Advice on Building a Practice Facility for High School Golf Team

[Dan_Callahan]

Let's just say that you were coaching a high school golf team and you learned that you had access to 80 acres of undeveloped land. Some of the land is cleared and is used for hay. Most of the land is at the top of a hill, so it drains really well. There is plenty of room to build a rudimentary par 3, 4 and 5. Without making a huge investment in irrigation, putting greens, etc., what is the best possible use of the property? A simple driving range? A short course with flags stuck in the ground for targets? Is it worth it to dig bunkers, or will they quickly fall into disrepair?

Below is the topo for the property, as well as two aerials. On the topo, the cleared strip to the east (the light green is the cleared land) is a comfortable 500 yards and could be stretched to 550. It is very flat and maybe 50 yards wide. The land to the northwest is at the top of a hill. It has some cool rolls as it moves south. To the southwest, the clearing falls away sharply. The center of the property is also very high and it falls away to the east.

It would be very easy to just mow a few teeing areas and split up the golf team (a small number of kids) so some are hitting driver on the eastern strip and others are hitting irons on the west side. This is in New England, so it would give us a great spot to practice in the early spring as we wait for courses to open.

The team is very excited (and ambitious) to do more with it. I share their enthusiasm, but also want to be realistic. I thought some on here might have some advice for the pros and cons of actually trying to put in a little course. If nothing else, it has been awesome to watch a group of teenagers (boys and girls) take a stab at routing a course. I should add that there is a path through the woods on the northern end of the land, so it is possible to get from one clearing to the next without going around.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


Below: Topo


Below: Aerial looking north


Below: Aerial looking south

[Jim_Kennedy]

Dan,
I think the first consideration is just how much of an ongoing maintenance budget you'll have.   

[michael damico]

yes, the maintenance will be an issue, but with the help of a knowledgeable super, I'm sure that the team can help with the rudimentary maintenance (divots, ball marks, etc)

The only thing that surprises me (which it really doesn't simply because so many practice facilities are done just the way you bring up) is the fact that those are only 3 holes. Something that had possibly 3 or 4 greens with alot of open short grass and a couple of greenside bunkers would offer so many options; in other words, instead of playing the same 3 holes over and over, something that I had mentioned would allow for the 10 or so players to dictate what type of shots they want to practice and even play a game of horse, etc.

As I was researching training facilities for a project I was doing in grad school (a practice facility for CU) I came across something along the lines I was aiming for at Stanford. RTJ2 and his team did something that now Tiger has done in his back yard. You more than likely don't need different grasses, but its the options that I am straining. I may be able to post a picture of my project that would help to explain it, but it is essentially allowing for teeing areas placed that would allow one to reach any of the alloted amount of green sites. This way you can approach a green from almost any angle, allowing for the golfer to choose what type of hole he/she wants to play.

[Jaeger Kovich]

I think your main focus should be on generating targets to hit to. I used to hit balls on the flat fields of my NE high school, but its not the same as hitting to a green. Not that you need to build real greens, but rather create some type of visual target to represent the same challenges. Triangular oriented practice areas, like Tigers, are great for versatility which could work great for 2/3 of your property and then you could love the long strip of land for a long range.

[Ronald Montesano]

"I'm sure that the team can help with the rudimentary maintenance (divots, ball marks, etc)"

I wouldn't call this the rudimentary maintenance. I would call this "frosting."

I disagree with Jaeger on the greens-as-targets issue. I think that if you train to hit at flat ground, you'll hit well to flat ground. If you train to hit to varied targets, you'll be surprised by nothing on the course.

Is there enough length to go end to end with driver?  I don't translate acres to yards well.

I would be inclined to think like Mike Strantz did at MPCC, when he switched the flow of the course from the traditional/1st redesign and consider running the facility in a variety of directions.  If you don't have enough end to end distance, then think side to side.

Regardless of what you decide, your upkeep is going to be fairly intense, unless you have a fleet of gang mowers and can teach the kids to use them.

[Matt_Cohn]

My only thought would be to design targets and/or greens that are designed to be approached from many different places and angles. If they're going to be hitting to the same few targets day after day for four years, you need to create some variety in terms of angles and approaches. In a perfect world I'd scatter 9 greens around there, mostly away from the edges of the property, and play a different routing every day.

[Don_Mahaffey]

I hate to be a party pooper but...unless you can pay someone like a maintenance contractor to care for the place, its just not realistic. You'll need mowers, irrigation, money for other inputs, and lots of labor. If it were my team, I'd take whatever money I might be considering using for a project like this and put it into instruction by a qualified teacher, video equipment, travel to good tournaments, and supporting a local golf business that allows the kids to play and practice. Spending all your free time and money maintaining something gets old in a hurry.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Don has a great [point here.
The romance of a wonderful practice facility is very exciting...the likes of  Stanford facility very enticing..but...you need to develop talent more than you need a world class fcility.
We had the same opportunity here with the Texas High Golf team in Texarkana, and recruited exOpen champion Bill Rogers for his input.
He now coaches a cllege team in San Antonio and his suggestion was exactly what Don said..
A nice range with Target greens and good turf to hit off, and spend the rest on good instruction and top notch high school events.

This is what we have done, our own event in October is run like a college event, with scoreboards , meals provided, hotels provided etc...this creates  a great event that all the best teams in Texas want to attend, which excites the local kids and brings in bountiful college attention come tournament time.

We bring in an instructor fro the UK, who actually is mycoach, he comes across four times s ayear and spend time with the kids with video etc...and they keep in touch via email lessons, it is working out like a dream.

The maintiantence budget is minimal, simply grass cutting for the range portion and minimal upkeep for the hittinh areas.
Just be careful not to stretch the budget and reality in the name of providing a world class faclilty.

[Dan_Callahan]

I have absolutely no ambition of creating a world class practice facility. I don't have the time for it, and I would never try to make the case for the school to invest in that over things like financial aid or faculty salaries.

We already have good video equipment, good instruction, and access to several local courses.

I'm just looking at this parcel of land that was cleared in a way that makes it hard NOT to see a few golf holes and wondering if it could be useful. I have a small group of talented and hard working kids who love the idea of creating something cool, and I want to support them. But I also know nothing about what it would take to build a rudimentary bunker or two or even possibly a putting green. I like the idea of multiple targets. When we walked the property yesterday, I talked to the team about the concept behind the Sheep Ranch, and they thought that would be great way to practice every now and then.

Of course, the way this year has been going, we'll probably get a foot of snow this weekend and I'll give up on golf entirely.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Dan,
The land does look awesome, and as you said you can just see holes on the site view.
Sheep Ranch concept is great, but Don can give you a great view on upkeep, better than probably any on here bearing in mind his current locale...