Four-hole practice loop to open at the University of Oklahoma
The Ransom course, a four-hole practice loop designed by Tripp Davis at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman, Oklahoma, will open on 11 May 2018.
The four holes can be played as par twos, threes or fours, from a combination of distances and angles, and each features a different green style, inspired by Golden Age golf course architects Perry Maxwell, A.W. Tillinghast, Donald Ross and Seth Raynor.
Golfers can practice shots from 100 yards or less from approach bunkers and multiple fairway angles around the four greens.
“The key is giving players the ability to practice in a realistic environment and experience real on-course situations,” said Davis. “We designed a course with the highest level of practice variety that is beyond the typical driving range and short game area.”
In 2017, Davis and his team completed the 18-hole Jimmie Austin (OU) Golf Club renovation that brought out the naturalistic attributes of the site in order to embrace original designer Perry Maxwell’s styles and influences. Tripp Davis and Associates’ master plan focused on the golf course, practice facilities, entry road, parking lot and clubhouse to allow the property to be maintained as per the design intent from a visual, strategic and playability perspective. With the changes to the Jimmie Austin Golf Club and the addition of the Ransom course, Davis believes that OU will have one of the very best university golf facilities in the country.
“Having played college golf and being part of a National Championship Team here at OU in the 1980s, I am fortunate to have a unique insight into the college game and how golf teams come together to practice,” he said. “Eliminating any barriers to how a golf course can be set up to mimic what players may find at any golf course around the country, and eliminating any barriers to how they can practice, is what is of value to a college golf programme. We are achieving that at Oklahoma.”
The Ransom course is named in honour of former OU student Jerry Ransom who began playing golf at the Jimmie Austin Golf Course. He is the main project donor and a long-time OU golf programme supporter.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has selected OU – home of the 2017 and 1989 Men’s Golf NCAA Division I Champions and the six-time Team Conference title-winning Women’s Golf programme – as one of the host sites for the 2018 and 2020 Men’s Regional Golf Championships and a 2019 Women’s Golf Regional Championship venue. The official opening of the Ransom course will be followed by the university hosting one of the six NCAA Men’s Golf Regional Championships on May 14-16.
A hole-by-hole flyover of the Ransom course can be viewed on YouTube.
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Tripp Davis has designed a four-hole practice loop at the University of Oklahoma
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“We designed a course with the highest level of practice variety,” said Davis
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The Ransom course allows golfers to practice shots from multiple distances and angles
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