Indiana University Athletics
Give Thanks -- The Quest for a New Golf Course
11/24/2017 11:25:00 AM | Men's Golf
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Mike Mayer has coached long enough to witness a modern golfing miracle.
Indiana is getting a new course.
Repeat until you believe it.
For this, the long-time Hoosier coach gives thanks, and a lot more.
"It will be a complete game changer," he says.
And then, because you don't live through decades of frustration without a bit of remaining doubt.
"It is going to be a great course," he says.
A pause.
"It hasn't happened yet."
It will. The money has been raised, a golf architect has been selected -- nationally renowned Steve Smyers -- and everything is in place for completion by the summer of 2019.
Did we mention Mayer gives thanks?
"This will open up recruiting possibilities we have not had -- ever," he says.
His voice tinges with excitement normally found in toddlers embracing Christmas present wonder.
For good reason. If you follow Hoosier golf, you know getting a new course -- which once seemed as likely as LeBron James giving up basketball to become a horse racing jockey -- is like winning the lottery, finding the Fountain of Youth or having Steven Spielberg shoot your wedding video.
Projects were discussed and, in the late 1990s under then athletic director Clarence Doninger who had set up a scenario where IU would get a Jack Nicklaus designed course at no cost to the university, nearly implemented.
For a variety of reasons, nothing happened.
Now, under athletic director Fred Glass, things are happening fast.
Granted, not everyone thinks just under two years is fast (construction is set to start later this fall), but it's all about perspective.
Did we mention Mayer gives thanks?
As for recruiting, "This will entirely change who we recruit and how we recruit," Mayer says. "It changes our opportunities of getting the top-ranked players in the country."
IU's course was once a reason to celebrate … in, say,1961, when Jack Nicklaus won the Big Ten title there while with Ohio State.
But golf evolved and IU's course didn't. Thanks to technology and better training, players hit balls farther and more accurately than ever before. The current IU course is 6,800 yards. Mayer says, "To keep up with the times, we need over 7,500. We'll get that."
In fact, the course is designed for up to 7,700 yards.
"These kids hit the ball a long way," Mayer says. "I don't know how that will change in the next five to six years, but if it keeps going at the pace that it is, then, man, they are already hitting out of sight. I don't know what they'll be able to do with a golf ball."
Mayer won't have a major input in the design, and he's fine with that. Smyers has built more than 50 elite courses around the world, including Zionsville's Wolf Run, Tampa's Old Memorial Golf Club and England's Chart Hill Golf Club.
"The designer knows what he's doing," Mayer says. "He's an expert. I fully trust everything he's doing.
"We've talked about what kind of length we need to get to be a collegiate-caliber course. They'll get that length. It's a great piece of property. They'll try to build not only the best golf course in Indiana, but in the country. That's the goal."
Or, as Smyers puts it, "We have several goals here. No. 1, we wanted to create a product that was economically and environmentally sustainable. We have well over a couple of hundred acres. We wanted to leave this landscape much healthier environmentally than it was when we started.
"The second goal was we wanted to produce a golf course that is economically sustainable. In other words, build something that is friendly to maintain and that is something that will be so stimulating that people will want to go there. Something that would make sense from a business point of view.
"From a golf point of view, we wanted to provide a world-class challenge to those who wanted that, but also make it a place where people could go recreate. Make it a fun getaway."
Indiana's course has long been an anchor on recruiting. It's a major reason why the Hoosiers have struggled in recent years (10th or worse in the Big Ten in each of the last three seasons). With the current course, the Hoosiers have had issues attracting top-tier collegiate teams to home tournaments. To lure those top teams, Mayer has had to host tournaments at Wolf Run or Crooked Stick in Carmel.
That recruiting obstacle will soon change. In fact, amid the promise of a new course, it already has. Freshman Ethan Shepherd led IU in the season-opening Wolf Run Intercollegiate with a tie for 18th. It was the Hoosiers' best freshman debut since Sean Stone tied for 13th in the 2012 Northern Intercollegiate.
"Facilities play a huge part of what we do and the last five years even more so," Mayer says. "These kids, millennials, are more attuned to a facility. There are more and more great facilities in and out of the Big Ten, and in most major colleges in golf. When recruits come to campus they are looking very closely at everything. Our course, has needed work for a long time."
However, IU's indoor facility is as good as it gets at the college level.
The Cecil W. Weathers Golf Team Center features an indoor/outdoor hitting facility with state-of-the-art technology.
"We have a wonderful new indoor facility right next to Weathers Golf Team Center," Mayer says. "We have an opportunity to hit balls from inside to outside. We have all the technology. We feel we have everything we need except a golf course, and when that golf course gets here, we'll have everything we need, period."
That should really boost in-state recruiting, which is big given Mayer says the state is loaded with up-and-coming talent.
"These things are cyclical, but I think in the next three to four years, this state will be as strong as a lot of states, especially in the Midwest."
Why is that?
"It's a combination of things," Mayer says. "I don't know if there is any one reason for it.
"You look at all the tournaments around the state through the Indiana Golf Association. The opportunities these kids have to play like in other events like the American Junior Golf Association. The feeder programs within the local clubs around the state have gotten better, as well."
That bodes well for IU's future, and you'd better believe Mayer gives thanks for that.
Indiana is getting a new course.
Repeat until you believe it.
For this, the long-time Hoosier coach gives thanks, and a lot more.
"It will be a complete game changer," he says.
And then, because you don't live through decades of frustration without a bit of remaining doubt.
"It is going to be a great course," he says.
A pause.
"It hasn't happened yet."
It will. The money has been raised, a golf architect has been selected -- nationally renowned Steve Smyers -- and everything is in place for completion by the summer of 2019.
Did we mention Mayer gives thanks?
"This will open up recruiting possibilities we have not had -- ever," he says.
His voice tinges with excitement normally found in toddlers embracing Christmas present wonder.
For good reason. If you follow Hoosier golf, you know getting a new course -- which once seemed as likely as LeBron James giving up basketball to become a horse racing jockey -- is like winning the lottery, finding the Fountain of Youth or having Steven Spielberg shoot your wedding video.
Projects were discussed and, in the late 1990s under then athletic director Clarence Doninger who had set up a scenario where IU would get a Jack Nicklaus designed course at no cost to the university, nearly implemented.
For a variety of reasons, nothing happened.
Now, under athletic director Fred Glass, things are happening fast.
Granted, not everyone thinks just under two years is fast (construction is set to start later this fall), but it's all about perspective.
Did we mention Mayer gives thanks?
As for recruiting, "This will entirely change who we recruit and how we recruit," Mayer says. "It changes our opportunities of getting the top-ranked players in the country."
IU's course was once a reason to celebrate … in, say,1961, when Jack Nicklaus won the Big Ten title there while with Ohio State.
But golf evolved and IU's course didn't. Thanks to technology and better training, players hit balls farther and more accurately than ever before. The current IU course is 6,800 yards. Mayer says, "To keep up with the times, we need over 7,500. We'll get that."
In fact, the course is designed for up to 7,700 yards.
"These kids hit the ball a long way," Mayer says. "I don't know how that will change in the next five to six years, but if it keeps going at the pace that it is, then, man, they are already hitting out of sight. I don't know what they'll be able to do with a golf ball."
Mayer won't have a major input in the design, and he's fine with that. Smyers has built more than 50 elite courses around the world, including Zionsville's Wolf Run, Tampa's Old Memorial Golf Club and England's Chart Hill Golf Club.
"The designer knows what he's doing," Mayer says. "He's an expert. I fully trust everything he's doing.
"We've talked about what kind of length we need to get to be a collegiate-caliber course. They'll get that length. It's a great piece of property. They'll try to build not only the best golf course in Indiana, but in the country. That's the goal."
Or, as Smyers puts it, "We have several goals here. No. 1, we wanted to create a product that was economically and environmentally sustainable. We have well over a couple of hundred acres. We wanted to leave this landscape much healthier environmentally than it was when we started.
"The second goal was we wanted to produce a golf course that is economically sustainable. In other words, build something that is friendly to maintain and that is something that will be so stimulating that people will want to go there. Something that would make sense from a business point of view.
"From a golf point of view, we wanted to provide a world-class challenge to those who wanted that, but also make it a place where people could go recreate. Make it a fun getaway."
Indiana's course has long been an anchor on recruiting. It's a major reason why the Hoosiers have struggled in recent years (10th or worse in the Big Ten in each of the last three seasons). With the current course, the Hoosiers have had issues attracting top-tier collegiate teams to home tournaments. To lure those top teams, Mayer has had to host tournaments at Wolf Run or Crooked Stick in Carmel.
That recruiting obstacle will soon change. In fact, amid the promise of a new course, it already has. Freshman Ethan Shepherd led IU in the season-opening Wolf Run Intercollegiate with a tie for 18th. It was the Hoosiers' best freshman debut since Sean Stone tied for 13th in the 2012 Northern Intercollegiate.
"Facilities play a huge part of what we do and the last five years even more so," Mayer says. "These kids, millennials, are more attuned to a facility. There are more and more great facilities in and out of the Big Ten, and in most major colleges in golf. When recruits come to campus they are looking very closely at everything. Our course, has needed work for a long time."
However, IU's indoor facility is as good as it gets at the college level.
The Cecil W. Weathers Golf Team Center features an indoor/outdoor hitting facility with state-of-the-art technology.
"We have a wonderful new indoor facility right next to Weathers Golf Team Center," Mayer says. "We have an opportunity to hit balls from inside to outside. We have all the technology. We feel we have everything we need except a golf course, and when that golf course gets here, we'll have everything we need, period."
That should really boost in-state recruiting, which is big given Mayer says the state is loaded with up-and-coming talent.
"These things are cyclical, but I think in the next three to four years, this state will be as strong as a lot of states, especially in the Midwest."
Why is that?
"It's a combination of things," Mayer says. "I don't know if there is any one reason for it.
"You look at all the tournaments around the state through the Indiana Golf Association. The opportunities these kids have to play like in other events like the American Junior Golf Association. The feeder programs within the local clubs around the state have gotten better, as well."
That bodes well for IU's future, and you'd better believe Mayer gives thanks for that.
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