Instead of a driving range, just play what you want. Also Re: your question about Amateur tourneys, those weekly and monthly tourneys are separated in tiers, so you will compete with your own tier only.
Advantage against practice rounds:
- tourneys give double base XPs,
- unlimited tourneys may be entered multiple times,
- bad scores don't affect your tiering up,
- good scores will help your promotion, which practice rounds do not.
Caveat: Do not buy CC passes if you're asked so.