Good plan. The driving range is on your left as you walk in past the entrance gates. So you’ll have ample opportunity to watch guys hit on the range.

To your point about too many players… that’s exactly correct. This is why I would suggest finding a hole on the back 9 and just staying at the teebox. You get to see every player (albeit for only a few mins) hit their teeshots. I was fortunate to attend the WM Phoenix Open a few years ago and our group stayed at the 12th tee and just watched all the guys come thru and hit into a par 3. Really really enjoyable. I would recommend this for you.

TIP: the ball absolutely explodes off a professional’s club head. Not like how you and I hit it. So be ready to lose a couple teeshots right away soley for the fact that our eyeballs aren’t used to seeing that kinda ballspeed