Golf Practice Facilities A Tale of Two Clubs
By Owen Russell, Superintendent, Markland Wood GC and Al Schwemler, Superintendent, The Toronto GC. Photos provided by Markland Wood GC, and The Toronto GC.
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ecent trends have shown that golf courses are placing priority on improving their practice facilities. There are numerous reasons why practicing is becoming more popular. This article looks at how Markland Wood Golf Club and The Toronto Golf Club approached their practice facility restructuring.
Markland Wood Golf Club Reconstruction Project
In 2015 the members at Markland Wood Golf Club began to entertain the idea to improve their practice facility which consisted of a 5,500 sq. ft. green and two bunkers that were used for practice. The green was located in a small area that was approximately 38,500 sq. ft. The club’s marketing director was consistently faced with the challenge of impressing prospective members with the golf course, but the limited ability to practice sent people to other clubs. The research strategy with this project
Some reasons why practicing is becoming more popular: • It is the quickest way to improve your game which makes playing more enjoyable. • The health benefits of exercise and being outdoors. • Time constraints. • Practice can be fun and challenging. • The social benefits – practicing with friends or family. • Practicing can be very affordable. • Provides a platform for expanded teaching opportunities.
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was to take the Long Range Committee members to visit other properties that had created good practice facilities in limited spaces. Architect, Cam Tyers, took the committee to meet with Dean Baker at Burlington Golf Club, who had erected an impressive small net structure, and Jason Crawford at Eagles Nest, to look at the Titleist fitting centre which was also very impressive. Once the committee had an idea of what elements should be included in the new practice facility, Tyers placed them in a drawing over-laid on the existing small space and the plan was presented to the membership. There was a great deal of support but some resistance as some people could not visualize fitting a new green, a practice bunker, 11 hitting bays and a training building with the Trackman system into the 11,000 sq. ft. space. The members voted to proceed with the project. Markland Wood is located in a City of Toronto flood plain which means that the TRCA, Toronto Urban Forestry, Toronto Building Department, Toronto Planning & Development and City of Toronto Parks and Recreation all had to approve the project before the construction could begin. This project also required the services of a Geotechnical engineer, Structural Engineer and the Golf Course Architect to obtain the
