The LSU men’s and women’s golf teams will get the opportunity to test out their new digs this fall after their home course, the University Club, completes renovations.
The company hired to do the renovations, Landscapes Unlimited, installed new lakes and dug dips and furrows into the course, using the dirt from the excavations to add hills and complications to the greens.
The course, which is a members-only course, will re-open for play this Friday.
Both teams adopted the Country Club of Louisiana last season while the University Club was getting a facelift. The purpose of the renovations was to bring championship golf to Baton Rouge, and the early returns on the investment are looking good.
The Tigers were recently chosen as one of six schools to host a regional tournament in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. It will be the first time in the program’s history the Tigers will host a regional.
“The ability to host an NCAA regional at home is a tremendous accomplishment for our program,” LSU men’s golf coach Chuck Winstead said in a news release. “I’m proud and happy for the many people who have made it possible. This is further validation of what we’ve been able to accomplish through our renovation to the University Club and one more step forward for our golf program here at LSU.”
Winstead was a driving force behind the planning of the renovations and, along with Lady Tigers’ coach Karen Bahnsen, gave input on how the updates to the course would be designed.
Input from Bahnsen, Winstead, and PGA professional David Toms had a major effect on the style of the changes, said Jared LeBouef, general manager of the University Club.
“They go around and they travel and play the best courses in the country, so it comes to life in their vision,” LeBouef said. “With Toms’ experience on the PGA tour, that goes without saying. If you take all that input, you can build a pretty good golf course.”
University Club renovations started in December. The only snag in the renovations process was the difficulty brought on by the weather, which LeBouef said was unusually bad in December and January.
The University Club wasn’t deemed worthy of postseason play before the renovations because of its lack of difficult shots. The course lacked “definition and character,” LeBouef said.
This will not be the case after the renovations are completed.
The course added yardage and a degree of difficulty that hadn’t been present before the renovations. Hazards and elevation changes now lie where a flat, wide-open shot used to be, forcing golfers to be creative with their appraches to the green.
“The whole course was fairly wide open — you could hit the ball anywhere. The greens were fairly flat; we just had a flat piece of land,” LeBouef said. “You have to move a lot of dirt to create what we did, so that’s what we did.”
The pro-shop began taking tee-times for the re-opening on Aug. 20, and LeBouef said the times were all booked in 45 minutes.
“We had a member get here at 4:30 this morning, two and a half hours before we took tee times,” LeBouef said. “I think the members are excited about the renovations as well.”The LSU men’s and women’s golf teams will get the opportunity to test out their new digs this fall after their home course, the University Club, completes renovations.
The company hired to do the renovations, Landscapes Unlimited, installed new lakes and dug dips and furrows into the course, using the dirt from the excavations to add hills and complications to the greens.
The course, which is a members-only course, will re-open for play this Friday.
Both teams adopted the Country Club of Louisiana last season while the University Club was getting a facelift. The purpose of the renovations was to bring championship golf to Baton Rouge, and the early returns on the investment are looking good.
The Tigers were recently chosen as one of six schools to host a regional tournament in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. It will be the first time in the program’s history the Tigers will host a regional.
“The ability to host an NCAA regional at home is a tremendous accomplishment for our program,” LSU men’s golf coach Chuck Winstead said in a news release. “I’m proud and happy for the many people who have made it possible. This is further validation of what we’ve been able to accomplish through our renovation to the University Club and one more step forward for our golf program here at LSU.”
Winstead was a driving force behind the planning of the renovations and, along with Lady Tigers’ coach Karen Bahnsen, gave input on how the updates to the course would be designed.
Input from Bahnsen, Winstead, and PGA professional David Toms had a major effect on the style of the changes, said Jared LeBouef, general manager of the University Club.
“They go around and they travel and play the best courses in the country, so it comes to life in their vision,” LeBouef said. “With Toms’ experience on the PGA tour, that goes without saying. If you take all that input, you can build a pretty good golf course.”
University Club renovations started in December. The only snag in the renovations process was the difficulty brought on by the weather, which LeBouef said was unusually bad in December and January.
The University Club wasn’t deemed worthy of postseason play before the renovations because of its lack of difficult shots. The course lacked “definition and character,” LeBouef said.
This will not be the case after the renovations are completed.
The course added yardage and a degree of difficulty that hadn’t been present before the renovations. Hazards and elevation changes now lie where a flat, wide-open shot used to be, forcing golfers to be creative with their appraches to the green.
“The whole course was fairly wide open — you could hit the ball anywhere. The greens were fairly flat; we just had a flat piece of land,” LeBouef said. “You have to move a lot of dirt to create what we did, so that’s what we did.”
The pro-shop began taking tee-times for the re-opening on Aug. 20, and LeBouef said the times were all booked in 45 minutes.
“We had a member get here at 4:30 this morning, two and a half hours before we took tee times,” LeBouef said. “I think the members are excited about the renovations as well.”
—————
Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected].