If you build it, they will come back.
That’s the hope, at least, for West Hartford’s Department of Leisure Services, which has proposed several upgrades for the driving range at Rockledge Golf Club.
The proposal to overhaul what the department calls “underutilized driving ranges” at the town-owned facility on South Main Street will be the topic of a public hearing scheduled for a Town Plan & Zoning Commission meeting on Monday, Feb. 5.
The department is seeking a special-use permit to add up to 20 covered tee stations, as well as taller netting to protect against wayward shots, a small snack bar building and a restroom facility that would be compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to a project narrative the department provided to the commission, “approximately 8,000 buckets of balls were hit annually in 2021 and 2022,” but the number had “dropped off a bit” in 2023. The driving range is used by golf club season pass holders, high school players and the general public, including seniors, the town said. The facility is also used by golf professionals to provide lessons.
In addition to creating covered tee stations, the project also would install digital swing-analysis technology. The proposal states that 10 of the covered tee stalls would have backs for wind protection, while 10 would be open. At least five of the existing southernmost bays “may remain uncovered and be available without technology,” it adds.
Technology for swingers
Director of Leisure Services Helen Rubino-Turco said the swing-analysis technology is key because it’s related to the decline in use.
“Part of the issue is, Stanley (Golf Club in New Britain) opened its driving range and it has this technology, so more people were going there,” she said. “Also, our golf pro wasn’t as engaged as we would like, so we are replacing our golf pro this season.”
Rubino-Turco said the department is reviewing two different swing-analysis systems and hasn’t decided on one yet. “One uses cameras, one uses sonar,” she said. “We hope to have a decision by next week.”
The department has earmarked $700,000 in its capital improvement budget for the project, which is expected to cover the cost of the new technology, the new snack bar building and the new, higher nets, as well as improving sidewalks and drainage in the area where balls from the driving range land, she said. She added that the department has asked for additional money to shore up a retaining wall where the snack bar building will be erected.
Funded by fees
Money for the project is allocated from an “enterprise fund” the town maintains.
“The enterprise fund is designed to be supported by users,” Rubino-Turco said. That includes fees from not only Rockledge Golf Course, but from the Cornerstone Aquatic Center and the town’s indoor skating rink, as well as its summer camp.
The town’s general fund, on the other hand, supports the outdoor pools, community center and senior center, she said.
The Town Council last year approved increases in rates and fees at the golf course, with green fees for both nine and 18 holes rising about $1, and seasonal residential golf passes rising by $90 a year for regular members, by $140 for seniors, and by $100 for partial privileges.
At the time, town officials estimated the increases would add $53,000 to Rockledge’s budget.
“We hadn’t gone up in a few years,” Rubino-Turco said of the increases. “Other facilities might increase theirs, but ours are not going up this year,” though she added that passes for seniors might increase “modestly.”
She said a portion of every round of golf and cart fees “goes into the capital improvement fund. Those fees are bundled in the price. That helps with some of the cosmetics, such as redoing tees, renovating a green, or sometimes we buy small equipment with that funding.”
One major project, however, involves renovating the course irrigation system, which was last done in the 1980s, she said. The Town Council approved a $2.4 million investment in upgrading the system, which was dealing with leaks and other issues.
“We had been ‘MacGyvering’ the system for too long,” she quipped.
Celebrating 100 years
Improvements to the driving range come as the Rockledge Golf Club prepares to mark its 100th anniversary.
According to the club’s website, Wilton W. (Mike) Sherman, a student at Yale University, bought a 120-acre estate on South Main Street. In 1924, he opened a 14-hole golf course on the farm, naming it Rockledge because of the terrain. He enlarged the course to 18 holes in 1927, and hosted many tournaments over the next decades.
After Sherman died in 1959, the town purchased the clubhouse and 100 acres for $1.225 million to create the municipal golf course.
Whether the work in the driving range will be completed before the celebration later this year remains an open question. Rubino-Turco said some of the construction work may be done by town public works staff, particularly because a prefab building may be used for the snack bar, but it is also possible some of the work could be put out to bid.
“We are hoping to be able to have a few things to celebrate,” she said. ‘Having a new driving range would be a great thing to celebrate during the centennial year.”
That would be especially true if the improvements bring the golfers back home on the range.
“If we did 12,000 buckets of balls instead of 8,000, that would be a 50% increase,” she said. “We’re hoping to surpass that.”
