10 / 26
O
ne trait shared by most
golfers—whether young
or old, expert or absolute
beginner—is a desire to improve.
Combined with the widely-held
belief that more people would play
golf if it were cheaper and quicker to
play, it’s no wonder that many golf
clubs are taking a closer look at their
practice facilities.
Whether they comprise a driving
range, putting green, short game area,
short course or some combination of all
of the above, a club’s practice facilities
can have a huge impact on its appeal to
members and guests. But what makes a
good practice facility design?
According to Art Schaupeter,
ASGCA, feedback is critical.
“Everything that gets designed into
the practice facility needs to be
done with the focus on providing
feedback to the golfers. They need
to have a real clear view and idea of
what each of their shots do so that
they can learn and improve, so that
their time using the practice facilities
is truly useful and applicable to what
they want to do on the golf course.”
Schaupeter has recently completed
an overhaul of the practice facility
at
Plum Creek
, a public course in
Kyle, Texas. Their existing practice
range was a perfectly flat field with
no distinguishing character, making
it ideal and valuable for development.
His master plan saw adjustments to
the first and tenth holes so the practice
ground could be relocated to a high,
sloping area in the middle of the
property, adjacent to the clubhouse.
“The elevated tees give the players a
complete view of exactly where their
shots land relative to the targets for
their iron practice. To simulate tee
shots, two long bunkers have been
positioned out in the range 30-40
yards apart so as to create the width
and look of a standard fairway on
the golf course. At one end of the
range tee, precision pitching targets
have been positioned on ten yard
centers from 40-to-100 yards so that
players can work on exact distance
control,” he says.
Many architects feel that the key to
a good practice facility is its ability
to replicate a full range of shots that
PRACTICE FACILITIES
10
|
By Design
The only limitation a golfer should have is his
or her
own imagination
—
especially
practicing short game shots
Plum Creek in Kyle, Texas was designed to give
golfers excellent feedback on their practice