The Joint Base Lewis-McChord facility in DuPont, Wash. installed a golf simulator in the Eagle’s Pride Grill. The simulator offers a wide choice of game options, including football, basketball, cricket and zombie dodgeball. It is the product of a collaboration between Col. Phil Lamb, Joint Base Lewis-McChord commander, and JBLM Morale, Welfare and Recreation officials.
Eagle’s Pride Golf Course in DuPont, Wash. installed a state-of-the-art simulator in the Eagle’s Pride Grill area at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord facility, the U.S. Army reported. The simulator is the product of a collaboration between Col. Phil Lamb, Joint Base Lewis-McChord commander, and JBLM Morale, Welfare and Recreation officials, as well as the Eagle’s Pride management team.
Alex Demitras, chief of Business Operations at JBLM’s MWR, said the effort to bring a golf simulator to JBLM took approximately two years from start to end, and was a project that Lamb expressed his interest in shortly after taking command, the U.S. Army reported.
“There has been a tremendous amount of work by many different people in many different departments to make this come to fruition,” Demitras said.
Demitras said the cost for the simulator, a capital purchase, was $72,000, with another $8,000 invested for the electrical modifications needed for it to operate properly, the U.S. Army reported. Lamb said the result exceeded his own expectations.
“Originally, I thought we would only have about half the space we have before us right now,” Lamb said. “This is incredible to see and I’m very excited with what we have accomplished.”
Not to be considered solely a golfer’s toy, the golf simulator offers a new level of entertainment for all sports enthusiasts and their families, the U.S. Army reported.
“The golf simulator introduces golf in a way that, for someone like me who is not a pro at all, this is fun for me,” Demitras said. “I will come here much faster than I would go out on a golf course.”
Far more than just golf, the simulator offers a wide choice of game options to include football, basketball, cricket and even zombie dodgeball, just to name a few, the U.S. Army reported.
“This is more than just about ‘for the golfers,’” Lamb said. “This is a place for units to hold functions, and I think we are going to see future expansion of this area in the food and beverage side that will make this an even better place for our service members and their families to utilize for everything from a birthday party to a Super Bowl party, to being able to train folks on how to improve their game.”
Already, plans are in place to renovate the Eagle’s Pride Grill area with a new restaurant theme expected to be complete by early April, and eventually a second simulator to be installed, the U.S. Army reported.
The simulator is operated through an intuitive touchscreen base located nearby that players can use to choose their game and their golf course, which will soon also include the Eagle’s Pride course as an option, the U.S. Army reported. Golf course team members are now being trained in the software to offer assistance to players.
Golf clubs are available for free to players, and a nearby cabinet holds all items needed for any of the other game options available, the U.S. Army reported.
Already, the simulator is incredibly popular, the U.S. Army reported.
“I’m already trying to book this Sunday—and the Super Bowl,” Lamb said. “Put me down for Super Bowl Sunday.”
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