Bulldogs Unveil New Golf Facility
Toombs County Schools had an afternoon of golf on Friday as community members gathered to tour the new Bulldog Golf indoor practice facility. The facility features two state-of-the-art golf course simulators, as well as a chipping and putting green.
“Today is a special day for our school system,” Superintendent Barry Waller told attendees. “We are very excited to show you what our young student athletes are already being able to enjoy, and that is an indoor golf practice facility.”
He added, “When folks in the community and our parents get involved with not only things that happen in the classroom, but things that their kids and our kids are active in, the partnership is great. We’ve had a couple of parents that really spearheaded this partnership this year to get the funding to get this facility for us.”
“There are only a couple of high schools in Georgia outside of Toombs County that are doing this,” Waller concluded. “We are happy to be doing this and to be one of the frontrunners out there for our students to able to enjoy our facilities.”
According to Waller, the new place to practice is much needed, as currently, players travel to the golf course in Reids- continued from page
ville, where nine other teams also practice. It reduces the strain of travel and chaos of sharing a course so that the student athletes may grow and learn in the best possible environment.
Fundraising efforts for the project were led by two parents of students on the golf team: Daniel Ford and Andy Woodruff, who both spoke at the unveiling.
Ford began by calling the golf team to stand to illustrate the large number of student athletes positively affected by this development. “I talked a little bit with Barry, and as far as he can remember back, there has only been around five golfers on each team,” Ford explained. “But I guess as the saying goes, ‘if you build it, they will come,’ because 24 golfers are currently on our middle and high school golf teams.”
Woodruff added to Ford’s comments. “To our sponsors, thank you so much for what you have done for our kids – I think you will find it very well spent,” he stated. “Golf in this community has had 12 state boys championship teams and 7 girls state championship teams. We have had over 75 (that we know of) scholarships, partial or full, that have been given to this community.”
Attendees were invited not only to tour the facility, but to experience the technology, as they took turns hitting on the simulator.
Toombs County Golf Coach Matthew Helms commented on the new facility. “I believe this is creating a set-up that is a little bit more conducive to kids in our area,” he said. “It is taking a sport that can be sometimes very time consuming and stressful financially, and it is providing a set up and facility for a better future for golf in this community with the loss of our golf courses around here. It also does a very good job of taking golf from an art to a science.”
Helms also spoke on the growth which the golf team has experienced over the last few years. “It is definitely very exciting,” he remarked. “This is my sixth or seventh season coaching here, so just to see the growth at the middle school level has been really exciting. There is a lot of potential, and so, as a coach, the question I am always asking is how can the potential turn into something now. That’s the challenge I face, but if nothing else, I am very excited today.”
The Bulldog Golf Teams have dramatically increased over the years, as they transition from around five members per team to a total of 24 middle and high school golfers. Here, the teams pose in front of the Toombs County banner at the unveiling,
