By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Founded in 1917, The River Club is a 5,800-yard par 69 golf course with 500 full-time members. With hot summers and notoriously cold winters in Boise, Idaho, the club decided to invest in its unique practice range and add an exciting new golf amenity for members to enjoy.
Opened in June of last year, The Barn is a climate-controlled building with 12 active hitting bays during the summer golf season, four of which are equipped with Trackman technology and adjacent monitors where members can attain all their desired data to help elevate their practice session and improve their scores on the course. From the mats within The Barn, members hit out to a 40-yard area that is enclosed on all sides by practice range netting that enables the club to best utilize this limited space. The Barn is a free amenity to members, but they must reserve a Trackman bay in advance. The other hitting stations can be utilized on a first-come-first-served basis as a warmup before their rounds or for longer practice sessions if desired.
In the winter, the barn doors are closed, and four Trackman simulator stations are used by the club’s die-hard golfers.
“It’s climate-controlled with fans going during the summer and heaters grinding during the winter. There are also TVs and music playing for members to enjoy,” says Sam Huston, the club’s PGA of America Director of Golf. “We have full F&B service that members order on their phones and get delivered right to them.
Huston and his Teaching Professional Brett Kennedy, a PGA of America Associate Professional currently pursuing PGA membership, do their teaching in The Barn to rave reviews from members. Kennedy will be elevated to PGA of America Director of Instruction upon completion of the PGA Professional Golf Management Program. Huston and Kennedy are creating a comprehensive calendar of events, clinics and instructional opportunities to engage with members and help them enjoy the game of golf more than they already do. Whether it’s the comfort of the indoor facility, the quality hitting mats or the stellar Trackman technology, members are taking more lessons and playing with friends and family all year round.
“We ran several indoor leagues this past winter that were very popular,” Huston adds, “and hosted a Trackman club championship that was a big hit with participants.”
At the same time, the club has invested in a robotic golf ball picker that retrieves balls from throughout the 40-yard landing area. With the body of the range being artificial turf, the automated picker retrieves balls within its programmed area and returns them to its docking station, where club staff puts them through the ball washer before putting them back into rotation. The use of the robotic ball picker alleviates the need for a staff member to do the job and reduces the instances when members might have to stop hitting to allow for the manual picking of the range. This saves time and labor.
Much of the thinking behind these investments stems from an upcoming renovation that will be led by architect Brian Curley and will close the golf course from this fall to the spring of 2027. This complete rerouting/redesign of the course will result in an exciting new layout that will further buoy member pride in The River Club.
“With The Barn, we wanted to ensure we had golf and engagement opportunities for members during the 18-month course renovation period,” Huston concludes.
Look to Golf Range Magazine for a more detailed story of the upcoming course renovation later this summer or fall and full coverage of its unveiling in 2027.
