The municipal course hopes the addition of three greens and approaches and three sand bunkers will attract more younger golfers to work on their short games, and then play a round.

Five Ponds Golf Club, operated by Warminster (Pa.) Township, has opened a new short-game practice facility that occupies approximately two acres on the existing property. The new practice area consists of three greens and approaches and three sand bunkers. Combined with an existing grass-tee driving range and large putting green, the expanded facility is “the only public facility of its kind in [Pennsylvania’s] Bucks County area,” the Township management says.

The new layout was prepared and shaped by Waitkus Design of Newtown, Pa. Eliezer Rodriguez, Five Ponds’ Golf Course Superintendent, directed the club’s in-house staff to do all of the other work needed to expand the practice facility, including grow-in, irrigation, drainage and landscaping. The Township’s Public Works Department provided some materials and equipment, and Rodriguez also credited regular course vendors, including Seeton Turf of Huntington Valley, Pa., with making generous contributions to the $85,000 project. By taking an approach that emphasized in-house work where possible, the Township said, it generated $40,000 in savings compared to if the project had been completely outsourced.

“I really only paid for sand, sod, and seed,” Rodriguez, who has an Agronomy degree from Rutgers University and has been Five Ponds’ Superintendent for nearly six years, told the Bucks County Courier-Times during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility. “Everything [else] was donated.”

Karen Whithey, Warminster Township’s Parks and Recreation Director, said that the expanded facility is designed to “grow [participation by] the younger golfer.”

“A lot of people, when they think of golfers, think of an older generation,” Whitney said. “We’re trying to push to bring in people who are younger. We’re looking for those who are teenagers now and who will [want to keep playing] in their 20s and 30s. We’re trying everything we possibly can to bring these people to our course.”

Gary Deetscreek, the club’s head golf professional, said he believes the new facility is exactly what the course needs to achieve the goals outlined by Whitney. “It really should be good for the township, because juniors now have somewhere to go,” he said. “With this, it’s almost like a full swing for them, and they can practice without feeling like they’re in the way.”

The practice area is made available free of charge, and the hope is that golfers will want to use it to work on their short game and then play a round after doing so. Five Ponds has seen activity levels of just under 36,000 rounds in the past two years, and over 15,000 rounds through the first half of 2011.