T
wo American Golf courses in
southern Los Angeles county
have recently undergone
significant renovations to their
driving ranges, giving members of
The Player Club modernized facilities
to work on their games.
Originally opened in 1933,
Lakewood Country Club hadn't seen
any notable work done to its range in
approximately two decades. The club
took on a project in mid-2016 to
improve the main entrance, parking
lot, cart barn and driving range, and
the latter piece has had the biggest
positive effect on golfers since the
work was completed last spring.
The range was completely
stripped, and new irrigation and
drainage were installed. Five new
target greens were added at various
yardages, and a sun shade was built
to protect golfers in all 18 refurbished
hitting bays from heat and sun. Aside
from the improved cosmetic appeal,
the new range is more functional than
the previous version.
"Not having range access was an
inconvenience for our guests, but the
end result has drawn really positive
reviews," said Brent Boznanski, a
Regional General Manager for
American Golf who oversaw the
work at Lakewood. "We now have a
very welcoming, comfortable range
for golfers to practice their games."
The improvements have been
especially appreciated by The Players
Club members, who get free range
balls and access to weekly clinics in
addition to the many other benefits of
the program.
At La Mirada Golf Course, the
driving range had suffered in recent
years due to drought-mandated
water restrictions. In renovating the
range, management elected not to lay
down turf on the entire area but
rather to focus on three target areas
encompassing five artificial turf
greens. Retaining walls and boulders
were added intermittently
throughout the range to visually
break up the unlandscaped area.
Construction took approximately
two months, and the two-level range
re-opened in December. It has been a
welcome improvement, said Casey
O'Callaghan, President of Southern
California-based Casey O'Callaghan
Golf Course Design, which handled
the project for La Mirada.
"The targets show well from both
the top and bottom levels,"
O'Callaghan said. "We really focused
on allowing players to hit a variety of
clubs to different distances at all the
target greens. You can see the ball
land and come to rest, which I think
is an absolute bonus."
GAME IMPROvEMENt
Two refurbished ranges offer members better practice facilities
RANGE WORK
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and Lakewood driving ranges.
