By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
College golf courses are often a source of pride and comfort to the teams that call them home. Often designed as an amenity for the college community, many college golf courses find themselves falling behind when it comes to the degree of difficulty and level of challenge rendered in this age of 300+ yard drives that are customary in today’s college game.
At Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Indiana, PGA of America Head Golf Professional Nick Ary welcomes the Ball State University men’s and women’s golf teams of the Mid-American Conference.
“We are constantly trying to think of ways of making our course longer for the Cardinals golf teams, so when they hit the links in practice or tournament play, they know what to expect and can play their best golf,” Ary explained.
Ary says Ball State recently built an indoor performance center on campus with Trackman, SAM PuttLab and other state-of-the-art technology that help team coaches guide their players to reach their goals.
“Until last year, we hadn’t had much involvement with instruction of the Ball State players, but we’ve recently started working with a few of the Cardinal golfers on various aspects of their game,” Ary adds.
He says he also teaches several student-athletes from his alma mater, Indiana University East in Richmond, Indiana. He adds that his instruction has increased tenfold with these elite college golfers and many skilled high school players traveling to improve their game under his tutelage.
There’s a sense of pride at Delaware Country Club, as many of Ary’s members are either alumni of Ball State University or have some affiliation with the school. Members are engaging, talking to the players and getting to know them on and off the course, and some student-athletes end up working for DCC members, as these relationships grow.
Ary owns the golf shop at Delaware Country Club and stocks Cardinals gear such as balls and embroidered apparel. Whether one’s affiliation is at the university or the country club, both entities are lucky to have the other.
It’s a similar scenario at Great River Golf Club in Milford, Connecticut. The course was purchased by nearby Sacred Heart University in 2015 and hosts the Pioneer’s organized men’s and women’s golf practices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, as well as range practices or less formal rounds as available over the weekend.
Coach Matt McGreevey has an office at the course and the facility hosts practice rounds, qualifying rounds and two big fall golf matches, one for the men and the other for the women’s program. Great River’s PGA of America Director of Instruction Tom Rosati works with Pioneer golfers to hone their skills and improve issues in their game.
The course itself is open to course affiliates – staff, alumni and students – and has a membership of nearly 300 individuals, one-third of whom are Sacred Heart alumni. According to Jason Loomis, the club’s PGA of America General Manager, the facility has an agreement with the Town of Milford that requires them to offer public rounds, as well, although the majority of play is by university-affiliated individuals and club members.
Like Ary, Loomis, also owns the golf shop at Great River and stocks his shop with Sacred Heart University Pioneers logoed goods, such as shoes, gloves, balls, hats, apparel and even Yeti bottles.
Despite the close relationships enjoyed at Delaware Country Club and Great River Golf Club, not all university-owned courses host their golf teams. Rutgers University, for instance, owns the Rutgers University Golf Course, but the Scarlet Knights do not play official matches at the Piscataway, New Jersey layout.
According to the golf course’s PGA of America Head Golf Professional and former tour player, Lisa Jensen, the course is not part of the university’s athletics program. It is, however, the largest non-academic department in the university and is self-sustaining. As a result, the course is open to the public and revenue is driven by rounds, carts, retail sales, league fees and F&B business. University personnel, students and alumni get a special rate and the Rutgers men’s and women’s golf teams utilize a dedicated grass area on the range for team workouts and practice.
Other schools like SUNY Delhi, Coastal Carolina University and Methodist University have courses on campus or in close proximity that host team practices and matches, as well as welcome university affiliates and public golfers. These schools, and many more nationwide, have close relationships with their golf courses and promote play and student involvement on-site. Each of these three schools maintains a Professional Golf Management Program, Coastal and Methodist being PGA-sanctioned, which benefits their students and our future golf professionals in serving customers, learning retail sales, teaching, agronomy, golf cart fleet management and so much more. They’re a vital cog in the education of tomorrow’s golf professionals and are therefore growing the game from the business side of the counter. They’re also building infrastructure to support these efforts well into the future, with projects like the one to create a stellar new performance studio and learning center at CCU’s Hackler Course. Whether utilized for play, instruction or education, university golf courses are integral to the schools, the business and the future of the game.
