A thoughtfully designed Golf Centre built to the highest standards
Simon and his family have been farming the land on which the land sits since 1900, but have diversified over the years to run a number of projects including an equestrian hunter-trial course and a moto-cross track.
As keen golfers, Simon Browne and his wife, Katie then decided to invest in the golf industry in the 1990s, initially hoping that they would build a 27 hole golf complex, although for a number of reasons, this idea never came to fruition. But a few years later, having become friends with PGA professional Gary Booth and his then fiancée Emma, and learning of Gary and Emma’s ambition to open a golf academy, they entered the golf market with a quite delightful golf range, just north of Winchester.
Mike Copson was involved at an early stage in the project to build the golf range and provided the initial drawings and oversaw the building of the range throughout. Mike added:
“This is a really well designed and built golf operation and Simon and his team were a great pleasure to work with.”
They realised that a golf range on its own would not have such a broad appeal, and so at the hub of the centre is a wonderful open plan clubhouse, with a modern bistro, and a well stocked golf shop. They took considerable trouble to make sure that everything worked well, including using a high quality interior designer to bring this new modern building to life. The interior, which has been so well received was designed and fitted out by Kate Bingham interiors. It was her first commercial project, she more usually does the inside of mega yachts and multi million pound houses and apartments.
At the heart of the social area there is a contemporary wood burning fire. The atmosphere is, therefore, warm in more ways than one on a cold winter’s day, and in the summer the patio comes into its own.
The golf range itself has been beautifully designed and built. The two wings of bays are accessed through the large, airy clubhouse, with fitting studios and teaching rooms in the centre. Balls are dispensed silently into the clubhouse by a European Golf Machinery dispenser, which provides a range of options for customers, rewarding those who spend more on their practice, but retaining a fair price for any passing golfer, just wanting to hit the occasional bucket. The glass-backed specialist rooms add theatre and privacy to club fitting and tuition and they have been very popular since the range opened. The lower bays are all fitted with Power Tees – with the right hand bays having just normal mats – but all are set in very well appointed, luxurious bays. The higher bays on the right hand side of the golf range are closer to the road and so golfers are discouraged from hitting lots of drivers from this area, as ball escape can be so dangerous – despite the fact that the new netting has now been extended to 20m.
There are four PGA professionals Gary Booth, senior PGA professional, his wife Emma Booth, Danny Fisher and Dan Seymour, who offer individual tuition, group and junior lessons with courses for everyone; the coaching philosophy is all about the customer. Special classes are held for seniors (anyone over 60 can come along) on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 1pm. The teaching team concentrate on the ladies on Fridays: beginners between 11- 12am, and improvers 12-1pm. On Saturdays, junior coaching is focussed on the 5-10 year olds between 10-11am, and then on slightly older children 11-12am. There is no need to book, and a junior lesson costs just £5. The golf academy works closely with the Golf Foundation and provides additional sessions as part of the Junior Golf Passport, which is the Golf Foundation’s excellent coaching programme. Individual lessons are available by each session, or in packages of 2, 3, 6 and 12, with appropriate discounts for those committing to more tuition.
Beyond the lower bays to the left of the range there is an extensive short game area. The outside hitting areas allow for plenty of golfers to enjoy the sunshine and open air of this excellent new range. Huxley Golf has fitted two specialist short game areas allowing for realistic bounce, check and roll, so golfers can fine-tune their shorter pitches and chip shots. Huxley Golf has also installed a first class putting green, perfectly sited on the patio of the entrance to the centre: this green is often packed with golfers and is the perfect way to allow access to all parts of the golf game.
Golf Features spoke to Paul Chester from Huxley Golf, who made the following comment:
“We are delighted to have been selected to provide the putting green and short game areas. This is a golf range of the very highest calibre and it is already extremely busy, and we are sure it will continue to grow in popularity, creating thousands of golfers over the coming years. It was good to see a project that has been so well executed and planned come to fruition.”
Andy Weeks, from Hi-Nets was responsible for the ball stop netting to the right of the range. He said:
“As the majority of our work in the golf industry is at golf ranges, we have seen a large number and few have been as well planned and built as Winchester. The whole place has a stylish air about it and it was a pleasure to work on this project.”
The bistro is run by Little Kitchen Bistro and has been a complete success. In fact, it is such a success that longer opening hours are now being proposed, so it can take advantage of all of the evening trade, as well as the breakfast, lunch and afternoon customers. Simon decided early on that he did not wish to be involved in the catering trade, so he has let out the catering franchise to a highly skilled local operator with a great reputation. The food is delightful and the service excellent.
The businesses work well together and combine to offer excellent customer deals, such as the Breakfast Birdie: a bucket of balls, a bacon roll, and a delicious coffee for just £6, any weekday between 9-12am. On Mondays it is Chilli Night between 4-8pm, which includes: 80 balls, a homemade chilli with nachos, complete with a bottle of beer or a soft drink for just £10. On the last Wednesday of every month, there is a deal for ‘Ladies Who Lunch’, which includes a one hour golf lesson followed by a gourmet lunch and a glass of wine for £20, which is proving very popular.
In recent years, increasing number of golf operators have been looking to get out of retailing golf equipment all together. Perhaps unusually, Simon decided that this was an integral part of the golf offering and wanted to be not just a provider of golfing accessories, but to have The Winchester Golf Academy provide genuine specialist retail sales: at the core of this offering is custom fit golf equipment. All of the major brands are available and business has been brisk with most golfers opting to have their clubs personalised to their physical and golfing requirements.
Simon is delighted with the way the business is developing:
“Our greatest satisfaction is that we have a large number of happy returning customers, who recommend us to their friends and are happy to spend their precious leisure time enjoying our facilities. The business is a family run concern, but we are particularly proud of the family feel that it is generating in the local community.”
There is no doubt that the Winchester Golf Academy will continue to be a huge success. It has such a warm and friendly atmosphere and is a perfect place to learn, practice and socialise.
For further details, please visit www.winchestergolf.co.uk