| When the
University of Mississippi men's and women's golf teams needed extra room
for practicing, men's golf coach Ernest Ross called on Nathan Crace of
Watermark Golf/Nathan Crace Design to take a look at the area in
question. Nathan fell in love with the site during the first visit
and work was quickly underway to finalize the design package--especially
since Nathan only had two weeks to deliver the final construction
drawings and bid documents to the University in order to advertise for
public bids. Bids were soon opened, a contractor was selected, and
construction was underway without delay. In a few short weeks, the
new team practice range was complete and sodded from wall to wall.
The area for the project
was a +/- four acre parcel owned by the University that was adjacent to
the back of the existing public driving range at the Ole Miss Golf Club.
The design including constructing a new team practice tee at the back of
the new area so that team players could hit drivers and fairway woods
toward the existing driving range and prevent the need for additional
work by the golf course staff to retrieve balls from the range.
However, the team practice area still feels secluded because on the
elevated tee is visible from the public tee and driving range.
When the work was complete, the project included seven target greens
that play to different elevations and distances from the one acre
practice tee, a 12,000+ sq. ft. practice green, and a number of practice
bunkers--one which was designed to be played as a green side bunker or
as a fairway practice bunker. New irrigation was installed
throughout the entire facility and the site was solid sodded when
complete to expedite grow-in.
The new practice
facility has been called "the best on-campus practice facility in the
Southeastern Conference" and featured in Tee to Green Magazine. As
a result, it has not only proven to be a valuable asset for the team,
but also an incredibly attractive recruiting tool for future members of
the golf team. |
