Strasburg’s golf program has installed an on-campus putting green
This season, when Strasburg’s golf team needs to practice putting, they need only take a short walk across campus.
That’s because the school has installed an on-campus synthetic putting green, believed to be the first in the state.
The green started as a senior project of Veronica Davis and Sabrina Ganger, two Strasburg students who were on the girls golf team.
“Most senior projects, they paint something, or they build a bench,” said Eric Gilbert, who coaches both the boys and girls golf teams at Strasburg. “This was very significant. This is not typical. What’s so unique is that it really is something that’s needed for our area, and for our program.”
Davis and Ganger worked with Davis’ mother, Teresa Roy, and Gilbert. The group talked with Jeffrey Rasp, Strasburg’s principal, and Michelle Woodard, the AD, and Monica Johnson, the superintendent of Strasburg School District. They also coordinated with Phil Redgate, who manages the school’s facilities.
Davis and Ganger eventually presented a plan to the school board.
“They just envisioned something that not only our school can use, but our community of Strasburg, as well,” Gilbert said. “We put our heads together. I sort of gave them a guide and direction to go, and eventually our girls — we did a couple of different fundraisers, and between the moms and the daughters and myself, we found a couple of local donors.
“I’d always dreamt about having some sort of a practice facility on campus,” Gilbert added. “Out where we’re at, we don’t really have a championship-style golf course.”
Strasburg typically practices at Quint Valley Golf Club, a nine-hole course in Byers.
The on-campus green, which is 500 square feet, is large enough to accommodate eight to 10 players at once. It was built in May.
“The goal was to somehow to get a 25-foot putt,” Gilbert said. “If you teach golf, in order to teach a reasonable lag putt, it’s got to be over 20 feet. We wanted to have something that we could have a longer putt, but also use quadrants.”
It will get its first real use this fall when boys practice begins on Aug. 6.
“It’s really been a blessing,” Gilbert said. “I really think it’s going to help sustain our program, and it gives you a little bit more — we’re in a totally non-traditional golf community, being on the (I-70) corridor.”
