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Behind this imposing club house of Chapman is the modern practice range – Golf4U

ARE you a golf enthusiast? Having trouble with your putting, chipping or driving? Or are you that “habitually reckless golfer” who always makes a habit of finding the bunker? Or maybe you are that fun-loving person who just loves the ‘thwacking’ sound when you strike that golf ball – aimlessly or otherwise? Well, if you fit into any of these categories (or even if you don’t), the country’s latest golfing playground is the place for you. Introducing the aptly named Golf4U golfing range at Chapman Golf Club in Eastlea!

Opened in February 2010, the intriguing range is designed to provide the golf enthusiast with an assortment of challenges to sharpen up their game on a classy practice area. “We wanted to upgrade the facilities here (at Chapman),” Stu Stovold, one half of the Golf4U management team told Golfzone. “So the idea of a top quality commercial range came up.”

That was sometime last year and by September 2009, work had begun on the prospective range with some serious excavation of the site that had been identified for the project.
Five months down the line, a new elegant golfing range had been set up on the large open space behind the Chapman club house which had previously served as a somewhat jagged driving range.

Now a nicely built-up modern range featuring a well-demarcated teeing ground, a short range practice bunker, a chipping green, a mini putting green and an assortment of target greens, a new era has dawned on the Eastlea-based golf club with the Golf4U range proving to be very popular with golfers and wanna-be golfers.

“I am very happy with the response we have been getting from the public,” Stovold told Golfzone. “Of course, the numbers vary each time but on a good day we can get up to 50 or 60 people coming through.”

“When we developed this range, the idea was not only to set up a quality golf facility for our members but also attract more people to the game. So the Golf4U range is open to everyone. You do not need to be a member of Chapman Golf Club to use this facility, you don’t need to be a golfer even,” Stovold said.

With affordable charges for making use of the facility, the Golf4U range which is run by veteran professional golfer Stu Stovold and respected golf trainer Cath Riley, is an all-in-one facility designed to not only suit the golf enthusiast’s pocket, but also their training needs. The duo of Stovold and Riley are readily available to offer valuable tips as well as golfing lessons to aspiring golfers and those golfers who want to refine their game.

The range also offers the rare novelty of night-time golf whereby golfers practice their shots on a glowing floodlit range. It is a tempting proposition to those who fancy an unconventional “golf night out”.

The Golf4U range is open every day of the week with the opening time being 0700hrs from Sunday to Friday and 0630hrs on Saturdays. The range is open until 1730 hrs on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays but opening hours extend to 2000hrs from Tuesday-Friday.

Ball hire is pegged at $5 for 100 balls, $3 for 50 balls and $2 for 25 balls. However, Chapman Golf Club members receive a 20% discount when they pay for their ball hire or lessons with their Chapman swipe card. Notwithstanding that, one need not be a Chapman member to get a discount. The Golf4U range has its own membership and one has to part with just $45 per quarter to become a member of the Golf4U range. Range membership also comes with a Chapman swipe card giving a 20% discount at the range for ball hire and lessons as well as club catering and bar facilities. In addition, range members receive a monthly Golf4U newsletter detailing all the latest range updates.

For those who want to learn golf from the experts, a 45-minute individual lesson costs just $25. A 45-minute lesson for two people costs $15 per person - the same as for a one-hour group lesson (3-5 people). Also offered are playing lessons and practice for groups of not more than three people. These can be conducted over 3 or 9 holes depending on the group’s choice. An even more exciting bargain is also on offer for the lady golfers every second Saturday of the month when the Golf4U team hosts the monthly Ladies Golf Clinic. For the clinic, the fee stands at $10 – for…wait for this…ALL THE BALLS YOU CAN HIT!

Those wishing to know more about the range can call the Golf4U range office on
091 5 464 666 while ladies wishing to know more about the Ladies Golf Clinics can call Cath Riley on 091 2 204 849.

With such facilities and bargains to offer, Chapman Golf Club’s Golf4U range is indeed a top notch golfing facility designed to cater for just about every critical facet of the game. It is indeed Golf for YOU!

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