GAINESVILLE – “We do things that are not normal” is an unusual way to describe your business to members of the local Chamber of Commerce.
But those were the exact words of Al Morrison, Head Golf Professional at Chicopee Woods Golf Course; Morrison and the golf course were hosting the South Hall Business Coalition, a branch of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, for its monthly meeting on Tuesday.
“There are a lot of things that we do that are really not normal for a golf course,” Morrison continued. “We do some things that other golf courses don’t.”
In some circles Morrison’s words and actions would border on heresy. To many players and fans of the sport (maybe to most), golf is a game richly steeped in tradition – just look at the recent Masters. That is the classic setting where decorum is demanded; seemliness is fashionable; broadcasters whisper in hushed tones; signs asking for “Quiet” are raised as players prepare to swing.
Dropping golf balls from a helicopter? Shooting golf balls from a modified “potato launcher”? Hitting golf balls into panes of glass just for the destructive enjoyment it brings? Encouraging children to hit fuzzy over-sized golf balls at a man wearing a Velcro suit? Never at Augusta National; but at Chicopee Woods Golf Course it’s commonplace, and growing.
Don’t be confused and think Chicopee Woods Golf Course is a mini-golf emporium where balls are hit into dragon mouths or between the spinning paddles of a wind mill. Chicopee Woods Golf Course is a full size, PGA approved 27-hole golf course.
The course first opened in 1991 with 18 regulation holes; 9 more were added in 2001; and while the course has the real estate for another nine holes General Manager Lennie Holland does not see that happening in the near future.
Instead of growing acreage, Chicopee Woods Golf Course hopes to grow in diversity and application.
“You have to be a little bit more creative than just opening up the doors and letting people play golf,” Morrison said. “In these days and times you have to be a little bit perverse. I like to make the events something they won’t forget.”
One of the manifestations of management’s vision is a program recently started with Chestnut Mountain Creative School of Inquiry. “This is our second year doing this, a relationship with an elementary school here in Hall County, where we take golf to them as an after-school program.”
“The main reason is some of these kids don’t have parents that play (golf) and they would never get exposed to it unless something like this is done,” Morrison said.
“And,” Morrison added, “we’re wanting to grow that into more schools.”
“We go outside of our facility in order to promote golf, and at times, outside-the-box.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/5/790368/golf-philosophy-at-chicopee-woods-anything-but-par