Drive for excellence

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When father-son co-owners Pat and Ryan Myers took over Shadowood Golf Course in 2012, they aimed to offer one of the finest golfing experiences in the state.

Following countless renovations and additions, the Myerses not only have been recognized in Indiana, but the entire country.

The Golf Range Association of America recently announced that Shadowood will receive an award as a top-50 public driving range for the 2015 calendar year.

“It’s an award that’s given out every year to the top-50 public, private and resort courses,” Ryan Myers said. “We are very fortunate and grateful to get this award. It will be given to us at the PGA Merchandise Show during the last week of January down in Orlando.”

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Following the application process, the GRAA travels to select ranges and looks at the accuracy of yardage, different types of targets, number of balls in inventory and how many balls you sell in a year.

Myers said they also analyze the different grasses, tees, how much teaching took place and overall revenue.

“Last year was one of our better years,” Myers said. “We sold over 1 million golf balls for the range alone. Your typical bag has 80 to 100 golf balls in it, so you times that out. It was very busy. We have a lot of nice programs with half-price range balls that gave us a lot of business.

“Overall, we had a lot of player development and group lessons that helped our achievement. It has always been our dream to be in the 1 million ball-dispensed category, and this past year, we finally did that.”

The range offers several targets with Bermuda grass, which when fully grown is a lavish green.

Myers said they plan on adding more to the range in 2016.

“We’re going to add short game nets, about 6-foot-by-6-six-foot nets, that help on 100 yards and in wedge shots,” Myers said. “We’re also going to be redoing some of our greens to make them extremely visible. We’re going to get some new yardage markers out there and add to the ones we already have to try and broaden and sharpen their distances out on the golf course.”

Myers said they will meet with a handful of range companies at the PGA expo and will look to add more products from the show.

Seymour High School varsity coach Jim Hoffman said Shadowood is in an ideal location and offers many services to home and away teams.

“I think it’s really nice for the kids,” Hoffman said. “They’re very hospitable to us. We can hit as many range ball as we want to hit. They take care of the local youth really well during the season. It really helps with our practices.

“It’s in a good spot on the golf course. When you come in, it’s right there. Some ranges you have to take a cart to get to it. The availability makes it really nice for anyone. I have friends that come around, and I tell them it’s just a jump off the interstate. It makes it really nice for them.”

Trinity Lutheran High School boys and girls varsity coach Greg Personett agreed with Hoffman.

“I am glad for Ryan and Shadowood for winning this award,” he said. “It is a great practice facility, and the Trinity golf teams are very fortunate to be able to play and practice there. I know firsthand the amount of work Ryan puts into the golf course practice area, and this award is proof of his efforts.”

Seymour senior golfer Brady Marshall goes to the range often to hone in on his skills.

“I think people like their availability,” Marshall said. “They’re open from dusk until dawn. They’re right next to the interstate, and it’s easy to get in and out. You can get what you set out to accomplish.”

Myers said this is the first time the range has garnered the award and is just one of two public ranges — along with Stony Creek in Indianapolis — that has been recognized from Indiana.

“I think that it’s a great thing that Jackson County has a top-50 range in their back yard to hone in their games,” he said. “We’re excited to be able to offer a range to all of the golfers in the county.”

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