During the past decade, much ado has been made about folks fleeing golf for a variety of reasons. Cost, difficulty and time constraints all are among the barriers to the game people most often cite as to why they no longer play, or no longer play as much. Other family commitments, namely the infiltration of youth sports leagues that never seem to take time off, also have helped curb participation in golf. Instead of playing golf on Saturday morning, dad now is helping shuttle kids to soccer, softball, baseball and football games.
A massive new sports complex north of Atlanta might have an answer for golf: if you can?t beat the youth sports craze, then join it.
Located a half-hour north of Atlanta in Emerson, Georgia, the LakePointe Sporting Community is a 1,300-acre mixed-used site that will combine sports fields and venues for a variety of indoor and outdoor activities with retail shopping and a residential community. The park, which is opening in piecemeal fashion throughout the spring and is scheduled to be fully operational by early June, also will include the Greg Norman Champions Golf Academy. The 30-acre learning center will include a nine-hole, par-3 course, practice center, and professional instruction for golfers of all ages and coaching for those who are more than weekend hackers.
Although the learning center, as well as a sister property in Myrtle Beach, likely will be a home away from home for the Norman-coached Chinese national golf team in the run up to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, the new facility in the north Georgia mountains is not just aimed at aspiring professionals.
Like its South Carolina cousin, the new facility will target instruction to players ranging from beginners to professionals, with an emphasis on helping to grow the game, Norman says.
"I have seen first-hand how the game of golf can change a person's life, and I want to be able to give back experiences and advice to help grow the game," Norman said in a news release.
The training center also will include indoor hitting bays, classrooms for in-depth instruction and online education, a lighted range and the roomy Norman-designed par-3 layout are being designed to accommodate high-handicap players.
As it continues to open throughout the year, LakePointe eventually will include 16 regulation-size baseball fields; a dozen softball and junior baseball fields; another field to accommodate baseball players with special needs; 14 multipurpose fields for soccer and lacrosse built by Shaw Sports Turf; wake park; regulation track and field complex; sand and grass outdoor volleyball facilities; and indoor multi-purpose facilities for activities such as basketball, cheering and volleyball.
Norman?s West Palm Beach, Florida-based company did not return calls on when the project will open, but if the facility in Georgia is anything like the company?s first academy property in South Carolina, it too will be tailored to help grow the game as well as meet the needs of accomplished players.
The Myrtle Beach academy opened in 2012 and includes junior camps, an adult golf school, full-time golf academy (including accommodations), instruction for tour-level players and a program designed specifically for players making the transition from high school to competitive collegiate golf. It also offers 52,000 square feet of bunkers and practice greens, 100,000 square feet of practice tees.