By Gabriel Luis (@gabelun):
San Jose State’s athletics program recently constructed a $10.2 million complex to be used for the men’s and women’s golf teams, and could play a pivotal role in the golf program’s future.
“It’s definitely a stunner for a recruit,” said head coach John Kennaday.
The complex’s introduction into south campus will attract a lot of potential recruits looking to play in California as the only facility that is similar to San Jose State’s would be located in Stanford.
After a grand opening on June 1, SJSU can now use a facility that offers a lot of different ways for the athletes to practice.
The facility is composed of several different regions where golfers can practice including a driving range, chipping area and putting greens.
“I think that the chipping green is really cool because you can hit any shot you need for short game,” said senior Scott Munger.
Kennaday explained that the new facility would help the team improve the way the Spartans hit the golf balls in varying situations as well as with the fundamentals of the game.
“There are really nice mounds that are cutdown at a fairway length that you can hit any shot,” Munger said.
If there’s one thing that Kennaday hopes the new facility won’t change, it’s the team’s mentality.
“It’s a great thing to have the mentality that we do more with less,” Kennaday said.
The new complex will breed a new generation of college golfers at San Jose State and with that in mind, the team will need to focus on maintaining the idea of doing “more with less”.
“I’m trying to keep that mentality, that serves you well in the real world,” Kennaday said. “So we’re trying to keep that going.”
Even though the facility is open, there will be more parts and other areas added to the facility to help refine the range at south campus.
“The plans are unreal for the rest of the [facility],” said junior Kevin Velo.
The complex will house multiple men and women’s locker rooms, lounges, weight room, as well as a kitchen.
Kennaday hopes in the end that the new facility will attract more of the community, increase foot traffic on South Campus and provide a place for people to hang out.
He also explained that with the new facility will allow more events to be held and give the school a place to hold events and overall bring more people to south campus.
“Now we have something that is a bit of a draw [for the community],” Kennaday said.