The Murray State men’s and women’s golf program will be reading different greens this season.
All the greens at Miller Memorial Golf Course in Murray were killed in order to replace them all with new grass.
Will Snodgrass, director of golf, said the process has been considered for years, but it was not approved until April.
“We started to kill the old greens in June,” he said. “The new sprigs were planted July 1-2 and they will take six to eight weeks.”
The new grass is Mini Verde, a type of Bermuda grass, which thrives in heat. This green allows for better quality play for more days of the year.
“We are one of the first in the area to use this type of grass,” Snodgrass said.
Snodgrass said the golf course is unavailable for early semester practices, but the change over should be complete in time for the Murray State home-opener Sept. 1.
The Racers’ golf teams are reacting positively to the change. Women’s golf coach Velvet Milkman said she was excited after visiting the revamped golf course.
“It’s going to make a very good golf course even better,” Milkman said. “It’ll help tremendously with playing on it every day and to make better players.”
Milkman said the new greens at Miller affects not just the Racers, but it will allow the community to connect with the teams.
“Miller is open to the public and a lot more people from the community will come out to play,” Milkman said. “It will give exposure to our program.”
Men’s Head Coach Eddie Hunt agreed that Murray State golf is given a boost by the renovation.
“It’s a great long-term addition to the golf course for individual and team play,” said Hunt. “We have a college tournament on Oct. 15 and I think the teams will be really impressed.”
Milkman and Hunt said the new greens could improve the team’s performances this season.
“For most of our tournaments we travel south and we play a lot of courses with these greens,” Hunt said. “We’ll be in better shape for the season.”
The Miller Memorial Golf Course opens Sept. 1. The Racers will play their first match on the new and improved course Sept. 30 when the men’s team will host the Murray State Invitational.
Staff Report