Galloping Hill Construction On Fast Pace

By Mike Moretti

The new 40,000-square-foot clubhouse at the Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth is on track to be fully operational by January of 2013.

The clubhouse is the main new addition in a $15 million renovation at the course funded by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Union County Department of Parks and Community Renewal.Begun in September of 2011, the new 47,000-square foot clubhouse will become official home of the New Jersey State Golf Association.

Besides a new clubhouse, a 4,200-square foot state-of-the-art learning center, housing the metropolitan area´s only TaylorMade Performance Lab is also under construction and scheduled to open in May. It will also house an office for head professional Pete Busch, a kitchen and grill.A 50-stall two-level and heated driving range, which includes a teaching area, grass tees, and a short-game practice area, was opened two years ago.

The course includes a full 18-hole layout plus a 9-hole ``beginners" course attached to the learning center.By late February, all the foundation work was complete for the new clubhouse - which is on the site of the former clubhouse and close by the Garden State Parkway. The steelwork was expected to be completed by the end of March and the superstructure tied in by the end of April. All exterior framing is to be finished by the end of June and, by the end of summer, most of the interior structural work was expected to be complete.

The three-level clubhouse will include a 10,000-square foot ground-level area, big enough to house 125 carts. The first level will include offices for the Union County Department of Parks and Community Renewal and KemperSports, the management group for both Union County golf courses, the pro shop, a restaurant and grille room, and men´s and women´s locker rooms, and storage areas.

The top second-floor level will include 4,000-square feet of office space for the NJSGA, plus a banquet hall that can hold up to 300 guests and be divided 125/175. The NJSGA offices will immediately overlook the first tee at Galloping Hill and beyond.The organization´s move to Galloping Hill has been more than a decade in the making.

“We’ve been talking and thinking about this for the past 12 to 15 years,” NJSGA executive director Steve Foehl said. “It’s always been sort of strange — we’re a golf association, but we’re in an office building. We’re not near golfers. This will be a great opportunity to be at a golf facility where golfers come and go every day.”

Already, Galloping Hill is being prepared to host two major tournaments, the New Jersey Public Links in 2013, and the 2016 New Jersey State Open, conducted by the NJSGA.Union County has engaged renowned golf course architect Rees Jones, who has improved several U.S. Open courses such as Bethpage Black, to update Galloping Hill´s tees and bunkers.

``With the anticipated improvements to the golf course by Rees Jones, and the vision of Union County and KemperSports, we will have a committed team of people to create a memorable and successful New Jersey State Open championship in 2016. The NJSGA is excited about the event," said Mike McAneny, NJSGA Tournament Director.

``With the growth of public golf in recent years, and the popularity of national championships being held at public courses, we felt that we had a tremendous opportunity to work with Galloping Hill in 2016," he added.

Coincidentally, Robert Trent Jones, the father of Rees Jones, was called in to work on the course in 1939. The course was originally designed by Willard Wilkinson in 1928. In the 1990s, designer Stephen Kay was called in for more modernization of the course.One more aspect of the renovation at the course is the new 10,000-square foot maintenance building which replaces two 80-year buildings.

The 2016 State Open will mark 96th in the history of the NJSGA - and the first on a public course.Galloping Hill, or ``The Hill," as it is locally known, is a 6,704 layout over up-and-down hills between Kenilworth and Union. It is a par-71 with a slope rating of 126. Armando Sanchez, Union County´s Director of Golf Operations, has been a driving force in getting renovations to both the facilities and the playing surfaces.

``We have sought to make this a home for public golf in New Jersey," Sanchez said. ``We have a great course, great facilities and a great location. We pride ourselves in accessibility to our constituents and we´re very affordable."

County residents pay $30 to walk on weekends and $26 to walk on weekdays. Out-of-county golfers pay $60 and $56.``We´re looking at the range and our food and beverage concessions - with the banquet facilities - as major revenue streams going forward," Sanchez added.