The Baldwin Wallace University golf teams will receive a new addition to their training equipment with a golf simulator set to be installed at the Lou Higgins Recreation Center during winter break.

Athletic Director Steve Thompson said the golf simulator will be fully functional by the upcoming spring semester.

The golf simulator presents an opportunity for both men’s and women’s teams to practice effectively and get instant feedback, especially during the winter season.

Steve Thompson, the athletic director, said the simulator will offer similar features to other indoor simulators in the Cleveland area, providing golfers instant feedback on swing speed, launch angle, spin rates and carry distance right here on campus.

Sophomore golf athlete Zach Hritz said that he sees the simulator as a huge turning point for both golf teams.

“The golf simulator is going to be a really big help to grow our skill level,” Hritz said. “One of the hardest parts about golf is the amount of time we spend away from the sport due to bad weather. I think this simulator will help us maintain our skill going into the following season.”

Thompson said he believes the simulator will be a critical piece to the recruiting process for golf athletes since all of BW’s key competitors have at least one simulator integrated into their facilities.

Though the golf simulator will bring new training equipment to the golf team, the golf simulator will be installed on one of the five racquetball courts in the Lou Higgins Recreation center, which, will mean that the Racquetball team will lose one of their courts.

“We did consider those implications,” Thompson said. “We looked at several different locations, but there was just no other available space to be converted that could hold a simulator. We understood that it meant the racquetball team would lose one court and that would impact them. It will force them to adjust practice schedules and plans to accommodate their team and adjust their home tournaments with one less court available for use.”

Despite the university’s budget cuts potentially affecting other programs, it did not impact the construction of the simulator since it was a donor-funded project through gifts of alums, friends and family to the men’s and women’s golf teams.

Golf athletes will be the only students able to access and use the new simulator.