Golf teams move practice, operations to new facility

John Pelet works on his swing at the golf team’s new practice facility.

By Dan Petty, '09

As John Pelet, ’07, launched yet another golf ball toward a lone flag pole set against rolling hills filled with lush grass and dotted with white, sandy bunkers, teammate Jordan Utley, ’08, stood nearby, intent on perfecting a few specialty shots the day before a recent tournament.

“I spend most of my time on the putting green,” Utley said, pointing to an area a few dozen yards away. “I’m big with putting because I’m terrible at it.”

But for now he’s working on shooting. Pelet and Utley—members of University of Richmond’s men’s golf team—can also pinpoint swing problems with video analysis, practice bunker shots, chip shots or blast balls from the driving range, thanks to a newly renovated golf practice facility for Richmond’s golf teams.

Both the men’s and women’s teams are gaining meaningful practice time from the expanded facility. The golfers have used it for two years, but final renovations were only recently completed.

The facility includes a golf driving range and large brick building, containing coaches’ offices; a team meeting room with a flat-screen television for analyzing matches; a training room with free-weights and cardio equipment; lockers; showers; laundry and study areas; a kitchenette; and a swing-analysis center, where players can perfect their swings using computers and three video cameras.

“If our kids have morning classes, they can come out [to the facility] and get some work done in a quiet place,” says Adam Decker, head coach of the men’s team. “If they want to watch television, practice or work out, they have that flexibility. It helps with time management.”

Decker and women’s head coach Leighann Albaugh relocated their offices and operations from campus last month to the new facility, a former Ben Hogan golf club development center, located about six miles northeast of campus. The University has six years remaining on the facility’s lease but might eventually buy the property.

Golf architect Lester George, R’77, designed the range in the late 1990s for the Hogan company and then donated design and surveying work to revamp the terrain several years ago specifically for the golf teams’ use.

 Ashley Lambert, ’07, a women’s team member, examines her golfing statistics from the week before and curtails her Tuesday and Thursday practices at the range to target her weaknesses.

“It’s nice to be able to practice when you want and know that you can utilize the whole facility without getting in the way of anybody else,” Lambert says.

Lambert’s favorite drill—“the circle of death”—involves putting the ball from three, four and five feet from the hole from different points, with the goal of making three shots in a row from multiple positions. 

Richmond’s Jefferson Lakeside Country Club maintains the facility in exchange for allowing its members use of the driving range. The team has specific times reserved at the facility, and Jefferson Lakeside members use it mostly in the summer when the team isn’t there, Decker says.

Coaches also have allocated space for a local club-repair specialist, who visits the facility several times a week to install new grips and perform other club maintenance.

“So far this semester, the response to the facility has been outstanding from recruits,” Decker says.  “I had three kids in here yesterday who were blown away.”

For Pelet, the player working on his chip shots and the men’s team’s lone senior, the facility has provided an opportunity to significantly improve his short game. During his first two years, the team could only play on a local golf course for a few hours several days a week.

“What can we do out here that we couldn’t do my first two years?” Pelet asked.  “Pretty much everything.”