Hayt Golf Learning Center - Jacksonville, FL
N 30° 15.499 W 081° 30.199
17R E 451582 N 3347516
The Hayt Golf Learning Center, also known as "Golfplex", is located on the University of North Florida campus in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. It is a public course and the practice facility for the North Florida Ospreys golf team.
Waymark Code: WMTG1V
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/19/2016
Views: 1
"The Hayt Golf Learning Center, also known as the "Golfplex" is the golf facility on the University of North Florida campus. It is a public course and the practice facility for the North Florida Ospreys golf team.
History
The concept of the Hayt Center began when former golf head coach John Brooks met with former UNF president Adam Herbert and former athletic director Dr. Richard Gropper and was promised the land. Brooks coordinated the funding, design and construction of the center. Local businessman John Hayt initially donated $750,000 to the project. With Hayt's later donation of another $200,000, a $100,000 donation from The First Tee, state funds, and other gifts, the project received about $2 million. UNF did not have to use any funds for the project. The course was designed by professional golfer Mark McCumber. The Hayt Center opened in 2002 and provided the UNF golf team and the campus with its first facility.
Features
The center is set on 38 acres (150,000 m2) on the southeast part of the campus. It features two pair threes, and a final hole that can be played as a par 3, 4, or 5. Golf News called the third hole "possibly the best in the area." The center also comprises a lighted driving range and chipping & putting area, and 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) building. It is an "all walking" course, which means there are no golf carts."
--Wikipedia (
visit link)
"The Center was named to honor UNF benefactors, golf enthusiasts, and Jacksonville businessman John T. and Geraldine Hayt. The project was made possible by an initial $750,000 gift from the Hayt family, followed by two more $100,000 gifts. With matching state funds and another $100,000 donated by the First Tee, plus other gifts, the final donation total amounted to more than $2 million.
The facility is located on a 38-acre parcel on the southeast part of campus adjacent to J. Turner Butler Boulevard. The site was planned as an Audubon International Signature golf course, a certification awarded to those willing to establish a partnership with Audubon International to create an ecologically-designed community. It features a lighted driving range and chipping / putting area, an 8,000-square-foot educational facility, and three regulation-distance golf holes which are available for use by UNF students, faculty, staff, and the general public. Golf News rated the finishing hole as "possibly the best in the area." Florida Leader Magazine also singled out the Center in May 2003 for having the best golf course in the state university system.
According to former UNF Golf Coach John Brooks, "The idea was to build something the whole campus could enjoy and something the public could use. The public is genuinely interested because they have a place they can go practice and play a few holes and not spend a lot of money or time at." The facility will also play host to annual First Tee clinics, which reach out to "young people around the world by creating affordable and accessible golf facilities primarily to serve those who have not had previous exposure to the game and its positive values."
John Hayt began his relationship with the UNF golf team in 1993, and has been a longtime member of UNF's sports booster organization, the Osprey Club. In 2007, UNF's home golf tournament was renamed the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational. Formerly known as the Queen's Harbor Intercollegiate tournament before being named the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, the tournament has become known as college golf's first major tournament of the spring season. In announcing the renaming, UNF Athletics Director Dr. Richard Gropper commented, "John Hayt has been a friend personally and professionally for many years. His contributions to the University in general and to the athletics program in particular have helped to define the University of North Florida as one of the finest young universities in the country. I'm proud to have John Hayt's name associated with our golf program and our golf tournament.""
--University of North Florida (
visit link)