Erin M. Droste

Renovations to a new driving range are underway at Alvamar Golf Club on Feb.3. The public course was closed in October 2004 to begin renovations and will be re-opened in mid-April. The KU men’s golf team will practice at the private course at Alvamar until renovations are finished.

Though excavated dirt and a few bulldozers are all that are visible of the Alvamar Golf Club, by the time April rolls around the view will be of a new driving range and golf course.

“The new driving range is going to be our ‘wow’ factor when people come driving in down Crossgate,” said Alvamar superintendent Kent Morgison.

The KU golf teams, as well as visitors and veterans, will benefit from the improvements, he said.

In early October, the club ended its golfing season early to begin massive renovations to the golf course and driving range. Construction is under way, and the course is expected to have its grand re-opening in mid-April.

The new driving range will have larger grass tee hitting areas, target greens, bunkers and accurate yardage markings. The additions to the driving range will make it better to look at and practice on, Morgison said.

Landscapes Unlimited Inc., out of Lincoln, Neb., will construct the range project. The company specializes in golf course renovations and construction.

The golf course will be improved as well. When the course re-opens in April, all 18 greens will be brand new. The new greens will be Crenshaw Bent 962. Around the golf business, this type of Crenshaw grass is referred to as ‘the new generation,’ Morgison said.

The new greens will be similar to the greens on the private course of Alvamar and will be faster and more true than the regular old grass. This new grass also benefits the greenskeepers because it does not need as much water as most types of grass. The changes on the public course will benefit players of all ages and abilities.

Brad Demo, head golf professional at Alvamar, 1800 Crossgate Dr., said that the changes to the public course would be more amazing to the newcomers than to the regulars of the course. But the changes that have been made will give those newcomers an opportunity to play and practice at a state-of-the-art facility from the start, he said.

“The new golf course is going to be attractive to a wide variety of people from small children to movie stars,” Demo said.

The changes will especially benefit the men’s golf team, which will move back into its home when the course re-opens. While the Jayhawks have been playing at the private course in the meantime, players are excited to move back to the public course. “It’s unbelievable how the changes will affect us,” said sophomore Tyler Docking. “Having the new range will make it so much better for practicing irons. We will finally be able to see where our ball lands.”

The faster greens that have been seeded will give the team better preparation for tournament play. Although the greens on the private course are similar in speed and smoothness to the new greens going in on the public course, the length of the public course will make it better in preparing for the bigger tournaments because it requires a driver off many of the tees.

“The new greens will help us a great deal in getting ready,” Docking said. “It will be nice to play on faster greens because that is what we’ll see in tournaments.”