January 28—For the first few seasons of his golf career at Minnesota State, Ben Laffen spent his winters practicing in Schellberg gym, hitting off a mat into a net and dodging practice schedules from other Mavericks’ athletic teams.
Or traveling to Gustavus Adolphus for some time with that program’s simulator. Or going to the Twin Cities to hit a few balls at an indoor dome.
Now, he and his men’s and women’s teammates can gather in a basement room of Taylor Center and get ready for the spring season in a new training facility.
“It’s a huge benefit,” said Laffen, a senior. “It’s going to really benefit us to get ready. Big picture, it’s a good place to bring recruits.”
The Mavericks unveiled their new indoor golf training facility on Friday, showing off the two 12×18-feet simulated hitting bays and a 400-square-foot putting green.
According to Minnesota State’s director of golf Alex Schmitz, the training facility cost more than $50,000 and was funded through a series of in-kind products and private cash donations. Some fundraisers brought in about $28,000, while a $10,000 donation was made by parents of an alum, Kevin and Deb Newman, and a gift of $15,000 worth of artificial turf was gifted by Troy and Chantel Johnson, whose son Kaleb is in the Minnesota State program .
Schmitz said the original goal for the facility was nearly $2 million, but he realized that wasn’t realistic in the short term so he set his sights on something more doable and self-funded. He said he walked around Taylor Center with wrestling coach Jim Makovsky, trying to find available space for a smaller facility.
“We opened a lot of doors,” Schmitz said. “Finally we found this one.”
The storage area was cleaned out and work began, all by members of the program.
“It was fun, but it was exhausting,” Laffen said.
The simulators can help players with ball flight and distance, information you couldn’t get from hitting into a net 10 yards away. The short game area is also helpful to work on that aspect of the game.
The facility is open seven days per week, from 6 am to 11 pm Laffen said it’s been so popular that they’ve had to start assigning practice times for the players.
There might be some upgrades in the future, but for now, the players are grateful to have their own facility.
“There’s a lot of positivity in the program,” Laffen said. “Coach Schmitz has done a lot of work, and I think down the road, this could get much bigger. It’s a good start.”
The men’s and women’s golf seasons begin March 6 in Arizona. Those tournaments will be held outside, but the inside work will help the players be tournament ready.
“When I got here (in 2021), I couldn’t believe that a Division 2 program at a great university didn’t have something better for practice,” Schmitz said. “When the idea came forward, the whole athletic department thought it was a good idea. This is what it turned into. The players are happy to have a place to call home.”
Follow Chad Courrier on Twitter @ChadCourrier.