Kelley Hester Golf Academy - University of Georgia

Kelley Hester Golf Academy

Facilities/Directions

University of Georgia Golf Complex

Championship golf courses and championship teams go hand in hand. The University of Georgia is fortunate to have the best of both worlds with access to some of the finest courses in the eastern United States. With an ideal combination of weather and climate, the layouts offer a cross section of most everything the Bulldogs encounter when playing on other top treks during tournaments.

Lumpkin Practice Facilities

Sure to be the envy of its collegiate counterparts, Georgia's state-of-the-art practice area was officially dedicated in early October 1997. One of many initiatives that Chris Haack outlined upon his hiring in July of 1996 was this prolific practice complex, which was already at the Dogs' disposal some 15 months later. Thanks to the generous efforts of lettermen such as Jimmy Gabrielsen (1961-63), David Boyd (1961-63) and Danny Yates (1969-72), as well as other benefactors, the University of Georgia Golf Course range was significantly modified to make this longtime dream a reality.

Measuring 300 yards by 100 yards, Phase I of the $1,200,000 top-notch teaching center features eight target greens, three putting greens with bunkers, plus numerous chipping and short game areas. Phase II includes an indoor hitting area in a building with locker rooms, club storage, club repair, meeting rooms and office space.

"Getting the first part of the range done has been a huge lift for the team," Haack said. "Whether or not it is actually helping the players with their games, the fact that they feel good about getting a quality practice and hitting to so many target greens builds more confidence for them. Now they can see and know if they're hitting it well or not."

University of Georgia Golf Course

The Bulldogs' home layout stretches over 7,000 yards and plays to a par of 72. Golf Digest has rated it as one of the top 50 public courses in the nation, and rightfully so. Despite its public status (indeed, it gets heavy play, over 45,000 rounds per year), head pro Dave Cousart and his staff keep the course in championship condition.

The UGA Course is characterized by lush bermuda fairways best known for their length. Water guards four of the holes while strategically placed bunkers border quick, bent grass greens. In the past seven years, it has undergone large-scale renovations, making the greens larger and more undulating. Mounds and pot bunkers have also changed the look of the greens and enhanced the challenge of getting to the pins, as well.

Opened for play in 1968, the UGA Course was designed by famed architect Robert Trent Jones, a personal friend of Dr. O.C. Aderhold, UGA president from 1950 until 1967. Jones donated the plan to the University, and construction of the course was funded primarily by student-generated activities fees.

The layout at UGA requires a lot of carry-on approach shots; it's not a bump-and-run course. Many of the greens are elevated and hard to reach, and there aren't many places to run the ball up. The recently-added mounds, designed by architect John LaFoy, help keep the ball in play, improve drainage and provide visual definition of the holes.

Perhaps the best example of UGA's multitude of choices occurs at the 12th hole, a panoramic, par-5 whose third (or second) shot carries a small pond onto an island green. Many players have been just as awed by the beauty of this hole as they are confounded by its supreme challenge.

In addition to the championship course, the UGA facilities include a three-tiered driving range, a large bermuda chipping green, a bent grass putting green and three practice bunkers with a bermuda green. This practice and teaching area rank among the most extensive in the nation. Things only get better for Georgia golfers with a state-of-the-art practice center already at the team's disposal along the UGA Golf Course property.

Please click HERE for a link to a map and driving directions.