CRESWELL – “The Jake” opened this past October for the University of Oregon at Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell. The facility – formally named Peter & Jan Jacobsen Oregon Golf Teaching Facility – offers indoor/outdoor capabilities for training during any type of weather.
“Coach Casey Martin brought it up, the vision of a building back there because of the weather,” Emerald Valley general manager Laine Wortman said, referring to the Ducks’ men’s golf coach.
“So from day one, when I started working there, coach Casey was pretty clear that we want to get something back there covered and heated and are able to create a top-notch practice facility for when the weather is not very good.”
Weather will indeed not be a problem at The Jake. With options to practice outdoors in the shining sun, or indoors hitting drives out of a retractable space in the wall, this facility is never out of season.
“You have a facility where the team can continue to practice because at this level of golf, you don’t get the opportunity to take days off,” UO assistant athletic director Justin Fischer said.
The Jake also boasts high-tech equipment for golfers to work on their short game using the PuttView. This piece of equipment allows golfers to visualize the path their ball needs to take with laser lights that track the ball as it moves.
The high-tech equipment doesn’t end there, as the facility also contains a video room with six different cameras to track the swing of the golfer, as well as the ball, while practicing.
The technology then can link with any ball-flight system the golfer might have.
“I would say it’s a 165-days-a-year commitment, and to give the kids a present and future a place where they can go. They can call it their own, they can leave their personal belongings in a safe place, it’s incredible,” Fischer said.
Since opening the $2.3 million facility in October, the reception from both the men’s and women’s programs has been warm, Fischer said.
“The first day we introduced the women’s golf team to the facility. When they came out there it was 2 o’clock, we figured it’s gonna take us an hour to show them the facility and get them all set up on their card access, how the facilities are gonna work, team rules, and all those kinds of things. At 6 o’clock, I left the facility, and they were still in there,” Fischer said. “And then the next day, we had men do the same thing. And I had to kick them out of the facility because we had a grand-opening ceremony.”
With all the high-tech equipment and different options for training that the players have, the facility’s true purpose can get lost in the shuffle.
“I think one of the best things we did in the facility are the hidden Peter Jacobsen nods. As you walk in the building we have a wall that tells Peter Jacobsen’s story and his connection to the university,” Fisher said.
“And something I’ve heard him say to players and to staff is that, ‘Athletics are a game, right? Games are supposed to be fun.’ We can take them very seriously and we can prepare and we can do all the different things that help us achieve our athletic goals that we have, if you will, and those are championships at this level. But again, it’s supposed to be fun.”
