Carnegie Mellon Opens Indoor Golf Facility

When the Carnegie Mellon golf program headed south to play its first tournaments of the spring, the Tartans were much further along than they've been in the past. No longer restricted by the Pittsburgh winter, the men's golf team has been busy playing top courses from all across the country on the state-of-the-art simulator in its new indoor facility.

As a result of generous contributions, the Carnegie Mellon athletics department was able to transform a room in Skibo Gymnasium into a golfer's paradise. In addition to the simulator, which offers 32 top PGA courses, the Tartans also have a putting and chipping area within the facility.

"The addition of the indoor facility is transformative for our program," said head coach Rich Erdelyi. "Just like basketball players who practice free-throws in the gym, our players now have a place to work on their games each and every day. We expect the indoor facility to make an immediate impact on our tournament preparation."

Team captain Ian Bangor has utilized the new facility since it opened in January and believes he is in the best shape of his playing career. Just a junior, Bangor is Carnegie Mellon's all-time victories leader with eight tournament wins.

"The golf room has been a tremendous help to prepare for the spring tournaments this year for a number of reasons," Bangor said. "Besides the sheer increase in repetitions that the simulator allows, it also helps the team mentally by simulating real playing and competition experiences."  

After an extensive research process, Carnegie Mellon elected to work with aboutGolf to install its simulator in the indoor facility. A featured partner of the PGA Tour, aboutGolf also works closely with the Golf Channel.

"We are thrilled to have such an incredible facility for our intercollegiate golfers," said Director of Athletics Susan Bassett. "This facility will make an immediate impact on their ability to practice, as well as their experience as students at Carnegie Mellon. It is a beautiful room and we are grateful to the generous donors who made such significant contributions on behalf of our students."

Bangor, who placed second at the UAA Championships last week, believes the simulator and putting surface helped prepare him for competition after the five-month break from the fall season.

"A main difficulty of traveling south and playing in the early spring is regaining your competitive mental mindset after not competing for almost five months," Bangor said.  "This allows us to practice in a smart way and not blindly hit balls and possibly reinforce swing patterns that produce poor shots.  Along with the simulator, the putting green is a crucial asset that gives the team a way to practice putting at almost any time of the day."