Royal Melbourne Country Club Renovates Practice Facility

Practice center and several golf holes among the golf course improvement projects taking place at the northwest Chicago club

(Long Grove, Ill.) – KemperSports announced today that Royal Melbourne Country Club in Long Grove, Ill., has embarked on a renovation project to upgrade the clubs expansive practice facility. The renovation will be complete by July 15.

When complete, the facility will include a new 4,200-square-foot green, a new greenside bunker and additional fairway and rough turf to allow for longer approach shots in to the green. The facility will improve both drainage and turf conditioning, and will allow golfers to sharpen their skills on shots that are consistent with those found on the Greg Norman-designed golf course.

The new practice facility will create additional opportunities for short game instruction, in addition to the full swing instruction, from the Royal Melbourne Golf Academy. The Royal Melbourne Golf Academy is open to member and non-member students.

"The new practice facility will add to the golf amenities at Royal Melbourne Country Club,” said Royal Melbourne general manager Mark Freemott. “We believe the new facility will be a tremendous benefit to our members and their guests.”

Jay Blasi, who served as the project architect under Robert Trent Jones, Jr. at Chambers Bay – host of the 2015 U.S. Open Championship, will oversee all phases of the renovation project.

“I’m excited that we will be able to offer the members and their guests a first class short game complex to match the other wonderful amenities at the club,” said Blasi.

The practice facility project is just one of several golf course improvements taking place at Royal Melbourne. During the winter, the club removed trees and widened the fairway along the left side of the 17th fairway in order to make it a true risk/reward par-5. The club also completed a wetlands restoration project on the 8th hole.

“Now that we’ve enabled the golfer to see the green from the landing area and added fairway to the lay up area in front of the green, more players will go for the green in two,” said Freemott.

Designed by Greg Norman in 1992, Royal Melbourne Country Club remains one of the finest private clubs in the northwest Chicago suburbs.

For more information on Royal Melbourne Country Club, visit www.royalmelbourne.net.