b'GOLF OREGONNew golf facility opens at Bushnell Universityby Steve MimsT he original clubhouse at Pine Ridge Golf Club sat vacant for more than 35 years before a Bushnell University brain trust created a vision.Less than two years later, Bushnells Player Development Center opened up as the crown jewel of NAIA golf facilities. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is a college athletics association for smaller colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. This will be the only privatized practice facility in the NAIA, thats 238 schools, Bushnell athletic director Corey Anderson said. To have a space where our players can go at any time, whether it is a formal practice or just to work out on their own, is very unique. To come out to your homeTop: The original clubhouse at Pine Ridge, which sat empty for course and have it be your home, that is something golfers in35 years, has been transformed into a state-of-the-art indoor the NAIA typically dont have, so to provide that is great. practice facility. The idea was sparked by Nathan Wiedenmann, a Bushnell graduate and local high school golf coach who brought the ideaBottom: With the new development center in the background, left to right are Larry Watts, head golf coach at Bushnell to Pine Ridge general manager Rory Allison and Larry Watts,University; Rory Allison, general manager at Pine Ridge Golf Bushnells head coach and director of golf. Watts made theClub; and Corey Anderson, athletic director at Bushnell. pitch to Anderson. I thought Larry was crazy, Anderson joked. Then we all met, and I knew of the building and knew it had been idle forThe 3,000-square foot clubhouse features a golf simulator, years. At the end of the day, it was a unique relationship withindoor putting green and locker rooms for both Bushnells mens the golf course having this building and inviting us to come inand womens teams. There is also a kitchen and front room with and rebuild it and give it life, and then Rory saying that Pineseating for 20 where players can hang out and do homework. Ridge would dedicate an outdoor facility as well. The outdoor practice area, which runs nearly 200 yards and Bushnell is still in the process of renovating the oldfeatures targets every 50 yards, is located on a space thatlike clubhouse into a development center while Pine Ridge providedthe clubhousehad been unused since the late 1980s, but has a 135,000-square foot outdoor practice facility that includes anow been irrigated and reshaped. A putting green at the end of short-game practice area and two putting greens.the range measures about 10,000 square feet. The impetus for us is that we have a large junior programThis has immediately sparked an interest in recruits, Watts and support a lot of high school teams in the area that playsaid. It will be quite a spot for them to visit and have recruiting out here, Allison said. We want to support all levels of golf,meetings here. Those kids know how difficult it is to get on the from juniors to seniors. The college component was the lastgrass, its a battle with public and private courses and there are missing piece for us so when the idea came to us, we thoughtalways a lot of restrictions for teams so this will be an amazing it was great. experience for them.6 GOLF OREGON|SEPT 2025'