin, longest drive and Go Fish.
While practice-range balls were only about 80 percent compression, the new range will use those of 100 percent compression to get accurate readings from Toptracer.
“Our vision is to have the driving range be its own type of destination on the property where people can come in groups and have fun together,” Collins said. “We’ll have food and beverage support for it. We’re imagining we can have small social gatherings, birthday parties and corporate events among other things.”
During construction, four small batting cages will be erected in front of the existing matted tees to allow golfers to warm up before their rounds.
Augie Howland, Toptracer’s Regional Sales Manager for the Northeast United States, said Toptracer technology has been installed in 500 facilities in the United States and 1,500 worldwide. That includes golf courses, private golf clubs and stand-alone driving ranges.
The technology is so precise that golfers will know exactly how far they can hit each club in the bag .
“I can go to a traditional driving range and hit a 7-iron and see it hit close to the 150-yard marker,” Howland said. “But with our technology, we can see exactly how far that ball went as well as some other metrics that allow you to progress as a player.”
Howland said the only other Toptracer driving range in the region is the Northway Golf Center in Clifton Park, New York.
“It’s something for everybody,” Howland said. “We see people coming back for more. It’s an engaging experience and an entertaining experience. I think the goal at Wiltwyck is turn the range into a hub of activity for the membership and something they’ll want to bring guests to.”
Howland said the ability to download data from Toptracer to a mobile phone can have immediate results for players on the course.
“It gives you average carry distance for each club,” Howland said. “Things you can take out to the golf course, so you’ll be more informed when playing golf.”
Howland thinks the enhanced driving range with Toptracer technology will set Wiltwyck apart from other golf courses and clubs in the Hudson Valley and beyond.
“I think it’s something special that they’re creating,” Howland said.