Golf Range Times Magazine | November-December 2006 News & Notes

Golf Range Times Buyers' Guide and Directory

November-December 2006

News & Notes

Industry News | New Products

Space—the Final Front Nine
On Thanksgiving Day, Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin is set to break almost every single record for distance in the sport of golf when he tees off atop the International Space Station, sending a golf ball into orbit around the Earth.

NASA approved the publicity stunt proposed by Toronto, Canada, golf club manufacturer Element 21, in celebration of the 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan B. Shepard’s historic Apollo 14 mission. Shepard famously hit some approach shots with a makeshift 6-iron on the surface of the moon, but Tyurin’s golf shot, using a custom-designed club and ball, will travel much farther—spending a few days circling the globe before burning up in the atmosphere.

Tyurin practiced for the mission by hitting golf balls underwater in Star City, the Cosmonaut training compound near Moscow. Before beginning his training, Tyurin—a former hockey player with no golfing experience—received a few lessons in golf technique from LPGA champ Carol Mann and Rick Martino, director of instruction for PGA of America.

Florida Man Buys Driving Range for Daughter
Take Your Daughter to Work Day just got easier for one father. Kevin Opolin of Port St. Lucie, Fla., envisioned his daughter playing professional golf one day, so he and Allen Warr, golf pro at St. Lucie Driving Range, bought the range together.
Former owner Jamie Frith had dreams of his own of playing golf professionally, but couldn’t do that while managing the range. Warr was in negotiations to purchase the range from Frith himself, and asked Opolin to join him in the venture before they closed the deal. The range features 40 practice tees, and long-range plans include installing practice greens.
Opolin’s daughter Chelsea, 13, has yet to play in a golf competition.

St. Andrews Golf Academy Opens
A new golf instruction facility offering cutting-edge technology and world-class coaching has opened in Scotland at the birthplace of the sport.
The St. Andrews Links Golf Academy, which opened in July, represents a major addition to the facilities at St. Andrews. It boasts four instruction studios equipped with advanced ball trackers. Golf students also may use ultrasound putting scan equipment. Also at the new facility, a custom-fit center operated by Applied Golf Technology will offer custom fitting, clubmaking and repair services.
The Golf Academy is part of a continuing expansion of the St. Andrews Links Golf Practice Center that also includes 14 new covered bays, improved outdoor bays and upgraded lighting. The center opened in 1991.

A Mat for All Seasons
Editor’s note: The Florek Co., was inadvertently omitted from the Equipment Guide on artificial turf products that appeared in the September/October 2006 issue of Golf Range Times.

The Florek Co. offers Georgia Peach Range Mats. These artificial turf range and stance mats are manufactured using a proprietary technique for structural element bonding known as the Hendrick V-77 Composite Linking Method. This process produces a totally integrated, homogeneous, commercial-grade, heavy-duty 100-percent nylon-faced, closed-shell, shock-padded mat that is guaranteed not to delaminate or destabilize under severe weather or typical perfunctory operating conditions. Mats are available in 5-foot by 5-foot squares or octagons, or an eight-hole 5-foot by 5-foot square.

The company’s Georgia Peach Artificial Nylon Turf products are designed to retain resilience and not compact, even after being trampled on repeatedly. The product line includes professional putting greens, hitting tee lines, fairways and target greens. When filled with pepper sand, these synthetic turfs provide a hitting surface that allows players to propel the golf ball to the best of their abilities. The combination of aggregates and synthetic materials eliminates directionality in play while providing shock absorbency, realistic ball action and low maintenance. The turf may be placed on a variety of surfaces provided all material elements are installed to specifications to achieve the optimum performance foundation. Do-it-yourself buyers are provided with a kit and instructions for installing the turf system. Turnkey installations are also available.

For more information, call the Florek Co. at 800-359-9188, or 865-588-9278.

Driving Range to Become Medical Campus
An Ohio golf facility in operation for nearly 40 years soon will close its doors to make room for a medical campus.
Lauth Healthcare, an Indianapolis medical facility developer plans to build a 300,000-square-foot campus on the 27-acre site of Westerville Golf Center in Westerville, Ohio. The deal between the developers and Westerville’s owners—brothers Erich and Walter Gaiser, and their cousin Paul Gaiser—is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007. Site work would begin during the following quarter.
The planned medical campus is part of a growing trend in the Westerville area, with several multi-million-dollar medical facility projects already in the works. In the meantime, the Gaisers will continue to operate Westerville Golf Center at least through the end of the year. The center opened in 1970 and underwent major renovations in 1990, adding batting cages and a 36-hole miniature golf course.
“We’ve had a lot of people tell us that they’ll miss us,” Erich Gaiser said in an interview with The Columbus Dispatch in August. “But the golf industry as a whole is going through some tough times right now, and we’ve felt it also.”

California Adopts Heat Stress Rules
A change to California’s occupational health regulations should bring some welcome relief to outdoor workers in hot weather, as well as new requirements for employers.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board in August approved a permanent heat stress standard to protect outdoor workers from heat-related deaths and illnesses.
Regulations now will require employers to provide workers with filtered drinking water—at least one quart per hour for the entire work shift. The standard also requires employers to provide shade for employees suffering from heat illness, as well as training for workers and supervisors on the risk factors for heat illness, how to avoid this health risk, the procedures for complying with the standard and emergency procedures if an employee becomes ill.

Golf Range Times Names Managing Editor
Douglas Murphy Communications Inc. has picked Bill Edwards to be the new managing editor of Golf Range Times. Edwards is a journalist with more than 20 years of experience writing and editing newspapers and magazines. He has worked in com-munications for corporate, government and nonprofit organizations.

Edwards can be reached at 804-272-9100, ext. 112, or bill.edwards@douglasmurphy.com.

Callaway Golf Opens Performance Center
The Ely Callaway Performance Center, named for the founder of Callaway Golf, aims to carry on Callaway’s pursuit of technological advances in the design, creation and custom fitting of golf clubs and balls for golfers of all ages and skill levels.

Services at the Carlsbad, Calif., facility, which opened in July, will include instant club alterations and clubmaking from scratch to a golfer’s specifications. The center serves as the hub of Callaway’s two-building research and design operations, which span 75,000 square feet indoors and spread out across 15 acres. The center features a testing lab where Big Bertha, Callaway’s club-swinging robot, test-drives prototype drivers and clubs. In addition, a virtual test center enables Callaway engineers to accurately predict the outdoor result of a shot hit indoors.

To learn more, visit www.callawaygolf.com.

Sticks for Kids Teaches Fundamentals
The Golf Course Builders Association of America (GCBAA) Foundation has collaborated with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) to bring GCBAA’s Sticks for Kids program to NRPA members nationwide.

The golf-instruction workshop is geared toward youth 7 to 15, and is designed for young people who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn or play golf. Sticks for Kids offers year-round instruction in the classroom as well as on the golf course. Kids in the program will learn about proper stance, grip and swing, as well as pitching, chipping and putting techniques. Instruction in golf safety, etiquette and discipline also is integrated into the program.

“With the NRPA’s focus on making recreation programs available to all, the GCBAA Foundation has found a natural partner as it takes its Sticks for Kids program nationwide,” says GCBAA Foundation President Bill Kubly.

For more information on how to start a Sticks for Kids program in your area, call the NRPA at 703-858-2162 or e-mail programs@nrpa.org.

Send your news and information on new products to info@golfrangetimes.com.

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