Range under repair
Drainage pipe
Fred Thompson
So alright already, what’s up with the renovation of our driving range? Between HOA General Manager Rhett Hubbard, Director of Agronomy Ryan Coffman, and our Golf Director Craig Pullen, here is what I learned.
As was obvious in recent days and weeks, our driving range was in really bad shape. Heavy contributors were of course the extreme cold snap, but also normal wear and tear. I didn’t realize it but like most everything else, a driving range has a shelf life and ours was at the point where heavy renovation had already been on the drawing board to take place in 2022.
What many are asking of course is, “when will it be completed?” We’re told that it will be some time in the month of August. What changes will there be? Well, for one, there will be a new artificial mat hitting area. This will not be a ‘grass like’ surface but more of a flat mat that will accept the placement of your individually placed hitting tee. The name of the material is Tee Line Turf. It will measure about 7ft x 350ft and is expected to last for several years. On most days, you will not be limited to hitting from this new area as a sizable bermuda natural grass area will also be in place. There may be times when use of the range will be limited to this artificial mat but only when conditions restrict use of the natural grass area. Also, there will be some new flagged miniature green target areas placed at various distances from the hitting area.
As you may have noticed, a considerable quantity of new drainage pipe was delivered and should make for a major improvement. Overall, the artificial mat area and the additional drainage will undoubtedly contribute to a considerable reduction in range downtime.
So how about the cost? The whole project (range and chipping green) will run about $175,000. The good news is that it is a revenue producer for us. In fact, our revenue has been running above what was projected and should be in the range of $100,000 or more for the year. While we’re having some temporary inconvenience, the end result will be our having a facility that is amongst the best in the entire DFW multiplex area.