Practice out of divots

When practicing at a driving range that has real grass and turf, you should practice a few iron shots out of your divots. Why? Because there are divots on courses. Golf is a game with many imperfect lies on the course, and you might need a confidence boost to know you can pull off a shot from a bad lie. Also, hitting iron shots out of divots requires a downward blow, not an upward scoop. It's good practice to work on the fundamental of hitting down on irons. Finally, you will have more confidence on good lie shots, because, you will have already proven you can hit from bad ones. It always happens. Big match. Key hole. You hit a perfect drive, yet end up in a divot. Now, instead of panicking, you'll do well. You'll have practiced it.

Practice before a round of golf can make you play worse

Thinking of hitting a bucket of balls in the range before you have a round of golf? Think again. PGA Pro Jerry Mowlds, speaking in a New York Times article, claims it can actually make you play worse.

"Going to the range usually messes the average golfer up for the whole day

If they hit it good on the range, it’s pretty common that a bout of nerves will make them hit a few bad shots as soon as they get on the golf course. That frustrates them to no end, and they start wondering why they couldn’t bring their range swing to the course.

And if they hit it poorly on the range, they start changing everything in their normal swing, get more frustrated and head to the course a wreck. Either way, they play worse once the real golf starts."

So you must be wondering just what Mowlds recommends before a round? Well basically just your average warm up:

"They should start by just swinging several different clubs without hitting anything.
Warm up your swing and your muscles for maybe 10 minutes. Then, if they want to hit some 50-yard shots to get some feel for contact and control, that’s fine. But no full shots. None. It’s a warm-up, nothing more. Talk to pro golfers. If they want to practice, they do it after they play.

“The average golfer should just get loose, get the blood flowing and then walk to the first tee with a clear mind.”

There you go golfers - another good excuse why you aren't a pro yet!