Just curious if any has heard any plans for upgrading the campus golf shack. When I went last it was horrible. What made it even worse was that it sits right next to the new Awesome looking South Rec Center. Its really an eye sour and is in need of a big upgrade. Not sure why they couldn't have looped it into the Rec Center construction and connected the two.
Campus Golf Facility
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Last: 2 mo ago by tgivaughn
It is substandard for our university, no doubt. But then so was the Hotard Hilton back in the day
Correct. we need a drastic overhaul
Leave as is; somethings just need to be left alone
-old army
-old army
Seeing what they did with the campus hotel and Aggie Park there is a golden opportunity to upgrade the campus course and facilities. Somebody needs to step up and do/say something about it. Although, at this rate, I could see them knocking the whole thing out and putting more buildings up.
Just a new place for former students. The students can continue to use that eye sore.
sad that the course we have IS the result of a complete redo and $5 million dollar investment not all that long ago (think is was early 2010s)... which was then left to a crappy management company that couldn't make it work and keep the course in good shape... so we are back to a course in terrible shape that's more expensive than the old terrible course we had run/neglected by the university. abhorrent with our turf management program they can't figure out a way to keep the course up (or remodel the clubshack).
I miss the meal plan tender and fry baskets from the old clubhouse
Hanrahan said:
sad that the course we have IS the result of a complete redo and $5 million dollar investment not all that long ago (think is was early 2010s)... which was then left to a crappy management company that couldn't make it work and keep the course in good shape... so we are back to a course in terrible shape that's more expensive than the old terrible course we had run/neglected by the university. abhorrent with our turf management program they can't figure out a way to keep the course up (or remodel the clubshack).
It is amazing. Hell, make it a real club that competes with Traditions, with a badass clubhouse and free parking for members 24/7.
I worked there all through school (post reno) and was always disappointed in the clubhouse. How can you scrounge all the money up to redo the course, but can't generate another few million to revamp the clubhouse.
Could you imagine how popular a beautiful clubhouse would be with a men's locker room for game day weekends.
What a golden opportunity at the doorstep of the school for a great clubhouse facility and pavilion for events and tailgating.
Another head scratcher was installing 150+ bunkers (maintenance nightmares) ILO using that money for additional sand capping of the course (get rid of hardpan) or maybe an actual driving range with grass that doesn't look like the lunar surface. The other big maintenance issue was always the salty water and how that impacted the turf health. I've heard that's since been rectified with the greens but again why not do that from the beginning.
It has so much potential to be a great venue, but we just can't get out of our own way sometimes.
Could you imagine how popular a beautiful clubhouse would be with a men's locker room for game day weekends.
What a golden opportunity at the doorstep of the school for a great clubhouse facility and pavilion for events and tailgating.
Another head scratcher was installing 150+ bunkers (maintenance nightmares) ILO using that money for additional sand capping of the course (get rid of hardpan) or maybe an actual driving range with grass that doesn't look like the lunar surface. The other big maintenance issue was always the salty water and how that impacted the turf health. I've heard that's since been rectified with the greens but again why not do that from the beginning.
It has so much potential to be a great venue, but we just can't get out of our own way sometimes.
Muy said:Hanrahan said:
sad that the course we have IS the result of a complete redo and $5 million dollar investment not all that long ago (think is was early 2010s)... which was then left to a crappy management company that couldn't make it work and keep the course in good shape... so we are back to a course in terrible shape that's more expensive than the old terrible course we had run/neglected by the university. abhorrent with our turf management program they can't figure out a way to keep the course up (or remodel the clubshack).
It is amazing. Hell, make it a real club that competes with Traditions, with a badass clubhouse and free parking for members 24/7.
2013 I believe. I graduated in Dec 2012 and I remember playing there my all through school.
Daughter played in the STPGA junior spring championship there…it was embarrassing how bad it was. No bathrooms, muddy porta potties out back. What you would expect for a charming small town muni…which is cool in the right place. Also, how are they not partnering with the Turfgrass Program and making the grass perfect?
This has always been my question… how do you not leverage our turf grass program? Give each student a green/tee box/fairway and make it their pet project. Seems like an easy win/win. Real world experience is just sitting right there… but nope!
I want to say the initial redesign plans were supposed to do that. They were supposed to have the 18 hole course, and then on the side of the course next to Bizzell St there were supposed to be 3 additional holes the the Turf Management classes/research and maybe for the KINE golf classes to be able to play on. Maybe I'm totally misremembering that, but obviously it didn't happen and now there is the Southside Rec Center in that spot.
terradactylexpress said:
I miss the meal plan tender and fry baskets from the old clubhouse
I worked at the course back in the mid-90s and it had the absolute best cheeseburger and fries
Quote:
I worked at the course back in the mid-90s and it had the absolute best cheeseburger and fries.
I remember those cheeseburger baskets well.
I played my first scramble at that course in '99. It was also the first time I realized other people cheat at scrambles. I think 22 or 23 under won it that day.
If I had to guess, they get no additional money to maintain the course other than what they bring in from green fees…which can't be much with student rates, etc.
You are not misremembering that
wangus12 said:
I want to say the initial redesign plans were supposed to do that. They were supposed to have the 18 hole course, and then on the side of the course next to Bizzell St there were supposed to be 3 additional holes the the Turf Management classes/research and maybe for the KINE golf classes to be able to play on. Maybe I'm totally misremembering that, but obviously it didn't happen and now there is the Southside Rec Center in that spot.
For someone who has played the course since the early 80's, it was a bit odd to re-arrange the course (which actually improved the course in many ways), but then ignore the facilities - a fresh coat of paint and re-striping the parking lot hardly counts. Now that we have the SSRC, I understand why they did away with #10.
They just hired a new course superintendent, so let's hope he does great things.
CFTXAG10 said:
Seeing what they did with the campus hotel and Aggie Park there is a golden opportunity to upgrade the campus course and facilities. Somebody needs to step up and do/say something about it. Although, at this rate, I could see them knocking the whole thing out and putting more buildings up.
I've said it before but they should re-purpose it into a 9 hole course that mostly runs along the boundaries and use the rest for a pitch and putt course, entertainment/recreation area that will attract more students who aren't golfers but want the fun of playing around in a more casual environment.
Sadly the only thing I see happening to the course is that it ends up getting completely torn up and they continue campus expansion that way.
As an aside about the Turf program at A&M, the numbers aren't good. I spoke to the Dean about low numbers of students in the program in the Spring of '24. He told me there were 51 students who applied to get in the Turf Program that year and the University only accepted 14 of them. It is difficult to get into A&M and the kind of students who are getting in are generally not ones interested in Turfgrass. If you take 14 kids in a year, maybe only half of those go into golf - others will go into research, athletic fields, park maintenance and other things. Those aren't good numbers for a healthy program. They are working on ideas to get those numbers up and have received a few concessions from the University, but it is going to take a while to build the numbers.
It has always been curious to me the University never created a partnership between the College of Ag to make the golf course a "laboratory" like so many other schools with golf courses do. Somewhere there has always been a disconnect between what the College of Ag could/should do with an on-campus golf course and a Turf Program. Maybe there is a new opportunity with the "Hospitality" school we are getting with Buc-Cees to make a more inclusive program.
It has always been curious to me the University never created a partnership between the College of Ag to make the golf course a "laboratory" like so many other schools with golf courses do. Somewhere there has always been a disconnect between what the College of Ag could/should do with an on-campus golf course and a Turf Program. Maybe there is a new opportunity with the "Hospitality" school we are getting with Buc-Cees to make a more inclusive program.
I think this is a good idea…add stadium lights to the inside area and keep it open late during the warmer months - there are a lot of beginners that are deterred by oppressive heat on a golf course. I've always enjoyed night par 3 golf - played it in FL, CA, and Hawaii.Bunk Moreland said:CFTXAG10 said:
Seeing what they did with the campus hotel and Aggie Park there is a golden opportunity to upgrade the campus course and facilities. Somebody needs to step up and do/say something about it. Although, at this rate, I could see them knocking the whole thing out and putting more buildings up.
I've said it before but they should re-purpose it into a 9 hole course that mostly runs along the boundaries and use the rest for a pitch and putt course, entertainment/recreation area that will attract more students who aren't golfers but want the fun of playing around in a more casual environment.
It's a nice course, why destroy it?
It just deserves a nicer clubhouse.
It just deserves a nicer clubhouse.
I know absolutely nothing about turf management or agronomy. But when I watch some videos of superintendents or golf course maintenance, I think a number of them have mentioned Ohio State.
What does their program offer educationally that we don't? Do we not have placement programs or internships for our grads?
What does their program offer educationally that we don't? Do we not have placement programs or internships for our grads?
Isn't the campus course owned by Sterling Golf? It still shows on their website as one of their properties. How much of a say does the school actually have in how it's run?
Sterling only manages it.
jonj101 said:
I know absolutely nothing about turf management or agronomy. But when I watch some videos of superintendents or golf course maintenance, I think a number of them have mentioned Ohio State.
What does their program offer educationally that we don't? Do we not have placement programs or internships for our grads?
I graduated in 2003 with an agronomy (turf management) degree, so I can only speak for how it was back then. We didn't have any help from the school for finding internships or jobs. I found my own internship at the Broadmoor and then my own job as an assistant superintendent once I graduated.
We had great professors back then, but I can only remember one lab where we went to the campus course. One to two other times we went to Kyle and Olsen for a lab. I worked at the turf research lab, so I got a lot of experience through that. However, some of my classmates really didn't get any hands-on experience before they graduated.
I think it could be a nice course. I personally think they got too far out over their skis with the renovated design and now can't maintain it like it should be. At least that's my take from being on it two separate times this year (Feb and Apr). Makes me wonder how much revenue they have coming in under the current setup (standard 18 hole course).zephyr88 said:
It's a nice course, why destroy it?
It just deserves a nicer clubhouse.
We can afford half-a-billion dollar stadiums, multimillion dollar baseball, softball, track, etc. sports facilities. If they wanted the golf facilities to be nice and the course well maintained, they could. Fact is, they just don't care.
Ah gotcha.
DargelSkout said:jonj101 said:
I know absolutely nothing about turf management or agronomy. But when I watch some videos of superintendents or golf course maintenance, I think a number of them have mentioned Ohio State.
What does their program offer educationally that we don't? Do we not have placement programs or internships for our grads?
I graduated in 2003 with an agronomy (turf management) degree, so I can only speak for how it was back then. We didn't have any help from the school for finding internships or jobs. I found my own internship at the Broadmoor and then my own job as an assistant superintendent once I graduated.
We had great professors back then, but I can only remember one lab where we went to the campus course. One to two other times we went to Kyle and Olsen for a lab. I worked at the turf research lab, so I got a lot of experience through that. However, some of my classmates really didn't get any hands-on experience before they graduated.
That sucks. It's sounds just lazy on the part of admin to not set up an on campus program
A&M campus course had a great practice facility when they renovated about 10 years ago.
Then A&M decided to build a southside rec center. Instead of using the tons of acreage available, they took out the two practice greens, chipping area and two bunkers. It was idiotic. They could have built the rec center parking lot just a bit to the south and both would have coexisted just fine.
Then A&M decided to build a southside rec center. Instead of using the tons of acreage available, they took out the two practice greens, chipping area and two bunkers. It was idiotic. They could have built the rec center parking lot just a bit to the south and both would have coexisted just fine.
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