Sports facilities upgrades: Third in a Series: UTRGV golf facility on the way for Vaqueros

Last December, construction of the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley golf facility began on Champion Lakes Golf Course in McAllen. The new building, which is part of $85 million to be invested in UTRGV Athletics, will act as a base of operations for the men’s and women’s golf teams.

The Vaquero Golf Center, located on the north-west corner of the driving range, will include locker rooms, offices, study areas, lounge space, hitting bays and even a kitchen.

The golf coaching staff’s office space is currently in portable buildings near the UTRGV Victory Center.

Men’s Golf head coach Houston Moore said the team was grateful to have the opportunity to have the new UTRGV golf facility.

“I think it’s gonna be a tremendous asset moving forward for the program,” Moore said. “Another tool we have in our box that we’ll be able to use on a day in and day out basis. … The guys are going to be spending a lot of time out there, it’s somewhere that they can call home. It’s somewhere to help build our culture and move this program in the right direction.”

He also said it would help them on the recruiting side of things to attract more athletes to the program.

The men’s and women’s sides of the facility will be “mirrors” of each other and will be the same. They will share a study room for the student athletes to be able to do school work.

The locker rooms will have bathrooms and showers, as well as lounge areas.

The facility will include two hitting bays, which will be able to keep track of data from the hits.

Moore said there will be technology in the bays that are able to read and process information on the swings.

“So we’ll have some launch monitors in there, and they actually read the balls itself,” he said. “So there’s no technology inside the golf ball, a piece of tech will be out a certain amount of feet from where you’re standing. … And then every time you hit a golf shot, that piece of tech reads what your club did and how it affected the ball, and it’ll pop up on a TV there inside the hitting bay, and you’ll get all the information a college golfer would want or would need to help improve his game.”

Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Daniel Elizondo said the bays would allow for athletes to hit out to the range while protecting them from sun, rain and other elements.

“Basically, they can hit golf balls from indoors,” Elizondo said. “They’ll hit out towards the driving range. They don’t have to be out in the sun or when it’s raining, they can hit from inside and do that.”

Asked about the technology in the bays, he replied it allows for swing data to be recorded and conveyed.

 “It’s a system for golf that it tracks your swing, how fast your swing is,” Elizondo said. “It tracks ball flight and ball speed leaving the clubface so it’s just technology that they use that helps them to learn about their golf swing and … how they can change that and adapt to however they want to play.”

Redshirt junior golf player Taj Sutherland said the team practices out on the course about three times a week and they have seen the construction progress.

“So, we kind of have been able to see the whole process of being built,” Sutherland said. “So, it’s been really cool. And it looks like it’s pretty much constructed now. … Interior looks like it needs the most work from this point forward. But yeah, it looks really cool.”

He said the team is looking forward to having a facility and practice aids that will allow them to get better at the game.

“It’ll help with the development of the team,” Sutherland said. “Just kind of be able to allow ourselves to get to the next level that I think we’re capable of with the facility.”

Moore said the biggest feature of the facility is being located on the golf course.

“We’ll be able to walk out, hit golf balls on the range and then also be able to walk inside and be able to hit golf balls in the shade,” he said. “So, that’s the biggest amenity being right there on the golf course.”

Moore said he roughly estimates the facility to be open in early spring.