U-M expands golf course with new practice facility

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

University of Michigan golfers will be swinging away in a new practice facility come next year.

The board of regents just approved a new facility for both the men's and women's golf programs. The new building, off South Main Street to the west of the driving range and U-M golf course, will be 10,000 square feet and cost $2.5 million, funded by athletic resources and gifts. Construction should begin this fall.

Ann Arbor Architects Collaborative will design the space to provide functional training, meeting, and practice for golf teams. Early architectural renderings are of a simply styled brick structure with a block M detail on the front.

Tom Glendening, project manager for the facility and member of the Ann Arbor Architects Collaborative, says he's hoping to implement some sustainable technology to make it a high-performance building, using technologies like a ground heat pump system. "It's as high-efficient as you can get with heating and cooling," he explains.

A high level of insulation and low-consumption lighting and mechanicals can help the building use 30 percent less energy than normal. "It uses less energy to keep the building in a comfortable zone," he says.

The facility will provide a year-round putting and chipping area and driving bays to utilize the existing driving range. It will also provide a team gathering space, coaching staff offices, locker rooms, a conference room, and storage.

Construction is scheduled to be complete in summer 2011.

Source: University of Michigan and Tom Glendening, project manager for Ann Arbor Architects Collaborative
Writer: Kristin Lukowski