A new Dundee driving range built to replace one destroyed in a major storm last year will be “unbelievable”, the club manager says.
The £300,000 practice facility at Ballumbie Castle Golf Club is taking shape and is expected to open in late November or early December.
The previous incarnation, which was ripped apart in November 2021 during Storm Arwen, was unsalvageable.
Only Toptracer facility in Dundee
But the new range will include a practice tool described as “trailblazing” which provides shot tracing/tracking technology to analyse golfers’ swings.
Named Toptracer, it provides virtual access to some of the world’s top golf courses.
The brand is also available in nearby areas Gleneagles, St Andrews, and Leven while a similar system, Trackman, is in place just over the Tay Road Bridge at Drumoig Golf Centre.
The facility will have 20 bays under a steel roof with new teaching and fitting areas.
The prolonged closure hit the club’s finances as it was a significant driver of revenue.
Owner meeting extra cost of new range
And of the hefty price tag, only £175,000 that is covered by insurance with £125,000 coming out of the pocket of the owner Ballumbie Investments Limited.
Allan said: “We have the building that we wanted. It’s going to be unbelievable.
“It is approaching a year that it has been shut for now. The insurance dragged its feet as usual but we got there in the end.
“We will be the only range like it in the Dundee area.
“It was obviously tough to take when it was destroyed but I think people are going to really enjoy having this facility.
“Drumoig is absolutely mobbed so there is clearly demand.”
Devastation during Storm Arwen
Storm Arwen was one of Scotland’s worst storms for a number of years and caused widespread power outages, destroying woodland and damaging many buildings.
The course at Ballumbie is on the perimeter of the city and took the brunt of the winds, which reached 90mph in some areas.
Locals were warned to stay away from the area as metal sheets and wood broke off from the structure, flying through the air.
But the reopening of the facility will be a big boost to the fortunes of the course which has lost members in recent years.
The course is going through somewhat of a transformation with three new holes set open.
Two new par fours and a par three will open in March or April next year with two of them played over water.
The change is taking place because the landowner is selling off a portion of land — which contains three of the existing holes — to housebuilder Stewart Milne.
The firm has permission to build 150 houses there, in addition to a development of 76 homes which are almost complete opposite the entrance to the course.
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