Photo by Manuel Mata-Flores ’19 | Jack Geurtz ’17 uses one of the new golf simulators that was installed in The Dutch. There are two golf simulators in The Dutch that are available for use.
By Hayden Welty ’19
THE ROUNDUP
With the opening of the practice gym at the beginning of this semester, students now have access to two separate golf simulators.
The acquisition of the two high-tech devices came about because of a surplus in the budget for the building, according to golf head coach Mr. Jon Shores.
“Mr. [Bill] Woods was brainstorming ways to spend the money in a productive way and felt like the golf simulators would be helpful for the golf team, but also just the community in general,” Mr. Shores said.
Before they had access to the simulators, the golf team was forced to go off campus during the season.
“If we didn’t have a course to go, then we would typically have the day off,” Mr. Shores said. “Occasionally, especially in the month of October during overseeding, we’re without a golf course, so the simulators are going to give us something to do.”
Mr. Shores said that the devices are able to simulate a wide range of things, including an 18-hole round of golf for the team to practice on.
“There are several preloaded golf courses that you can play, you can play one to four players, you can play the full 18 holes, you can play one hole if you want, you can play the front nine or back nine, and if you don’t have time for that, you can spend time just hitting balls like you’re hitting balls at the driving range,” Mr. Shores said. “So it really simulates a full round of golf.”
In terms of how open the devices are to the rest of the community, Mr. Shores said that they are still trying to work that out.
“We’re finding that overuse of them will bring the life of them down dramatically,” Mr. Shores said. “Now, obviously, parts can be replaced, and we can make that work, but I’m still working with Mr. Woods on what the general community use will be.”
Golfer Nate Anderson ’19 said that he thinks the golf simulators are awesome and that they improve his skills as a player.
“They’re actually surprisingly accurate… ,” he said. “We’re starting to use them more as a team.”
Anderson said that he wishes he could use the simulators to practice on his own.
“It would be nice if we would be able to go in there on our own without Mr. Shores because sometimes he’s busy, and we can’t go in there and practice,” he said.
